All the world watched as teams from many nations around the world competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Athletes who trained their entire life, seeking to win, so they could stand on the podium and hear their national anthem played. They celebrated, then took their medals home to share with family, friends and countrymen. A very noble and life changing cause.
Recently, I was privileged to conduct Pre-Campaign Study interviews on behalf of a client. Essentially, these interviews are one-on-one meetings with their key stakeholders. This capital campaign would be the single largest fundraising effort ever entered into by this organization – the total needs exceeding $5 million. When we conduct these interviews, we ask the stakeholders several questions to gather their perception of the need. These are confidential conversations. We end each interview by asking if they would consider supporting the campaign as described and to estimate what their three-year giving level might look like. These are not pledge commitments, but they do help us to evaluate what the total dollars might project to.
