Are you preparing for a large capital ask for your alumni association? It’s important you do all the necessary preparation to lay the groundwork for success in your capital campaign. For sizable asks, it should be all hands on deck within your organization to make sure you’re maximizing your ability to achieve your financial goals!

Here are a few tips to help you make sure everyone who wants to help out your organization has an opportunity to lend a hand.

• Spread awareness: Make sure your entire audience knows about your campaign. This is a great way to get your members and volunteers involved; you can allow them to spread the message into their circles, which reach far beyond your own. The more people you can have advocating for your organization and spreading the word about its campaign, the more potential sources of funding you will have available.
• Vary your gift options: Give different options for gifts that appeal to different donors. These gifts might vary from large to small with some benefits being intrinsic in nature and others providing more recognition in the form of plaques or bricks that honor the donor. Your alumni are at all different stages of their lives and have all different income levels, so you shouldn’t settle for one-size-fits-all recognition options. Be creative and offer plenty of opportunities to recognize and thank your donors. Your members and volunteers may be able to assist you in the form of connections with certain types of gifts.
• Show the outcome: Make sure all of your communications are benefits-driven and show potential donors the outcome of their actions and your overall campaign. People want to know exactly how their money is going to be put to use and how they can make an impact. Specifically, how will their money benefit the students of today and of years to come?

These are just a few simple tips to keep in mind as you start organizing your next capital campaign. We encourage you to get as many of your members involved as possible to increase the power and potential of your fundraising drive!