Board/Steering Committee

The Board needs to consider its own leadership and, if necessary, bring in additional members.

There needs to be a “worker bee” chairman of the campaign. This can be one person or two, but it’s best to have a person or persons who can push things along. This function is most likely separate from that of the one or more honorary chairmen who are essentially figureheads—they help, but they don’t run the show.

What does the “worker bee” chairman do? He ensures progress. He watches time tables and makes sure that meetings take place. Ideally, he not only identifies guys with whom the lead gift officer should meet, he also reaches out to other alumni himself and asks them to support the project. He helps push other recruited steering committee members (fund-raising volunteers) to make contacts as well.

Is the steering committee a fixed-membership committee? No. There will be members who come and go, members who stay for a long time, and others who are never officially on the committee who may do as much or more as the others.

Should you assume there is a fixed date to stop the campaign? The best answer is no. Every campaign is different, but they have lots of similarities. Certain constants always exist, and you need to know them:

1. It takes time to confirm pledges. Most alumni with whom we meet, even if they are very interested, need time to consider what their pledge will be. This can take 30-120 days. We constantly have to go back to them to get them to confirm.
2. Once pledges are firmed up, it takes time to begin to experience the resulting cash flow. In general, once a person pledges, it may take another three months before his first contribution is sent.

The end result is the goal. You need to focus on the goal. It is almost certain that, on the last day of your official campaign contract, there will be a long list of alumni who have been contacted about the campaign who have not pledged. There will be opportunities to go back to them over the course of the following one to three years—for example, when ordering the recognition plaques, planning the dedication event for the new building, or about various homecoming events down the road. You’re wise to consider this a long-term process.