The Heller Fundraising Group Talks About When To Take Your Fundraising Campaign Public
One of the most common questions we hear from clients is about when they’ll be able to move from the quiet phase to the public phase of their campaign.
Our answer is always, “it depends.”
This shift needs to happen with intention. While the quiet phase is all about targeted outreach and one-on-one conversations with your lead donors, the public phase is an intensive blitz of events, online fundraising and other engagement opportunities that reach your entire base. Going public means more time and attention from your team—and more eyes on your progress.
Every campaign is different, and every organization operates on their own timeline. Rather than a target date, we look for whether certain milestones are reached. Which donors have you met with? How much have you raised? Is your team ready and energized for the work ahead?
The Heller Fundraising Group’s consulting team recently sat down to talk about the distinctions between the public and quiet phase of a campaign and why you don’t want to go public too soon.
How do you define the moment when a campaign moves from the quiet phase to the public phase?
Emmy Schneider Torruellas, senior consultant: I used to say that you needed to have at least half the fundraising goal pledged, but it's more nuanced than that. It depends more on the progress in conversations with prospective leadership donors. Have you gotten to know those who can give gifts at the highest levels? Do you know what they care most about when it comes to the institution's plans? Are you in a position to invite them to participate?
Kate Jaeger-Thomas, CEO: We don't consider the public phase until you have had the vast majority of meaningful cultivation and solicitation conversations with your top leadership donors. Much of our campaign activity in the early stages is about making sure we have clarity around where they seem themselves landing within the campaign.
What does the work look like in the quiet vs. the public phrase?
Megan Hodges, consulting services director: The public phase is a blend of crowdfunding and hosting events. You’re trying to get more bang for your buck by spending two hours with 20 people instead of 20 hours with 20 people. There’s also additional web design work, more donor acknowledgements, more gift processing. You need a marketing and communications plan. There’s event planning around your groundbreaking and other celebrations.
Kate: The public and the quiet phases have two very different kinds of activity. One-on-one conversations are a focus throughout the campaign, but in the quiet phase, that’s all you’re doing—and that takes a tremendous amount of focus and effort. You don’t want to go public too soon because that engagement with the broader public diverts attention from those important conversations.
Peter Heller, founder: It’s a myth that in the public phase you don't have to continue to do fundraising from your most capable donors. There will be some donors you haven’t talked to yet, plus some that you're going to go back to towards the end of the campaign. You're always doing that fundraising.
And once you get the word out about the campaign, donors will start to ask, “Why haven't you talked to me yet?”
Kate: It’s also worth mentioning that at the beginning of a campaign, your committee might be smaller. At the end of the campaign, you have a much larger and more mobilized group of committee members who are out there maximizing their campaign role.
Are there any pitfalls to going public too early?
Kate: We often hold people off from the public phase because maintaining momentum when you have hundreds or thousands of people watching you is harder. Campaigns go through bumps and slow periods, and that’s when it can be harder to tell the story of momentum. When you have a smaller gap to fill, those $1,000 gifts can have the impact you want.
Emmy: You can also spread your leadership too thin with a lot of events and coordination and full community engagement. They need to focus their energy where it’s most effective.
What are some other misconceptions people have about taking their campaign public?
Megan: That it’s a panacea. Going public is not the solution to closing out your campaign on a quicker timeline. If anything, going public too soon will slow you down significantly.
Kate: That the dollars are going to fly in. I often tell people it’s as hard to raise $5,000 as it is to raise $50,000.
Peter: The differentiation between quiet and public doesn't matter as much as people think it does.
Emmy: Quiet doesn't mean silent! It just means you're not sending out mass emails or expending your leadership team’s energy on general donor engagement and communication efforts. You can and should absolutely share periodic project updates with your full community.
Questions about your campaign’s timing?
If you’re thinking about your campaign’s timeline and wondering when to go public, let’s talk. We can help you develop a strategy that works for your organization, your goals and your team’s capacity. Set up a free 30-minute strategy session to get started.