Our Approach to Campaign Planning Studies

With an increasingly complex marketplace, nonprofit leaders need comprehensive market intelligence in order to plan a campaign destined for success.

No longer is a summary of interviews with key constituents enough to drive critical decisions. Instead, a multi-dimensional understanding of the charitable environment is necessary.

Understanding this reality, Marts & Lundy has developed the Philanthropy Market Assessment – a suite of services that will sharpen your campaign vision and strengthen your campaign plan.

The Market Assessment is crafted to

Engage Key Constituents in Campaign Planning Process
Cultivate Through Donor Engagement
Assess Organizational Readiness
Determine Philanthropic Capacity through Analytics
Test Case for Support and Other Key Messages
Test Campaign Feasibility (where necessary)
Recommend Corrective Actions
Recommend Next Steps, Timelines, Resourcing and Staffing

The offerings in the Market Assessment address both external conditions and internal resources with a combination of personal interviews, data analytics and program evaluation. We work with you to determine which of the services your institution needs and facilitate their effective and efficient delivery.

External Assessment

Interviews with key constituents

These remain an important component of deepening engagement with potential donors. Traditionally referred to as “feasibility studies,” our constituent interviews go far beyond assessing how much a potential donor might give. Instead our senior consultants engage interviewees in meaningful conversations that generate in-depth, nuanced information that will help your organization refine its case statement and design the best possible cultivation and solicitation approach for that prospect.

Small group gatherings

Leaders can engage with thought leaders and influencers in a manner that is not as prescriptive as a one-on-one encounter. Whether a focus group facilitated by a senior consultant or a social event hosted by the president, these gatherings engage key constituents in case and strategy development and further cultivate their relationship with the organization.

Online surveying

A highly efficient way to engage a broad base of constituents. Your potential donors extend well beyond those who can be personally interviewed or invited to a gathering, yet their collective opinions can have great influence on campaign planning. Our analysts work with you to design and deploy a survey and provide analysis, recommendations and an interactive dashboard of your data that you can use in the context of the overall external assessment.

Internal Assessment

Internal Readiness Assessment

During the readiness assessment we focus on infrastructure, including staff and systems, in order to identify areas that could be strengthened prior to launching a campaign. It typically includes interviews with key staff, volunteer leaders and an analysis of performance metrics.

Developing the Case and key messages

This is central to engaging donors. Our communications experts work with you to assess current language and optimize it to fully embody your campaign vision and priorities. Early attention to these strategic communications allows for meaningful conversations with key constituents, whose feedback further enriches the messaging.

Data analysis

Analytics has become a core element of effective campaign planning. Our analytics team offers multiple solutions and works with you and your senior consultant to determine which will yield the most informative and actionable results for your organization. Our clients who are preparing for comprehensive campaigns typically engage our Analytical Solutions team to perform a Capacity Analysis and a Benchmarking Study. The Capacity Analysis determines philanthropic capacity of your donors and uses forecasting models to assist in setting achievable campaign goals and determining required staffing. Our Benchmarking Study provides a comparison of key performance metrics with a cohort of peers and aspirational comparison institutions.