Capital Campaign Fundraising with Amy Varga

Are you a nonprofit leader wondering if your organization should launch a capital campaign? If you’re on the fence about it, then this episode is for you. I’m chatting with special guest, Amy Varga, capital campaign expert and founder of The Varga Group. 

She dives into what you need to know, including how to leverage your donor base, conduct a feasibility study, and how financial planning plays an important role in campaign planning. She also breaks down how to tell the difference between incremental growth and a campaign. This is such a great episode for leaders looking to learn more about capital campaigns and how to use them in your organization.

About Amy

For over 25 years, Amy Varga has worked with organizations to strengthen philanthropy, leadership, and boards. Amy founded The Varga Group in 2013 as a management consulting firm specializing in capital campaigns, major gifts fundraising, fundraising training, retreat facilitation, board development, and leadership coaching. The Varga Group has guided over 100 higher education institutions, independent schools, and nonprofits to raise more than $250M.

Read the podcast transcript here.

Episode Summary

In this episode, you’ll get a deeper understanding of capital campaigns including:

• Amy’s lifelong dedication to nonprofits (6:30)

• Assessing needs and filling the gap (9:25)

• Amy’s fundraising journey (14:20)

• What campaign consulting is (19:35)

• Leveraging your existing donor base (24:35)

• Conducting a feasibility study (28:15)

• Incremental growth vs. a campaign (33:45)

• The intersection of financial planning and campaign planning (40:50)

Teasers

“I think there's something magical about practitioners being educators for those programs.”

“They're going to need to also grow their operations and their staffing and also potentially their facilities to grow all of those things. So that's what a capital campaign really is about. Sometimes I think people misunderstand a capital campaign to be a building campaign.”

“We don't let them waste their money. That’s important as an ethical and integrity thing, for me to tell people upfront so that they can spend their money, building their capacity and doing all the things.”

“A good consultant will tell you, no, please don't hire us. This is not the right fit for many reasons.”

Resources

The Best Tools for an Efficient & Prosperous Nonprofit: https://100degreesconsulting.com/tools/ 

The Varga Group Website: https://thevargagroup.com/ 

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyvarga/ 

Follow Amy on Instagram: @thevargagroup

Keep up to date with the podcast: @100degreesconsulting

Follow Stephanie on Instagram: @stephanie.skry/ 

Connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanieskryzowski/ 

Visit the podcast page: https://100degreesconsulting.com/capital-campaign 

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