8 Top Capital Campaign Consultants To Help You Raise More
If you’re in the process of planning a capital campaign, you’re probably no stranger to all the factors — case for support, feasibility study, fundraising teams, etc. — that go into planning and running a successful campaign. As a result, you might be on the look out for some fundraising assistance.
Luckily, that’s what capital campaign consultants are for; these professionals can help guide you through the crucial planning stages, conduct feasibility studies, and much more to ensure that your organization is ready to launch a capital campaign.
Since there are so many different fundraising consultants available, it can be tricky trying to pinpoint a consultant with capital campaign experience. That’s why we’ve complied a list of our favorite seven capital campaign consultants to help you in your search.
| Capital Campaign Consultants | Consulting Firm | The Giving Institute Member |
|---|---|---|
| Chad D. Peddicord | Averill Fundraising Solutions | ✓ |
| Aly Sterling | Aly Sterling Philanthropy | ✓ |
| The Capital Campaign Toolkit | The Capital Campaign Toolkit | |
| Sandra Davis | Donorly | |
| David H. King | Alexander Haas | ✓ |
| Richard Perry | Veritus Group | |
| Trent Ricker | Pursuant | |
| Jim Yunker | The Yunker Group | ✓ |
| Sandy Rees | Get Fully Funded |
- Capital Campaign Consultants
- Chad D. Peddicord
- Aly Sterling
- The Capital Campaign Toolkit
- Sandra Davis
- David H. King
- Richard Perry
- Trent Ricker
- Jim Yunker
- Sandy Rees
1. Chad D. Peddicord from Averill Fundraising Solutions
Consultant Overview
A Connecticut native, Chad D. Peddicord serves as the Executive Vice President of Averill Fundraising Solutions. He has worked in nonprofit strategy for close to two decades and is a published scholar in industry publications as well as a recurring speaker at industry conferences.
Experience with major gifts, volunteers, strategic planning, and leadership development make Chad a valuable asset to a nonprofit at any stage of the fundraising process. He claims almost $1 billion in philanthropic support raised by himself alone.
Plus, Averill strictly follows industry standards of ethics from the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and the International Catholic Stewardship Council (ICSC), among others. Your return on investment is practically guaranteed by the commitment to ethical practice.
Standout Feature
Chad D. Peddicord has worked as a chief development officer, not just as a fundraising consultant. That experience lends him a special perspective in leadership roles, making his approach collaborative and client-driven. Clients are empowered and treated as partners in fundraising.
Type of Client
At Averill, Chad consults with nonprofits in every sector. Most notably, Averill often consults with faith-based, healthcare, and human service organizations. Established organizations from the Salvation Army to the Roman Catholic Dioceses and Archdioceses of more than 20 cities across the United States can be found on Averill’s client list.
Why He’s Our Top Pick
Averill Fundraising Solutions offers a staggering 75 years in combined experience, and Chad’s 15+ years make up a significant slice of that time.
His areas of expertise span the nonprofit sector, making him the go-to for fundraising in any area.
2. Aly Sterling from Aly Sterling Philanthropy
Consultant Overview
Aly Sterling is the founder of Aly Sterling Philantrhopy, a nonprofit consulting firm that helps organizations raise more money and awareness. She specializes in guiding organizations through the multiple stages that make up planning for a capital campaign.
From start to finish, Aly Sterling and her team are there to help your organization raise more money for your cause and build a foundation that’s strong enough to launch a profitable campaign.
With services like her unique Philanthropy Blueprint which assesses your organization’s needs to her unbiased and comprehensive feasibility studies, Aly Sterling implements tools and strategies to help each organization perform at their best.
Standout Feature
Aly Sterling offers Board Catalyst workshops to help strengthen and energize your organization’s board members. With a 5-step process, Aly Sterling can help prepare your organization’s leadership for a capital campaign and equip them with the tools for success.
Type of Client
While headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Aly Sterling helps organizations all over the United States. Nonprofits of all shapes and sizes are welcome to partner with her team of consultants.
She has helped organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, OhioHealth, and Boys and Girls Club of America with fundraising and capital campaign counsel.
2. The Capital Campaign Toolkit
Consultant Overview
The previous entries on this list are more traditional capital campaign consultants. However, we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge that capital campaign consulting isn’t the best option for all nonprofit professionals.
If you’re planning a capital campaign and could use some guidance, but are uninterested in traditional campaign consulting— consider using The Capital Campaign Toolkit.
The Toolkit is a fully online resource providing everything a nonprofit professional will need to hold a successful campaign. With templates, worksheets, checklists, and assessments, nothing falls through the cracks in this step-by-step campaign guide.
Standout Feature
The Toolkit was created by a team of expert capital campaign advisors. In addition to the Toolkit’s features and helpful resources on its website (such as this guide to capital campaigns!), you can also access this team of campaign experts for additional support throughout your effort.
Type of Client
The Capital Campaign Toolkit is a fully online, virtual service for nonprofit professionals. This means that all nonprofits, regardless of size, cause, or location, can benefit from the Toolkit’s resources.
3. Sandra Davis from Donorly
Consultant Overview
Sandra Davis is the president of the consulting firm Donorly (formerly known as Sandra Davis LLC), a firm that helps nonprofits fundraise beyond their size and capacity by prioritizing donor and prospect research. She has a talent for developing elegant solutions and processes that provide results for nonprofits.
Sandra Davis and her team emphasize challenging convention, flexibility, and balancing reason and intuition in all of their partnerships. Their insistence upon careful research creates a culture of actionable intel that nonprofits can then use to maximize their fundraising efforts and grow beyond their current abilities.
In addition to capital campaigns, Sandra and her team can assist with expanding board membership, providing interim staffing, or even writing grant proposals.
Standout Feature
Sandra’s insistence on collaboration within the context of a nonprofit’s mission, community, and organizational culture creates an environment of partnership and creativity that positively impacts every aspect of a nonprofit’s engagement with Donorly.
Type of Client
Sandra’s clients have included many arts and culture-centric organizations like the Metropolitan Opera and Playwrights Horizons, but she and the rest of the team also have experience with nonprofits ranging from The Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless to the EB (Epidermolysis Bullosa) Research Partnership.
4. David H. King from Alexander Haas
Consultant Overview
David H. King is the President and CEO of Alexander Haas, a southern fundraising consulting firm with a strong focus on capital campaign counsel. With 25 years of experience in the nonprofit industry, he has help organizations of many different shapes and sizes.
David and the other consultants at Alexander Haas understand that having a proper plan is only half the battle of a capital campaign. That’s why the consultants focus on analyzing your campaign’s progress so that they can make adjustments throughout the fundraiser to increase your chances of success.
In addition to strategy, David and his consultants will help you write your case for support, implement a communications plan, and educate your leadership team.
Standout Feature
This consulting firm defines campaign success by what happens after the capital campaign is over. They’ll assess three areas — fundraising programs, annual giving, leadership — to determine if your organization has seen overall improvement.
Type of Client
From religious organizations to higher education to arts and cultural nonprofits, David King and the consultants at Alexander Haas have partnered with organizations with a variety of missions.
Some of their recent clients include Emily Dickinson Museum, Ahacath Achim Synagogue, and Maryville College.
5. Richard Perry from Veritus Group
Consultant Overview
Richard Perry is the founding partner at Veritus Group, a major gift management consulting firm. He has over 30 years of experience helping organizations revitalize their major donor programs.
Veritus is Latin for authentic, the core value that Richard and the other consultants follow every day. An important part of capital campaigns is securing significant contributions from your major donors, and Richard can help you build genuine donor relationships.
At Veritus Group, the consultants will work with your organization one-on-one to create an outreach plan that sticks to your main goals. Additionally, they use prospect research and wealth screening to help you identify potential major donors.
Standout Feature
The Veritus Group will conduct a free donor assessment, which involves these consultants analyzing your donor data to point out areas that could use improvement. Once they discovered gaps in your nonprofit’s strategy, they’ll work with your staff to implement a fool-proof plan.
Type of Client
Organizations with a focus in environment, animal welfare, social services, and healthcare are all welcome to seek aid from the Veritus Group.
Greenpeace, St. Elizabeth Hospice, Feeding America, and Miriam’s Kitchen are just a few of the organization’s they’ve worked with in the past.
6. Trent Ricker from Pursuant
Consultant Overview
Trent Ricker is the CEO and President of Pursant, a consulting firm that helps medium to large nonprofits raise more money and awareness through modern methods.
One of Pursuant’s most popular services is capital campaign and major gift services. Trent Ricker and the other Pursuant consultants follow a 6-step process to kick-start your capital campaign.
First, they craft a unique plan based on your donor data and your organization’s goals. The consultants will also help you develop a convincing case for support.
The last steps in the process involves training your staff and developing a strong leadership team.
Standout Feature
The consultants at Pursuant offer more than just capital campaign counsel; they also have an entire department dedicated to design and marketing so that you can launch a campaign with a consistent brand.
Type of Client
Pursuant works with medium to large organizations in variety of causes. Trent and the Pursuant consultants have provided capital campaign support to Banner Health and McLaren Macomb Hospital. This firm also helps organizations with a focus in higher education, religion, and human services.
7. Jim Yunker from The Yunker Group
Consultant Overview
As the President and CEO of The Yunker Group, Jim Yunker has years of experience helping organizations create long-term fundraising strategies. He has been a consultant for over 30 years and has help organizations strengthen their board and leadership team.
Along with his team of expert consultants, Jim Yunker provides services to organizations such as capital campaign counsel, leadership development, and graphic design.
His team works with organizations through the pre-planning stages of a capital campaign to develop a strong foundation that organizations can learn to manage on their own (with guidance from The Yunker Group, of course!).
Standout Feature
The Yunker Group offers a unique service called CoffeeCounsel where organizations can meet with an experienced consultant to discuss their organization’s specific challenges or concerns. The purpose of the meeting is to help the organization determine if they should seek the help of a professional consultant.
Type of Client
Children’s Home of Cincinnati, Taft Museum of Art, and Tomas More College are just some of the many organizations The Yunker Group has partnered with in the past.
From arts and culture to human services to higher education, the consultants at The Yunker Group have experience working with all different types of missions and always welcome new causes.
8. Sandy Rees from Get Fully Funded
Consultant Overview
Sandy Rees is the Founder and Chief Encouragement Officer at Get Fully Funded, a consulting firm that seeks to help organizations implement effective fundraising strategies.
Her passion for helping nonprofits started at a young age, and as a result, she started Get Fully Funded as a way to provide organizations with essential counsel.
If your organization is about to launch a capital campaign, Sandy can complete a development audit to point out opportunities where you could raise more money. When she completes audits for her clients, her team of consultants find anywhere from $100,000 to $1,000,000 of missed opportunities that organizations could capitalize on.
Standout Feature
Get Fully Funded has a special Private VIP Day, where your organization will have a day of focused support from one of the consultants at Get Fully Funded. Your consultant will help you address any challenges, build a strategic plan, and help you implement their suggestions.
Type of Client
Sandy Rees has worked with nonprofits such as the Lutheran Family Services of Virginia, Dayton Humane Society, and Mercy Medical Clinic.
She’s open to helping small to medium organizations spot additional ways to raise more money.
Congratulations—you’ve made it to the end of our list of top-notch capital campaign consultants! Hopefully, this list helps you find a consultant that can be a great gift your organization’s needs (or a least gain a better idea of what services you need).
If you’d liked to learn more about preparing for a capital campaign, check out these fabulous additional resources:
- Raising Money During a Capital Campaign: As a nonprofit professional, you’re probably well aware of the budget and amount of planning that goes into a capital campaign. With these expert tips you can make the most of this fundraiser by using multiple avenues to collect donations. Keep reading to learn more!
- Fundraising Ideas to Raise More Money: When it’s time to launch the public stage of your capital campaign, you’ll need multiple ways to raise money and awareness. Check out our list of top fundraising ideas to help spark your inspiration.
- Learning the Basics of Capital Campaigns: Before you decide on a capital campaign consultant, brush up on the the basics of capital campaigns to ensure that you’re hiring a consultant that can meet all your needs.
