Guest blog from Matt Vuorela, CEO of the Steier Group
Matt serves as the CEO of the Steier Group. He joined the firm in 2008, after working in the legal profession for more than 15 years. After spending seven years leading capital campaigns for faith-based organizations across the country, Matt joined the firm’s management team – first, as a project supervisor, then as President and most recently as CEO. Matt provides oversight for all the Steier Group’s campaigns and leads the firm’s client development efforts. Matt resides in Omaha, Nebraska, with his wife, Liz, and their three children.
It is easy for a nonprofit to get excited about a bold vision like constructing a new building, expanding a ministry, growing a program or reducing debt. But there is a big difference between wanting to conduct a capital campaign and being ready for one.
A successful capital campaign does not begin with kickoff weekend. It begins with an honest readiness assessment. Your organisation should have mission clarity, leadership alignment, donor confidence, internal capacity and a compelling case for support.
Is the campaign mission clear and compelling?
Start with the “why” of your potential campaign.
Major campaigns are more than just a list of projects and goals. They must be mission-centered to provide donors with a reason to support your cause. You are asking for an extraordinary gift that goes above regular giving.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Why are we running a campaign?
- Why now?
- What problems will a campaign solve?
- What happens to our organisation if the campaign does not move forward or succeed?
The most successful campaigns connect funds raised to impact. If your campaign solves a mission-centered problem, you are ready for the next step.
Test leadership alignment before testing donor interest
A successful campaign requires leadership to be unified behind the mission-centered fundraising goals. Your senior leadership, board members and key staff should be on the same page and excited about the campaign.
Your leadership team will be the voice of the campaign. They must understand and be able to explain your goals, support the project and be willing to lead by example.
Test your campaign readiness by confirming that leaders can explain the vision consistently, agree on the scope of the project and are prepared to open doors to prospective donors. Leadership misalignment is one of the most common issues we see in campaigns that don’t meet expectations.
Evaluate your organisation’s fundraising infrastructure
Running a capital campaign is a large task even for the most prepared teams. Before launching your effort, it is important to assess if your organisational structure can handle a campaign.
Here are a few infrastructure-related items to consider:
- How is your donor database? Is it up to date and organized?
- Do we have a system in place for pledge and donation tracking?
- Do we have a way to process gifts?
- Do we have the resources to properly thank and acknowledge pledges and gifts?
- Will we need to hire additional staff to make a campaign run smoothly?
- Will volunteers be able to help our team?
Weak fundraising infrastructure can undermine donor confidence even when the vision is strong. Make sure your organisation is ready for the paperwork side of the campaign before launching.
Financial transparency
Donors want confidence that the organisation will steward resources properly. That includes setting realistic campaign goals, managing costs and creating a sound financial plan.
Financial transparency helps transform a bold idea into an investable opportunity for your supporters. Using funds for a project outside the scope of a campaign is the fastest way to upset your donor base.
Questions to consider:
- Are project estimates current?
- Is there a plan for increased operating costs after the campaign?
- Is the yearly budget in order?
- Will we be able to use the funds as described in the campaign?
Conduct a feasibility study
The most important step in assessing if your organisation is ready to launch a campaign is to conduct a feasibility study. At the Steier Group, we call them campaign planning studies for a reason – the data gathered during the study is vital when preparing a campaign plan.
While a feasibility study and campaign can be run internally, we recommend using outside counsel. An objective assessment during a feasibility study, conducted by professionals, provides an unbiased look at your organisation. It surfaces your strengths and weaknesses, acknowledges gaps, gathers donor perceptions and identifies potential obstacles before the campaign launches.
Here are a few of the most important steps in a feasibility study:
Assess donor capacity and relationships: Campaigns depend heavily on major gifts and high participation. During the study, your organisation should review giving history and donor engagement, research the giving capacity in your community and identify potential leadership gift candidates. Self-identified gifts during a feasibility study interview can provide your organisation with a roadmap for the campaign.
Test donor interest: Just because your leadership is excited for the campaign projects does not mean your community supports them. A study tests the support of the community for a campaign and individual projects.
Campaign messaging: Your study provides the chance to gauge donor interest on the projects and your case for support. The answers during the study will allow you to select the most popular projects and fine tune messaging to resonate with the most donors.
A feasibility study is a confidence building tool for your leadership and community.
Readiness red flags
What are some warning signs that your community isn’t quite ready for a campaign?
- Unclear campaign purpose
- Campaign purpose not mission-aligned
- Divided leadership
- Weak donor relationships
- Unrealistic goals
- Insufficient staff and volunteer capacity
- Poor data
Not all nonprofits are going to be immediately ready for a campaign. And that’s ok! Taking the time to ready your organisation will set you up for a successful campaign and long-term success.
If you feel your organisation isn’t quite ready for the campaign step, now is the time to create a readiness action plan. Identify the steps you need to take to be ready and set a reasonable timeline to accomplish them. Don’t abandon your vision!
Conclusion: Readiness creates confidence
Campaign readiness is not about perfection. It is about mission-centered projects supported by leadership and your community.
Before asking donors to take the leap for extraordinary generosity, make sure your organisation has done the internal work to steward that generosity well.
If your organisation is ready for a campaign, the Steier Group would be happy to help.
Join us at our Trusts and Major Donors Conference, happening on Thursday 10th December 2026
This post was written by a guest contributor. The views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect the positions of Fundraising Everywhere. Content from guest authors may reflect different approaches, experiences, or perspectives to those covered in other events and training.