Before you commit to a campaign goal, find out if your donors will support it.
Organizations that skip the feasibility study and move directly into a campaign often discover the hard way that donor appetite was not where leadership assumed it to be. The campaign stalls, volunteer energy dissipates, and the organization spends years rebuilding the confidence of the donors it approached too soon. A feasibility study is the step that tells you what your campaign can realistically raise, who your lead donors are likely to be, and what needs to be in place before you go public with a goal.
Steven conducts confidential one-on-one interviews with your organization's most important prospective campaign donors, gathering honest feedback about their capacity, their affinity, and their likelihood to make a lead gift when the campaign launches.
Using the interview findings and donor file data, Steven maps out the gift range your campaign will require, identifying where the lead gifts need to come from and whether the donor base can realistically deliver them at the goal you have in mind.
Steven evaluates whether the organization itself is ready to run a campaign, looking at board engagement, staff capacity, case strength, and leadership stability, because donor appetite alone is not enough if the internal infrastructure is not in place. Recruiting the right volunteer leadership is essential.
Steven reviews what other organizations in your community are currently raising or planning to raise, assessing how competing campaigns may affect donor availability and whether your timing needs to be adjusted accordingly.
The study concludes with a clear, evidence-based recommendation on whether to proceed, and if so, at what goal and on what timeline. If the findings suggest waiting, Steven will outline exactly what needs to change before a campaign launch makes sense.
Every feasibility study produces a comprehensive written report covering donor feedback themes, gift range analysis, readiness findings, recommended goal range, and recommendations.
Steven works with your team to identify the right people to approach for confidential interviews, using giving history, relationship depth, and campaign proximity as the criteria for building a list that will produce honest, useful feedback.
One to One also conducts direct mail survey to a wider donor-base and to local business and community leaders to seek their feedback and level of interest regarding the organization's plans.
Interviews are conducted one on one, in confidence, and outside the presence of staff or board. Donors speak more candidly with an independent consultant, which is precisely what makes the feedback actionable rather than polished.
Steven synthesizes the interview data into a clear picture of gift capacity patterns, donor sentiment, case strength, and any conditions or concerns that need to be resolved before a campaign launch.
The engagement concludes with a written recommendation report that delivers a go/no-go position, a recommended goal range, suggested timing, and the specific conditions that need to be in place before the campaign begins.
A fundraising feasibility study is a structured research process conducted before a capital campaign launches. It involves confidential interviews with your most important prospective donors, an analysis of your organization's readiness, and a review of the external environment to determine what your campaign can realistically raise. The study does not just validate a goal. It tells you who your lead donors and leadership team are likely to be, what concerns exist in the donor community, and what conditions need to be met before you go public with a campaign ask.
Some organizations proceed without a feasibility study and succeed. What they cannot do is know in advance whether they will. The study exists to replace assumption with evidence, and the organizations that skip it are making a significant financial and reputational commitment based on internal optimism rather than donor reality. When a campaign stalls or misses its goal, the cost is not just financial. It is the goodwill of the donors who were approached too early, the energy of the volunteers who championed it, and the credibility of the leadership who committed to a number they could not reach. A feasibility study is what makes the difference between a campaign built on confidence and one built on hope.
"We'd never run a capital campaign before. The feasibility study alone told us which donors were ready to lead and at what level. We raised $2.3M against a $2M goal on a timeline we didn't think was possible."
Every engagement starts with a free, no-obligation conversation. Bring your goals, your timeline, and your questions.
