Guest Executive Speaker 7
Mike Bacon is the Vice President of Advancement and Alumni Relations at Trinity University. He has over 25 years of experience in development and external development in specializing in the creation and implementation of strategic fundraising programs including capital campaigns, major gifts, and annual giving. He came to speak to our class to discuss what Capital Campaigns are and the importance of them. He believes when working to get major gifts for capital campaigns- there is an art and a science to making the ask you must master. However, starting a Capital Campaign can be difficult- Mr. Bacon even titled the name of his presentation, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". Mr. Bacon shared with the class an adequate formula he follows in order to have a successful campaign.
The first part of the formula is that your organization must be a worthy institution whose performance merits public support. This means that your organization must have some type of creditability with the public so your potential donor can see how well you are resonating with the people. Having a strong and solid understanding of your non-profit 's case for support is the second part he included in
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Bacon also shared what can go wrong in a Capital Campaign. For example, if your case for support is not compelling, donors will be less likely to understand your need and therefore will not give to your campaign. Another failure that can happen in Capital Campaigns is when your leadership is not committed or when there are too many leadership transitions. These can be damaging for a campaign because leadership should be solid and committed to your mission and staying with your organization.Mr. Bacon also touched on not making your donor pool too shallow. This means you must make sure that you aren 't constantly getting your gifts from the same people- this will allow you to expand your horizons and develop relationships with other potential