What an $80M campaign taught me about communications

Developing a communications plan for an $80 million capital campaign taught me things that have stayed with me: The biggest lesson I learned is that the bigger the initiative, the simpler the story needs to be.

An $80 million campaign goal is significant, and the story behind the message is key to building a strong campaign case, so people can understand what their investment will change, who will benefit, and why it matters. Whether communicating a major fundraising campaign, organizational change, or new strategic direction, the same principle applies. Clarity creates connection.

These are the lessons I took from my experience that I still apply today. For starters, focus on developing the story, not the deliverables. It’s easy to jump straight to what needs to be produced: campaign materials, a website, videos, presentations, donor communications, events, but before creating anything, answer these three questions:

• What are we trying to make possible?

• Why does it matter now?

• Why should our audience care?

If those answers aren't clear, producing more content won't help with clarity. Building a simple narrative that everyone can understand and repeat is the best way to develop a capital campaign. I would suggest creating a communications strategy that can translate institutional language into human language. Organizations naturally talk about themselves in organizational terms: strategic priorities, facilities, programs, endowments, and long-term objectives, but an audience typically thinks differently. They want to know: What difference will this campaign actually make?

For example, instead of just communicating that you're building a new facility, explain what that facility will be able to do in service to your target audience that it can't currently do. Rather than talking about expanding a program, show who will have access to opportunities they didn't have before. Connect every major campaign priority to a tangible human outcome. Big campaigns usually make big promises, but people want proof, not promises, and strong communications should combine aspiration with evidence.

Compiling a collection of stories that incorporate results, data, testimonials, student or community stories, organizational milestones, or examples of what previous investments have made possible are proof points that reinforce your larger narrative. Specificity is the most persuasive way to go when telling campaign stories, and adding lofty language to make the campaign feel important will be a futile endeavor.

The communications team should be included alongside leadership, advancement, and other key stakeholders early in the planning process. It is more effective when communications are involved in shaping the conversation rather than simply being tasked with announcing the outcome. Being at the table early allows communications leaders to ask questions about audience, perception, timing, potential concerns, and messaging before decisions are finalized. Sometimes those questions expose gaps that may have nothing to do with communications, and everything to do with strategy.

Prepare to build the campaign for the long haul. A multi-million-dollar campaign comprises a sequence of stories that remain relevant through different phases and milestones. You need a narrative that can continue generating meaningful stories over time by creating a communications roadmap that identifies opportunities for donor stories, impact stories, leadership perspectives, community voices, progress updates, and special moments. Be sure to plan for the unexpected; not every good story will land with your target audience the way you intend, so you need to be prepared with contingencies that can help to mitigate those roadblocks!

Working on a campaign of this scale reinforced something I believe about communications all along: communications, when done correctly, make complex concepts easier to understand and make people want to pay attention. As a communications team, your job isn't to say everything every time, but to identify what matters most, who needs to hear it, and communicate it in a way that establishes trust, interest, and action.

Understanding what people need to know and why it should matter to them are preliminary questions you should ask yourself before launching your next big initiative. Once you’ve answered those questions, the rest of the communications work gets a whole lot easier!