Marketing support for capital campaigns: get your story across with solid marketing strategy and tactics, but never forget the people. (Marketing).

In today's marketplace, when each donated dollar is hotly pursued and desperately needed, integrated marketing can be a powerful tool that will assist not only in campaign design, but the execution of the campaign as well. Yet, in a well-conceived campaign, integrated marketing actually plays two roles; one strategic and one tactical. Tactically, integrated marketing is used to spread the word about the campaign: building awareness, generating response, and celebrating successes to gain campaign momentum. But strategically, it is used to guide campaign creation. This involves careful research, and aligning the campaign with institutional mission/vision and the giving interests of potential donors. Long before a capital campaign can even be announced, these strategic questions must be asked:

* How will the campaign dovetail with the institution's larger mission and vision?

* How much money should be sought, and better yet, who has it?

* How should different giving opportunities be crafted?

STRATEGIC ROLE OF INTEGRATED MARKETING

Advancing the mission. When I first began my career more than 25 years ago, I had the chance to write a major gift proposal for a foundation. When I met with the foundation officer, he said (in so many words), "This is a well-written, thoughtful proposal, but I just don't understand how this proposal fits your mission." Alas, he had me. That was an important lesson, and I'm glad I learned it early, If your capital campaign doesn't rest firmly on your institution's mission and vision, there is an instant credibility gap; people will rightly wonder if you are just going after the cash. A successful campaign uses research to "trial balloon" initial campaign needs and goals, to see how well they resonate with mission and vision.

Feasibility study. After the trials, research can be used to move a campaign from the nebulous to the specific. In the parlance of fundraising, this is the feasibility study. At its most basic, the study involves addressing a number of key issues:

* Is this the right time for a campaign?

* Have we identified the needs our donors will respond to?

* Have we identified potential campaign leaders?

* Have we identified major contributors?

* Do we have the internal resources--time, talent, and dollars--to mount a campaign?

All of these questions--answered through research--should gel into a basic how, how much, how fast, and from whom. This is the foundation of a successful campaign. According to Scott Powell, assistant to the president at Grove City College (PA), "The research must conclude with the creation of clear, simple, and compelling reasons to give, directed with well-developed insight into who is able to do so."

Role of research. Clearly, research can offer a great deal of campaign guidance. For example, we recently discovered through a series of donor studies for different clients, that people of different age groups often give for very different reasons. Older donors tend to donate to mission. The number one reason they don't give? Because they're not asked. Older donors tend to be loyal and supportive. Younger donors, on the other hand, give to vision. The primary reason they don't contribute is because the reason is not compelling. Younger donors tend to be fickle; they jump from cause to cause, and can be extremely impatient with long, traditional pitches. Two different audiences, two dramatically different approaches. Only research will help you clarify what will work best, and when.

Giving opportunities. Integrated marketing can also help you isolate giving opportunities. For instance, based on research conducted by our firm, we know that younger alumni are sometimes more likely to support specific initiatives than the institution as a whole. A young alum majoring in photojournalism may not be interested in contributing to her university's annual campaign, but she will likely respond to an appeal from the School of journalism to update its photography labs.

TACTICAL ROLE OF INTEGRATED MARKETING

After the broad campaign strategy has been developed, the role of integrated marketing shifts to one of messaging. Specifically, messaging plays three roles: First, to create campaign awareness. Second, to create a response to campaign solicitations. Third, to generate momentum by communicating campaign successes.

Create awareness. To create awareness, you'll use friends-of-the-institution media such as the alumni magazine, the campaign Web site, campaign videos and CDs, presidential speeches and interviews, and even the larger press. The goal at this point is simple: to let people know that a campaign is underway. Once you have created awareness, it's time to generate response. In some instances, regional and even national media will be interested if the campaign is truly unique or truly substantial. By the same token, do not be surprised if a campaign that is substantial for your institution does not seem substantial to others: A capital campaign for $15 million pales when juxtaposed against USC's recent campaign for $2 billion, for example.

David Hoover, the director of Marketing Communications at Ohio State University, suggests caution here: "Though it is necessary and appropriate to develop a communication program specifically in support of a capital campaign, it is just as important to integrate campaign communication into the larger main stream of the institution's current communication initiatives. A campaign," he says, "wile have greater impact if it segues off current brand awareness rather than trying to create something new."

Hoover is right: Smart campaigners know that the good will created by a long history of brand building is a powerful catalyst for a successful campaign.

Generate response. The key to generating campaign response? Segmentation and customization. In other words, you must be willing to craft different kinds of appeals, using different media, for different kinds of donors. The basic rule of thumb is this: the more potential, the more you must be willing to customize.

Major donors, for instance, need to be approached carefully. They will not respond to a direct mail solicitation. Nor will they likely react favorably to telemarketers. They will respond, however, to carefully crafted pitches that align the needs of the campaign with their own personal or professional needs. Of course, research is used to tease out those interests.

Greg Carroll, VP of Marketing and Public Relations for Furman University (SC), recently told me that while Furman's last campaign used high-quality campaign publications, their development VP loves to tell people that, for him, it was his HP inkjet that made the difference in the campaign. "He could print out those rainbow charts showing and tracking giving," says Carroll, "and whip up proposals with amazing consistency."

Segmentation, then, involves breaking a large heterogeneous pool into homogeneous subgroups. Rather than a single pool of donors, you actually have donors who:

* have a particular relationship to the institution (alumni, long-time donors, faculty).

* will respond to particular need (the fine arts complex or scholarships, for instance).

* are able to give specific-sized gifts (major donors, not-so-major donors, etc.).

* are able to give in specific ways (unrestricted gifts, planned giving).

* will respond to different kinds of pitches (direct mail, telephone, class appeals, personal solicitation).

Of course, even within these large segments, there are powerful subgroups just waiting to emerge. Again, research is your key. Once you have the segments in mind, and have identified the individuals who are capable of doing the heavy lifting in each of the segments, it's time to develop some messages. This involves customization.

Customizing your messages, If you've identified your major segments, you've come a long way. Now it is time to match messages, media, and audiences. For this, we need a basic communication grid that identifies major donors and major donor segments. (Note the sample grid above.)

Clearly, if you can identify an audience and discover a relationship to your institution, you have a powerful hook. The communication grid will then allow you to determine the best way to set it.

Telling the story. At the core of message customization is the careful creation of the story or stories you need to get out. There are many modes for "storytelling" (see the Media/Method column, in the grid above); Furman's Carroll reminds us that campaign communications may encompass everything from print materials, presentation folders, letters, e-mail, print newsletters, e-newsletters, phone calls, the Web site, and most important, personal communication. But there may be other, powerful methods you've not yet considered, and you may need to get creative, and took outside the traditional world of higher education to find them.

Vern Oakley is principal and creative director at Tribe Pictures, Inc. (www.tribepictures.com); his firm helps corporations and institutions of higher education tell their stories through that powerful persuasion medium, film. Oakley notes that strong messages are often built around stories. But, "While much has been made about the importance of storytelling, not enough has been devoted to how to tell a good story. Whether you want to market more toothpaste or embark on a university capital-raising campaign, a good story will be at the heart of your success." He adds, "Short film is an ideal medium for augmenting capital campaign storytelling efforts because it gets audience attention, keeps interest, and helps establish the personal connection campaign donors must feel in their hearts before they can contribute with their wallets. Plus, it fits naturally as a complementary piece in the marketing mix of public relations, advertising, and management commitments to university brand building--often acting as the glue that binds these pieces together. A short film can--and should--be developed to increase campaign messaging consistency and (with re-use in mind) reduce communications costs. It should be positioned as an integral part of the mosaic messaging tiles that are spread throughout the university for smart communications management."

EXPLOITING CAMPAIGN SUCCESSES

Nothing builds campaign momentum like continual updates regarding the campaign's progress. Such updates involve highlighting major gifts, alumni giving, and other campaign milestones. Still, while these up dates may be big news to you, the media likely will not cover your news without a "hook," or compelling angle. Nationally known media consultant Frank Dobisky (www.dobisky.com) reminds us that the media probably will not stop the presses for your announcement of a $1 million gift. But what if that gift were to be used in a special way? A few years ago, in working with Iowa State University, our firm generated a story in USA Today about a scholarship program that was dedicated to students in every high school in Iowa who would not have had a chance to go on to college without it. The scholarship was created by a woman who had not gone to college, but had gone to work right out of high school. She believed education was essential. The USA Today story featured her along with an Iowa State student who was a beneficiary of her scholarship. The moral of this tale: There are good stories buried in campaigns, and a savvy communications director can help dig them out and make sure they get the right attention.

It's about people. Using integrated marketing tools to help shape your campaign will certainly have enormous impact on your campaign's success. But while many of the tools are technical (research, segmentation, and customization), never forget that fundraising is a people business: You're telling your all-important fundraising story to people, after all, and the old adage that people raise money from people continues to be true.

                                       MEDIA/METHOD
DONOR OR DONOR         GIVING         TO WHICH THEY
    SEGMENT           INTEREST         WILL LIKELY
                                         RESPOND

B. Gates                New              Personal
                  computer center      solicitation

W. Buffet               New              Personal
                  business school      solicitation

J-school alumni      Journalism       Class giving,
                       school          direct mail

Alumni              Scholarships       Direct mail,
                                      telemarketing

Faculty               Endowed        Faculty leaders,
                  faculty research     campus mail

Bob Sevier is a senior VP of Stamats Communications (www.stamats.com). He pens a free e-newsletter, QuickTakes, focusing on strategic planning and brand marketing. A complete glossary of marketing end strategic planning terms is also available. For more information, e-mail [e-mail]