Many independent schools begin thinking about a capital campaign when an exciting milestone comes into view, such as a centennial or a long-awaited new building. The work that determines a campaign’s success, however, starts well before any public announcement, often 18 to 24 months before launch, and it asks a great deal of the board, the advancement team, and the Head of School.
During a recent LeadTeam Partners Huddle, in partnership with Wavelength, three seasoned professionals who now work as fundraising consultants discussed what schools should consider before launching a capital campaign: Emma Kieran of Pilot Peak Consulting, Phil Higginson of Independent School Management (ISM), and Tesha McCord Poe of Joy-Raising.
Together, they offered five questions every head of school, trustee, and advancement director should be able to answer before moving forward.
1. Does Your Case for Support Inspire Beyond Bricks and Mortar?
Before a school sets a dollar goal for a capital campaign, Emma argues, it needs a clear answer to a bigger question. “It isn’t just a campaign to have a campaign,” Emma said. “You really need to have a vision for why. How is the school going to be different?”
That answer comes from the strategic plan, academic plan, and campus master plan working together. It belongs in a written case for support that leaders, trustees, and volunteers all use, “so that you’re all working from the same playbook,” Emma said. “You’re all talking about the same things in the same way.” Phil also recommends determining funded need for each identified priority and the funding sources: operating budget, financing, and ultimately philanthropy.
Phil also noted that faculty and staff must fully embrace the case. A case built around student impact and teaching and learning gives faculty a reason to support the campaign. Emma suggested adding a faculty or staff member to the campaign committee to keep them informed and involved.
2. Does Your Board Understand Its Campaign Role?
“The board really needs to understand that it’s their campaign,” Tesha said. “They need to own it. They need to be excited about it.” She encourages schools to ask each trustee for their best gift, one that reflects both their capacity and their excitement, and to secure board gifts first. A fully committed board gives every donor who follows a reason to join.
Most boards know that 100% trustee giving is expected. Fewer realize how long it takes to get there. Emma called full-board giving underrated, both in its importance and in the time it takes.
Giving is also only part of the role. Boards were once expected to give 20 to 50% of a campaign, and Phil has changed his language. “I’m saying generate,” he said. Trustees make a generous gift at their capacity, then ask others to join them. Board members should serve as an extension of the development team and actively participate in aspects of the donor cycle, including identification, engagement, and recognition – and when appropriate, the solicitation of donors.
Phil recommends involving every board committee in readiness work, including the Committee on Trustees, which may need to recruit philanthropists or form an advisory board. During the two years leading up to any campaign, trustees will naturally rotate on and off the board. Tesha urged schools to bring new members up to speed and stay connected to those rolling off, who often were deeply invested in the campaign and its goals.
3. Is Your Data Focused on the Right Donors?
A messy database is a common concern around campaign readiness. Phil’s advice is to stop waiting for a perfect one. “Don’t try to tackle the whole thing at once,” he said. “It’s overwhelming, and you won’t do it.” Instead, develop a strategy to cleanse your database over time. For example, update your reunion classes and your new parents every year. Within a few years, the database will look very different.
For the campaign itself, the lift is much lighter. “I don’t need the entire database to be perfect,” Phil said. “Schools will need to have carefully researched their top 100 families.” Those prospects should be researched for capacity and inclination, and annual fund conversations should be used to learn what they care about. With roughly two-thirds of a campaign coming from 60 or fewer donors, strong data on those 100 names puts a school in a good position to begin a feasibility study.
4. Have You Mapped the Path to Your Goal?
Emma recommends starting with the end goal and working backward. Otherwise, she said, “you end up thinking you’ve got to eat an elephant in one bite.” Breaking the goal into small pieces shows what it will take: more donor meetings, another gift officer, more of the Head’s time, or more volunteers making peer asks.
Phil sees the annual fund as the place to start. “The annual fund is a strategy to prepare for a campaign,” he said. It is also a time to learn about donor values and determine their interest in the school's strategic initiatives.
Tesha offered a simple test for the top 20 likely gifts: if you asked today, would you know what to ask for and how the donor would respond? The gap between those answers is the work ahead. “We don’t have a campaign; we have a theory of a campaign, until we actually have a gift,” she said.
5. Does Your Team Have the Capacity to Carry a Campaign?
Tesha noted that a campaign can take up to half of a Head of School’s time, and most advancement offices are already stretched. “I have never met an independent school advancement office that felt like it was overstaffed,” she said. Emma added that not every Head of School needs to love fundraising, but every Head needs to be the face of the vision and clearly explain why the school is undertaking the campaign. The panel suggested several ways to build capacity:
Operational Rebalancing: Phil noted that some boards budget for an Assistant Head of School during a campaign so the Head can spend more time with donors.
Fewer, Smaller Events: Emma and Tesha both encouraged lean teams to drop or rethink events, for example by replacing a large gala with a series of smaller gatherings, such as house parties.
A Broader Team: Tesha counts volunteer leaders, former trustees, and an outside consultant as part of campaign staffing. Staff doesn’t necessarily need prior campaign experience. “Everyone has their first campaign,” she said.
Assessing Your Next Steps
Ultimately, campaign readiness is about doing the foundational work before the public launch. It means clarifying the vision behind the goal, preparing the board for its full role, focusing data on the prospects who matter most, and building the team’s capacity. Schools that build this foundation first give their campaigns the strongest start and the best chance of success.
Is your school evaluating campaign readiness or planning a major fundraising milestone? LeadTeam connects independent school leaders with vetted advancement consultants and capital campaign specialists.