Is your school building a new arts center or sports stadium? A capital campaign will help you raise the funds you need.

Capital campaigns are targeted fundraising efforts designed to accomplish a specific goal (i.e. the aforementioned buildings), and they’re usually implemented by private and independent schools or by colleges and universities.

For comprehensive information on capital campaigns, you can check out Aly Sterling Philanthropy’s Capital Campaign Guide.

If you’re ready to get started with our creative fundraising ideas that will help your school build a successful campaign, then check out our curated list:

1. Look into a fundraising consultant.
2. Screen your donors.
3. Build custom donation forms.
4. Promote matching gifts to your capital campaign donors.
5. Sell custom fundraising products.
6. Host an event at the end of your campaign.

Now let’s discuss each idea in more detail.

1. Look into a fundraising consultant.

What’s the school fundraising idea?

One of the more important considerations for your capital campaign will be whether or not you’ll need to hire a consultant. A capital campaign consultant should be hired during the planning phase of your capital campaign.

Consultants can bring valuable expertise to the table that can fill in the gaps in your in-house team and set up your school for long-term success. After all, a capital campaign consultant should partner with your organization and help you create sustainable solutions so that things don’t fall apart once the consultant leaves.

Bringing an expert on board is an investment in your school. Though you will have to front the initial cost, you can build a strong relationship with a consultant that you can leverage in the future.

How does it work?

Your school will need to identify the capital campaign consultant who can provide the most value to your organization. That means seeking out the consultant or consulting firm that can strengthen key aspects of your operations and motivate your supporters internally.

In addition to finding a consultant who will be a good fit for your school, take these important factors into consideration:

• How much will the consultant cost?
• What is their availability during the course of your capital campaign?
• Will the consultant work directly with your fundraising staff, or will they be working remotely?
• What kind of references can they provide based on past clients?
• Do they have experience with prospect research?

If you’d like to take a formal approach to the hiring process, request a proposal from your top choices. Evaluate each consultant’s understanding of your school’s need to determine the best fit for your school.

Where can I learn more about this school fundraising idea?

Aly Sterling Philanthropy is a full-service consulting firm with services for capital campaigns. Learn more about Aly Sterling’s insight into capital campaign best practices with this resource.

2. Screen your donors.

What’s the school fundraising idea?

One of the most effective capital campaign fundraising ideas is to send targeted appeals to the donors who are most likely to benefit your school. While all of your supporters are incredibly valuable, major donors can create a lasting impact with their high-level gifts.

In an ideal world, you could reach out to each and every donor. As is the current case, however, your school will be well-served if you can direct your limited resources toward the donors who are most likely to create the most impact.

That’s why screening services can be such a huge benefit to your school.

Screening services can help your school identify the donors and potential donors who harbor the most giving potential.

Wealth screenings and prospect research will be incredibly important to the success of your capital campaign because you’ll need high-level donors to give to the quiet phase of your campaign. With screenings, you can identify these donors so that you can make a targeted ask to get your campaign off the ground.

How does it work?

In a wealth screening, your donors will be analyzed for various traits and wealth indicators, such as:

• Real estate ownership
• SEC transactions
• Business affiliations
• Past giving history
• Political donations

With all of this information, your school can gain a more comprehensive picture of your donors and can better understand how much each prospect can reasonably give to your school.

To actually perform a wealth screening, you can either:

• Hire a fundraising consultant who offers wealth screening services.
• Hire the services of a screening company, which can compare data across multiple public databases and rank your donors based on their giving potential.
• Equip your in-house research team with quiet phase goals so that they know how much time they should spend researching each prospect.
• Designate a staff member or team to DIY (this option is feasible for very small or newer schools who may not have a robust development staff).

Depending on your budget and the size of your donor pool, your school can choose the method that’s right for you.

Where can I learn more about this school fundraising idea?

For more comprehensive information on screening services for private and independent schools, you can check out this DonorSearch guide.

3. Build custom donation forms.

What’s the school fundraising idea?

Custom online donation forms are key to collecting contributions for your school’s capital campaign. These forms will be especially important during the public phase of your campaign, when everyone has the ability to donate.

After all, your donors are busy! Online donation forms are incredibly convenient because donors can give anytime, anywhere. This is especially true if your donation pages are optimized for mobile devices (which means that donors can easily access and use the pages on a phone).

Additionally, donation pages are useful for collecting data on your supporters. For instance, the data that you collect from your donation page can give you insights into a donor’s:

• Giving habits.
• Preferred donation methods.
• Participation in events and other engagement opportunities.

Knowing the information listed above can help you determine strategies to improve your online donation forms.

However, the data that you collect needs to go somewhere, and the most common location is your nonprofit’s CRM. You can always input the data in manually, but who has time for that! Another option is to integrate your donation form with your CRM, which we’ll talk about in the next section.

Just as important is the trust that your school can build with your donors through effective, branded pages. Donors are wary of typing their personal credit card information into donation forms that are hosted by third-party sites or that aren’t branded to your school.

By creating custom donation forms that reflect your school and your capital campaign, you can reassure donors that their gifts are, in fact, going directly to your school’s most pressing project.

How does it work?

There are several platforms that you can use to build online donation forms, such as:

• Payment processing software. To accept online donations, your school must use a payment processor. Payment processors handle the transaction of a donor’s funds into your school’s bank account. Some payment processors also provide donation form building tools.
• Donation form software. There are many platforms designed specifically for nonprofits and schools. With these user-friendly tools, you can build custom donation forms without advanced knowledge of HTML and CSS.
• CRM software. Many CRMs have online donation form tools built in. With CRM software, the donor data you collect from online donation forms will automatically be loaded into your CRM!

Of course, you can always DIY a donation form if you have a strong IT infrastructure at your school.

Another solution is to hire a digital consulting firm to develop a high-quality donation page. While these consultants can help your organization with the design, they mainly focus on the “behind the scenes” part of your donation page.

If your school is looking for custom solutions that might not be available in donation or CRM software, a digital consultant can recommend a more expansive, flexible fundraising tool and make adjustments to create a special donation form just for your school.

Since schools have a slightly different fundraising approach than other nonprofits, you can create a unique donation form that is tailored specifically for alumni—a group that brings in a large percentage of any school’s donations. For instance, you could create a peer-to-peer donation page as part of your capital campaign where alumni can raise money for special occasions like birthdays and weddings.

The key is to implement donation forms that your supporters will feel comfortable using. Think about it this way: if your donation process is convenient, donors are more likely to go through with the giving process and give again in the future. Important elements to look for in donation software include mobile optimization, recurring gifts and a simple process.

You never want donors to have to pinch, scroll or zoom to read your text or fill out your form. When your donation forms are built with mobile devices in mind, donors will have an enjoyable experience no matter what device they use.

Additionally, features like recurring gifts and suggested donation amounts help simplify the process for donors, making it easier for them to give to your nonprofit.

Where can I learn more about this school fundraising idea?

If you want to learn more about how schools can use online donations (and other fundraising tools) to raise money during a capital campaign, Qgiv has a whole list of tools that can benefit your campaign.

4. Promote matching gifts to your capital campaign donors.

What’s the school fundraising idea?

One of the best school fundraising ideas is to maximize the impact of contributions to your capital campaign through matching gifts.

Matching gifts are a form of corporate philanthropy in which companies match monetary donations their employees make to nonprofits, including schools.

By promoting matching gifts to your supporters before, during, and after they make their donations, your school can double (or even triple) the power of your supporters’ gifts.

Many individuals are unaware of matching gift programs, unsure of whether or not their employer offers a corporate giving program, or uninformed about how to secure their gift match. Because of this, it’s imperative that your school takes promoting matching gifts seriously.

How does it work?

The matching gift process is actually pretty simple:

• First, your school reaches out to donors to research their matching gift status. You can direct them to look this information up in a matching gift search tool like the one from Double the Donation.
• Next, they read up on the parameters of their employer’s program, including facts like minimum/maximum gift amount, the deadline for filing their matching gift request, and more.
• After they give, you can follow up with them on filing their matching gift request. Send a matching gift reminder as part of your thank-you email or letter, or even give them a call to make sure their request is received by their employer.

That’s it! Since so many individuals work for companies with matching gift programs in place, it’s a no-brainer for your school to start making matching gifts promotion a priority.

See how Audubon leverages a branded matching gift resource page into their fundraising strategy?

We’ve mentioned matching gift software, but how do you know which tools are right for your school?

We have two favorite options for you:

Double the Donation’s Premium Plan allows your school to insert a matching gift search tool plugin directly into your website. From there, capital campaign donors can easily access the tool and look up their employer’s matching gift information.

360MatchPro by Double the Donation is a matching gift automation platform that takes this process several steps further. If your school is much larger and handles a lot of matching gift revenue, this is an especially great option! 

360MatchPro automatically scans the information your capital campaign donors provide during the donation process (email domains, employer information, etc.) to determine their matching gift eligibility. Depending on the results, the platform triggers an email to the donor outlining the relevant next steps.

Using this platform, you can automate matching gift identification across your supporters so your school will always know who to focus on when promoting matching gifts.

By incorporating matching gift software into your school’s capital campaign fundraising strategy, your team maximizes the impact of corporate giving at your organization.

Where can I learn more about this school fundraising idea?

Can’t wait to learn more about matching gifts? Check out Double the Donation’s in-depth guide to all things matching gifts to discover more strategies for making the most of your donors’ support.

5. Sell custom fundraising products.

What’s the school fundraising idea?

One of the most effective ways to engage supporters during the public phase of a capital campaign is to sell fundraising products. Products are a great incentive for donors because they receive something in return for their gifts.

Plus, products are perfect for spreading school spirit to your students and your donors. From t-shirts to baseball hats, supporters can use custom clothing and other useful fundraising products in their daily lives.

Supporters will love to sport paraphernalia of their beloved alma maters! School pride is not only great for your student body, but it can also help you retain alumni and other supporters as donors. Think about it: students who actively support their school are more likely to return as donors later.

How does it work?

Your school can create demand for fundraising products by branding them to your school.

Branding products includes incorporating your school’s:

• Name.
• Colors.
• Mascot.

All of these elements are important for building your school’s brand. With branded products, your supporters are more likely to feel connected to your school.

Your school can launch a merchandise sales page by using a fundraising website for schools. Simply select the merchandise you want to sell, brand it to your school, and launch your page!

Since you can create all kinds of merchandise to sell on your page, supporters from all over your community will be excited to give back.

Even better? Since they get to keep the merchandise, these sales are a powerful alternative to donating for those who have already made a gift to your school this year.

Where can I learn more about this school fundraising idea?

Check out Fundly’s school fundraising ideas for more information on the types of products you can create.

6. Host an event at the end of your campaign.

What’s the school fundraising idea?

An event is a great way to thank all of your donors and celebrate the accomplishments achieved during your capital campaign.

Of course, you can also host a fundraising event to raise the remaining funds that you need to meet your goal. Fundraising events are perfect for spreading excitement among your supporters, which can encourage them to donate to your campaign in a last-minute rush.

Even more so, a fundraising event is a chance to meet with your donors face-to-face so that you can learn about their motivations for supporting your school.

Therefore, though fundraising events are perfect for the success of your capital campaign, they’re also important for the overall success of your school’s fundraising initiatives. Getting to know your donors can make or break your institution.

How does it work?

There are two overarching methods to raising money through events. The first method is to center a campaign around an event. Online fundraising techniques are often done this way. The second method is to encourage donors to pay for something while they are physically attending the event. 

There are many ways to raise money at a school fundraising event, but here are some of the most effective:

• Pair the event with a school crowdfunding campaign to raise any remaining funds. 
• Host a school auction, either as a standalone or as part of a larger event. 
• Look into corporate sponsors to provide fundraising matches, matching gifts or in-kind donations.

Hosting fundraising events for schools is an opportunity to be creative. Get innovative with your school fundraising ideas to encourage everyone to get involved. 

Any of these ideas can reap major rewards for your campaign, but all events require strategic planning in order to be successful.

Before diving into your school’s capital campaign fundraising event, make sure you’re equipped with all of the tools you need to pull off a profitable (and super engaging!) fundraiser. Get together with your consultant to answer key questions about your event, such as:

• What type of event will resonate best with our audience? Consider who your guests will be to plan an event that appeals to their interests and giving abilities. For instance, if your school is comprised of families from a variety of economic backgrounds, a silent auction might make your guests more comfortable than a live auction, since they won’t have to bid publicly.
• What technology do we need to power our event? Fundraising event tools come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from end-to-end event management software to specialized platforms like mobile bidding tools or peer-to-peer fundraising software. Once you’ve nailed down the type of event you’re planning, make sure the necessary software fits into your campaign budget.
• Who will be responsible for planning and executing the event? Your consultant can help your nonprofit staff put together a stellar team to manage each aspect of your event. You’ll need a key member of your staff to take the lead, but also consider how volunteers, your board, and other stakeholders will play a role in the fundraiser’s success.

It’s also important to recognize that fundraising events shouldn’t be used as a substitute for stewardship events.

Once you’ve reached your campaign goal, and if you’ve decided to host an event to celebrate, you shouldn’t ask your attendees for more donations. Doing so can deter them from giving to your school again (after all, how would you feel to be prodded for funds after you’ve already given a significant contribution?).

Where can I learn more about this school fundraising idea?

Hosting an event at the end of your capital campaign will take some planning. Check out this capital campaign planning article for more information!