Q:  I work at a Christian school, and we just purchased a new building. We desperately needed a new space, and we found a building that we couldn't pass up. We now owe several hundred-thousand dollars to pay off the new building, and we are planning to ask our community for funds. Does the Benevon Model work for this type of fundraising?

Karen in Minnesota

A:  Yes, our model works well for Christian schools looking to raise funds for a new school building. Ideally, you would start using the model two to three years before those capital funds are needed so that you can fill the pipeline, so to speak, with mission-focused donors who have been giving consistently for your unrestricted operating needs.

If you need capital funding right away, you can start by doing what we call Point of Re-Entry Events for existing donors who already love your work and might be good candidates for major gifts. (We do not recommend starting a brand-new relationship with a donor by asking them for a capital gift.)

Then use the model to simultaneously start up Point of Entry^® Events to engage new potential donors. Following the steps of the model, cultivate the new donors and invite them six to nine months later to an Ask Event^™ where they will be invited to join your Multiple-Year Giving Society^™ for unrestricted operating funds. Within a few months of their first unrestricted gift, you can invite them to one of your Point of Re-Entry Events for capital.

At our school in Seattle where the model began, we raised $3.2 million for our new building from eighteen donors within a year after our first Ask Event. Those five-year pledges that people make at the Ask Event for unrestricted funds are a very powerful statement of their commitment to your mission. These passionate donors will not be offended if you call them shortly after their first gift to invite them to the special Point of Re-Entry Events about capital. Just be sensitive to those who are truly not interested in (or capable of participating in) your capital campaign. Be sure to Bless and Release them.

Finally, be sure to check out our partner, RSI, the pre-eminent consulting firm when it comes to capital campaigns for Christian schools. They are experts in how to integrate our model with your campaign.

Terry