All About Capital Campaigns: Nonprofits, Fundraising, Major Gifts, Toolkit

If you’re considering a capital campaign, or if you just want to raise more money, it’s time to strengthen your resolve and muster the courage to ask for gifts. Campaign fundraising experts Amy Eisenstein and Andrea Kihlstedt share practical ways to build your fundraising courage.  -------------    This episode was recorded as part of a live webinar held Monday, December 20, 2021. T...

In December, as donors make their year-end charitable contributions, what can you do to make your most important donors happy?  Fundraising experts Amy Eisenstein and Andrea Kihlstedt share their favorite year-end stewardship practices and answer a host of capital campaign questions. -------------    This episode was recorded as part of a live webinar held Monday, December 13, 2021....

Amy Eisenstein and Andrea Kihlstedt are joined by special guest Vu Le, of the blog NonprofitAF.com, in a lively discussion about community-centered fundraising for nonprofits. Vu Le shares his controversial views on how fundraising practices should change to become grounded in social equity. -------------   This episode was recorded as part of a live webinar held Monday, December 6, 2021...

Nonprofit fundraising experts Amy Eisenstein and Andrea Kihlstedt share their favorite donor stewardship tips and encourage you to use the holiday giving season to thank your donors for their past contributions in meaningful and appropriate ways. -------------  This episode was recorded as part of a live webinar held Monday, November 29, 2021. To participate in future webinars, register at To...

Fundraising experts Amy and Andrea discuss the capital campaign questions every board member wants answers to.  Where’s the money going to come from? How much will they have to give? What’s going to be expected of them? And many more important questions facing every nonprofit board member as they consider a capital campaign.  Download our favorite resource on the topic: " A Board Member’...

Set up your 2022 nonprofit fundraising for success starting by following up and following through with your capital campaign donors. Fundraising  experts Amy and Andrea talk about the phases and timing of your nonprofit's campaign and communication. They discuss the importance of  doing a good job on the last phase of your campaign. Following their advice will help set you...

Amy and Andrea discuss the importance of considering diversity, equity and inclusion into your planning process long before the start of your campaign. Then, they pivot to participant questions about campaign leadership – what qualities your chair should have, when to recruit them, and what to do if you can’t find the right person at the start of your campaign.  -------------   &nbs...

In this episode Amy and Andrea discuss the strategic use of challenge gift as an important tool of your capital campaign. They discuss several ways you might make use of these gifts to motivate donors to give large gifts, energize donors to step up and set deadlines to stimulate giving. -------------               &nbs...

Do you get anxious when you have to ask for large gifts? On this Toolkit Talk Amy and Andrea share their tips about how to get over asking-anxiety. They discuss how to talk less and listen more.  And they refocus the task from getting money to finding out what the donor wants to give.  They even do a little off-the-cuff role playing to give you a sense of what works. ----------...

Amy and Andrea talk about the various ways to figure out if your organization is ready for a capital campaign. They’ve found that the process of looking at your fundraising systems and board can be done simply and is often remarkably effective. Assessing various aspects of your organization will give you focus and a way forward whether or not a campaign is imminent. -------------   &nbsp...

Amy Eisenstein and special guest, Richard Quinn, Toolkit Advisor, discuss the importance and nuance of fall fundraising. How you approach fall fundraising will depend on the stage and timing of your campaign. Your annual fund will continue throughout your campaign. Campaign gifts will be asked for in conjunction with or separate from your annual fund. Listen to get your questions answered. -------...

Today Andrea and Amy are joined by Sierra Rosen, Executive Director of Planned Giving at Brown University, to talk about planned giving. They discuss why planned giving matters even for small to mid-size organizations. They chew over simple strategies you can use to start building a program and how it dovetails nicely with a capital campaign.  -------------      &nbsp...

In this episode, Amy and Andrea talk with the remarkable Sarah Durham, founder of Big Duck, one of the premiere nonprofit communications company in the field. Sarah's down to earth, practical style combined with her deep expertise made for a fascinating and insightful session.  Sarah discusses  branding and the elements cases for support. She discussed “mind share” and shared her insight...

In this episode, Amy and Andrea demystify the quiet phase of your campaign.  What can you talk about in the quiet phase and what’s off limits? And why it matters! -------------            This episode was recorded as part of a live webinar held Monday, September 20, 2021. To participate in future webinars, register at ToolkitTalks.com .

Andrea and Amy discuss the ins and outs of board giving and other juicy board topics. They offer suggestions about how to make board meetings interesting and how to handle multiple asks of a single board member.   -------------           This episode was recorded as part of a live webinar held Monday, September 13, 2021. To participate in future we...

In today’s podcast, Andrea Kihlstedt interviews Capital Campaign Toolkit Advisor, Kent Stroman, about how he helped an organization move their board from low level giving to 100% giving and raised more money collectively than the board ever imagined. Kent’s approach is simple and direct and can be easily adapted to fit your organization’s board. -------------       &n...

Amy and Andrea share some of their thoughts about training board members and volunteers for a capital campaign. They paint a broad picture of when and how you should train people.  And they present some of their favorite fundraising exercises for you to try.   Adults learn best when they draw from their own experiences. The exercises Amy and Andrea use are designed to draw out some of th...

Amy and Andrea discuss ways to make your annual fall fundraising work with your capital campaign planning.  They explore the ways monthly giving increases the kind of donor loyalty.  And why donor loyalty sets the stage for asking those donors for larger gifts.  In a rollicking discussion, they touch on a wide swath of topics from whether development directors should attend board me...

In this episode, Amy and Andrea discuss the importance of involving volunteers in your campaign. You’ll learn why involving volunteers should be a priority and how to do it well. You’ll get practical advice about when to recruit people and why you should develop short-term specific assignments for them. And you’ll get a great suggestion about how to run a donor cultivation even that really works....

Amy and Andrea are joined by campaign expert, Xan Blake, in a lively conversation about boards and capital campaigns. Xan suggests that for the early planning phases of a campaign, board members should be in learning mode. Once the campaign plan takes shape, your board will move into a more active role that falls into three buckets: organizing, advocating and participating.

Amy and Andrea are joined by campaign expert, Kent Stroman, in an insightful discussion of how to make decisions and why it matters. Kent shares with us his thoughts on the importance of intentional and thoughtful decision-making. You’ll learn to consider the who, when and how aspects of good decision-making and why that matters to the success of your campaign. -------- This podcast is the fifth o...

While delighting the donors in your campaign is important, don’t overlook the importance of making your campaign volunteers feel great. In today’s episode, Amy and Andrea welcome capital campaign expert Sarah Plimpton talk about the challenges of keeping campaign volunteers engaged. The way you treat your campaign volunteers will set the tone for your campaign now and in the future. -------- This...

In today’s episode, Amy and Andrea are joined by their amazing colleague, Paula Peter, in a lively discussion about campaign leadership. You’ll find out what makes a good campaign chair and how to go about finding and recruiting those people for your campaign. Paula highlights the different qualities organizations need in their campaign chair, and she offers suggestions for when and how to recruit...

Amy and Andrea are joined by campaign expert, Richard Quinn, to discuss constructive approaches to common campaign dilemmas. For example, how should you respond if you go to solicit a donor for $500,000 and she greets you at the door with a check for $50,000?  Or, what to do if your campaign chair isn’t good at soliciting gifts? -------- This podcast is the second of a special Summer Series f...

In today’s podcast, Amy Eisenstein and Andrea Kihlstedt welcome capital campaign expert Jeff Hensley to talk about donor fatigue.  They enjoy a revealing discussion about what donors are really tired of.  And, it’s not giving away money!  You’ll learn where to look and what to do when your donors start resenting being asked — or even worse — simply stop giving to your organization....