Positioning a Ministry for a Capital Campaign

How to capture the heart and mind of your donor and be seen and heard above the din of an overcrowded marketplace

Brand positioning as it relates to a capital campaign refers to the intended reason for a campaign in donor’s minds. To say it differently, a capital campaign’s brand positioning communicates the goal that will be achieved by the funds raised and explains why it is better than the status quo and/or other ways of reaching the goal. It’s important to develop a positioning statement for a capital campaign because it ensures a shared vision for the campaign throughout the organization and it serves as a guide to tactical communications planning.

Positioning Fundamentals

While there may be differences in style and language for developing a capital campaign’s brand position, there are certain parts of the fundamentals of positioning that are essential:

1. Targeted end user. The end user is a broad label for any people that would benefit from the services offered within the context of achieving the capital campaign goal. Who are they? Why are they important? What are their interests? These target characteristics are typically chosen on the basis of shared interests and groupings.
2. Frame of reference. This is another way of stating the targeted end user’s felt need that will be served by completing the capital campaign goal. The frame of reference may guide the choice of donors, identify situations in which the capital campaign goal may be used, and define other ministries or organizations that claim to serve the same objective.
3. Point of difference. A concise statement of fact or belief regarding why the outcome of the capital campaign is better positioned to alternative ministries or organizations in the frame of reference is referred to as the point of difference.
4. Reasons to believe. This is sometimes called supporting evidence in defense of the point of difference and frame of reference. In a capital campaign the reasons to believe are more likely to have a profound effect on the success and survival of the fundraising effort.

These four positioning fundamentals should be used in a formal positioning statement for the capital campaign. To illustrate, consider the following positioning statement for Spring Creek Assembly of God’s new children’s facilities (capital campaign goal):

Spring Creek Assembly of God Positioning Statement
To the parent who sees the spiritual health of his/her child as vitally important and cannot afford anything less than excellence (targeted end user), Spring Creek Assembly of God (frame of reference) offers more than other churches (point of difference) because in addition to biblical training we offer a new and improved multi-million-dollar facility to maximize impact and flexible service schedules to make it easier to fit a young family’s busy timetable and certified teachers to enhance a child’s quality of biblical education and are backed by state-of-the-art security protocols to ensure the safety of every child (reasons to believe).

Steeple provides fund raising and organizational development services to faith-based and community-based organizations of the nonprofit sector. Our efforts are dedicated to putting nonprofit managers and trustees in touch with the tools and resources they need to develop their organizations and to conduct successful capital campaigns. Our work with clients is for the long-term—to build internal capacity, to create brand equity, and to attract and retain funding. Since 2007, we’ve helped nonprofit organizations like yours raise more than $14 million.

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