Capital Campaigns

Fundraising

Successful fundraising for eleemosynary institutions always starts with careful planning and research. At NewSouth AssociatesNS, our experienced consultants take the time to gain an intimate knowledge of your institution, its mission, its people, and its position within the greater community. After this research has been completed, our consultants formulate a detailed plan for a successful campaign based upon your institution’s uniquenesses. Whether you are starting an Annual Fund or planning an ambitious capital campaign, NewSouth has the fundraising professionals available to help you assess and meet your goals.

Prospect Research

Knowing your prospects and their ability to make a gift is a critical first step in your fund-raising efforts. Certainly, the best way to gather information and get to know your prospects is through a face-to-face meeting; yet, NewSouth AssociatesNS can help you take your research one step further. We have access to a number of web-based prospect research tools that can help you identify prospects and learn more about their civic and charitable involvements. In many cases, we will be able to provide a confidential giving range, so that you can ask for an appropriate amount when the time is right.

Grant Writing

There is an art to writing successful grant proposals. Nonprofit organizations often make the mistake of submitting proposals without first doing their homework and researching a foundation’s interests and guidelines. Moreover, the majority of proposals are not well-written. Such a proposal reflects poorly on an organization and usually hurts its chances to submit requests in future years. NewSouth AssociatesNS has years of experience in writing successful, compelling grant proposals. We have helped our clients raise millions of dollars for building projects, endowment funds, scholarship funds and special programs. We can also help you identify foundation and corporate prospects in your area. Please contact us to discuss your proposal needs and see how we may be of service to you.

Feasibility Studies

At NewSouth AssociatesNS, we view the Feasibility Study as a mandatory step in the campaign planning process. This study should take place after the board goes through its long-range strategic planning but before a campaign is announced to the public. Your institution may have the best of intentions and wonderful projects on the drawing board; however, if your constituents feel that the goals are misguided or are not worthy of their support, your efforts to raise money will surely fail.

Our feasibility study methodology has proven successful in numerous schools, churches, and non-profit institutions, as it is a highly individualized, detailed process. As consultants and, thus, objective interviewers, we are able to engage prospects in confidential, meaningful dialogue about the institution’s vision, goals, and fundraising plans. We are also able to discover their giving parameters and individual philanthropic interests. Through the Feasibility Study, our goal is to ascertain whether:

  • The institution is deemed worthy of support by its constituents.
  • The institution’s constituents accept and endorse the proposed projects as critical to future success and, if applicable, as a way to enhance the institution’s overall enrollment.
  • The institution’s goals are reasonably important to prospects in relation to their other philanthropic interests.
  • The level of giving necessary for success truly exists among your constituents and the standards of giving are validated.
  • The institution is able to organize a group of influential, interested leaders to assume responsibility for the campaign.

In some cases, we are able to make specific asks during the interview, giving you a jump-start on your fundraising efforts.

The comprehensive written report that you receive at the end of the study will provide an aggregate view of the information we obtain; in addition, we provide individual reports and confidential memorandums on the prospects we interview.

For more information about our feasibility study process, please contact us.

Fundraising for eleemosynary institutions requires a carefully planned campaign, and the roadmap for that campaign is the funding strategy plan, or FSP. The key elements of the FSP are the case casement, which is produced during the strategic planning phase and used to guide your institution and our consultants through the next stages, which include the feasibility study, the silent phase, and finally, the public phase. At each phase of the fundraising process, NewSouthNS has talented people with experience and expertise in place to help bring out the best your community has to offer.

Before NewSouthNS begins any capital campaign, however, it’s imperative that we get to know your institution’s “DNA.” We need a thorough, almost elemental understanding of your mission, philosophy, history, people, and what you hope to accomplish through your capital campaign. From there, our experienced consultants – all working administrators at a dynamic, growing, and entrepreneurial independent school that has raised more than $10 million in the last six years – can help you craft the right plan to meet the unique needs of your institution and guide you seamlessly through the process.