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| Re: Feasibility Studies
Posted by Tony Poderis   on 1/15/2008, 9:19 am, in reply to "Feasibility Studies"
VIP Poster
Aurelia: My experience is just the opposite from what you have heard.
I have found---and it’s not a surprise---that grantors cannot be more pleased and impressed as when organizations take the time and make the effort to assess their chances of raising money for what they would like to do, or what they intend to do, when it comes to planning a major, new, fund-raising effort.
There is nothing more essential to the planning of any such campaign as when an organization has a good idea of its chances to succeed---or to know, in the first place, whether it should even conduct such a campaign. That is why it is called a Feasibility Study.
In every instance, when with an organization, we compile a listing of interview candidates. Granting foundation officials are represented, to be sure, but there are necessarily and practically far more individuals chosen for the interviews. As you know, most successful major giving campaigns (capital and endowment) receive over eighty percent of the money from individuals. With granting foundations usually giving about ten to fifteen percent, and such foundations generally being limited in number, we go to individuals who possess influence and affluence to have them provide the answers we need to the questions we ask.
It could be that what you heard was true, but perhaps limited in scope, because of a faulty attempt to conduct a Feasibility Study. An organization, conducting such a study, and having an interview with a key official of a major foundation, should only be there to gather impressions and opinions. I have seen far too many poorly-executed Feasibly Studies which has the interviewer---usually an outside consultant---actually asking for the gift, even when there is not yet a real campaign. Remember, the purpose of the study is to determine feasibility, and not to press in advance for any commitment of a gift. Maybe that’s what is turning off some foundation officials.
Otherwise, properly planned and executed, certain foundations can and will participate in the study. I have found this to be true, time and again, when they are conducted properly.
Maybe of some use to you (and others) could be my article on the subject:
--- Campaign Feasibility Studies: Taking The Time To Find Out Whether The Time Is Right
http://www.raise-funds.com/072302forum.html
Tony Poderis
http://www.raise-funds.com
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