1. External Campaign Planning
Tim Weidmann
Since 1986 when I was raising corporate gifts for Yale’s medical
campaign, I have worked on eight campaigns and have directed
four campaigns for a total of $2.8 billion.

2. Recruiting the campaign chair
• A campaign chair, preferably, gives the anchor
gift for the campaign
– It is sometimes best to have co-chairs
• Members of the campaign committee need to
be recruited within a similar timeframe
– These should be volunteers who are willing to
work and understand the campaign

3. Recruiting Volunteers
• The campaign committee will usually have
several sub-committees
1. A corporate and foundation gift sub-committee
2. A major gift sub-committee
3. A principal gift sub-committee
4. An endowment sub-committee
5. Etc.
• You recruit for what the volunteer is good at

4. Public phase of campaign
• The silent phase of the campaign is conducted
“under the radar”
• Best to raise about ½ of what’s needed for
campaign during silent phase
• Public phase of campaign should be
announced with fanfare and a sense of
accomplishment (“we’re half way there”)
• This creates campaign momentum

5. Campaign Receptions and Events
• Raising money amounts to social interaction,
so expect to conduct social events during the
campaign
• Events inform prospects of
– the goals of the campaign
– the reasons why the goals are important
– put a human face on the campaign:
• institution president, campaign chair, etc.

6. Defining Prospects
• Campaign counsel should conduct a feasibility
study using top prospects
• The fundraising office with counsel will define
what prospects are most likely to give and
how much they are likely to give
– This is very important
– Identification of prospects should continue
throughout the campaign

7. Building gift pyramids
• A gift pyramid tells you how many prospects you
need to get the number of gifts the campaign
needs at various gift levels
• Below is an example of a $10M gift pyramid:
Prospects Gifts Amount Total Amount
6 2 $1 million $2 million
15 5 $500,000 $2.5 million
24 8 $250,000 $2 million
30 10 $100,000 $1 million
45 15 $ 50,000 $750,000
90 30 $ 25,000 $750,000
150 50 $ 10,000 $500,000
225 75 $ 5,000 $375,000
numerous numerous $ 1,000 $125,000
TOTAL 585+ 195+ $10 million

8. Campaign phases
• Campaigns tend to have phases
– In the silent phase, the campaign will need to build
momentum
– A large anchor gift helps momentum to build, with others
stepping up to the “challenge” of the anchor gift
• Momentum often lasts beyond the mid-point of the
campaign to the 3/4s mark
– At which time, you must work against the doldrums
• At the end of the campaign, it usually helps to proceed
with an “endgame” strategy that brings the campaign
to its goal with a bang

9. Conclusion
• Some of your best campaign prospects are
cultivated by making them volunteers
• Meet and report to your campaign volunteers
regularly
– Don’t expect that all volunteers will work
• Campaigns are complex entities. A good
endgame is important for all involved to feel
valued.