How your donor database can help you revive a lapsed capital campaign

Did you start a capital campaign and have to allow it to lapse before it finished? You are not the only one. Many nonprofits have had this happen-- maybe because of the economy, or unexpected changes within an organization.

Just because you let a campaign lapse, doesn't mean you have to abandon it forever. You can revive a lapsed capital campaign, and your donor database can help. By keeping your contacts current, you will have the records there to start up again when you are able.

This is the experience of the Center for Community Arts. About 10 years ago, the Center began a capital campaign and simultaneously got a grant for their first paid executive director. They planned carefully and hopes were high. Knowing that they would need to keep excellent records, they had done a careful search for the right database. Then life happened. However, even after the campaign lapsed, they continued to keep their database records as current as possible. In specific they focused on recording:

• Everyone who had donated to date
• Current contact information of donors
• Changes in households and contact information, for instance due to moves or deaths

“During the lapsed years, it always gave me a feeling of security to know that we maintained the records. Now, the record is still there of who has donated to date, so we can use it as we start up again. In a small organization, record keeping can be terrible unless computerized so that has given me a sense of security, knowing the data is there,” says Judy of the Center for Community Arts. You can read a case study on how she revived a lapsed capital campaign with the help of her donor database. 

You can also read tips on using groupings in FundRaiser to help you reconnect with donors and prospects when you want to revive a lapsed campaign.

If you'd like to see how FundRaiser can help you with the record keeping you need for reviving a lapsed capital campaign:

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