Remember the movie Field of Dreams and the famous line “If you build it, they will come”? The movie is about Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) who hears a voice in his cornfield telling him, "If you build it, they will come." He interprets this message as an instruction to build a baseball field on his farm. You could say that nonprofits hear the voices of those in need encouraging them to build a new or bigger community resource like a food pantry, church, shelter, health center, affordable housing, or veterans center.

Everywhere I drive in the Triangle I see new buildings going up. The growth is in residential, for-profit, and nonprofit buildings. As a consultant who provides counsel for capital campaigns for nonprofits, it occurs to me that the steps to planning a successful capital campaign are like constructing a new home or office building. Both take a lot of planning, involve many people, and require a lot of money.

Let’s look at the steps to build a home:

BUILDING A HOME

• Survey the land chosen
• Choose an architect
• Choose a builder
• Create a timeline
• Estimate the cost
• Make adjustments along the way
• Plan for additional costs
• Design the interior
• Purchase furniture and decor
• Move in and host a housewarming party
• Maintain the home

Now take these same steps and equate them to a capital campaign for a nonprofit that needs a new facility to best serve its community:

BUILDING A CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

• Survey = Conduct a feasibility study to determine if raising funds is possible
• Architect = Choose campaign counsel
• Builder = Recruit a campaign cabinet
• Timeline = Create a campaign timeline, including quiet and public phases
• Cost = Set a dollar goal and determine how long it will take to achieve it
• Adjustments = Some high-level prospects will give less, and some will give more than expected, so keep adding prospects and creating challenge-gift opportunities
• Additional costs = Building costs tend to increase as ground is broken and design elements change
• Interior = Naming opportunities provide recognition
• Furniture and décor = In-kind donations will be needed as well as financial gifts
• Move in and host a party = Celebrate with a grand opening acknowledging everyone who made the campaign’s success possible
• Maintenance = Steward all campaign donors and ensure annual support after pledges are paid

Another way to think about the Field of Dreams message is “If the community has a need, a nonprofit will build it – and it takes the entire community to be successful.”

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