“..For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts,” Middlemarch by George Eliot

Reflection questions:

• Have you removed a prospective foundation or donor who funds similar nonprofits just because you don’t think you can compete?
• How can you shift your mindset to being confident in the impact your campaign will have?

Reflection on quote:

Can we compete? Is our campaign too small? Smaller capital campaigns have a greater impact in our small towns and rural communities. Yet, when applying for capital grants or preparing to meet with a major donor, it is easy to fall into a mindset that our campaign is just too small to compete. For example, we don't serve as many clients as a similar urban nonprofit, or our grant request will be outside of the normal range for a foundation. This mindset can cause us to view the smaller nature of our campaign as a detriment or a flaw. This is a true challenge. 

However, a change in mindset can help us compete confidently in grant requests and when discussing a campaign with donors.  We start with changing our mindset by understanding the impact our organization has in our communities. Often when we consider our population, we serve a higher per capita of people or land or animals or historic objects when compared to an urban area. For example, the sole community theater in our town with three productions a year will likely per capita have more participation in the production, a higher number of people attending at least one theater production per year, and a greater appreciation of the value that the arts through this community theater has to the quality of life of our community. 

We change our mindset also through conversations with those impacted with our services and by asking what their lives would look like without us. Urban areas may have multiple nonprofits serving the same mission. In our small towns, we can quantify what will happen if a building doesn't get rebuilt or our programs can't be delivered. We can quantify the impact of a wait list because our clients or animals or places can't be served by another organization. The contrast can be stark, and we can tell those stories to foundations and donors. 

Another mindset shift comes from conversations with those funders. The saying biggest bang for the buck is often true for funders. Unless the funding guidelines preclude giving to smaller requests, foundations can view higher per capita impact when framed that way quite favorably. Major donors who used to live in more populated areas and have experienced larger requests can be invited to see the difference that our impact makes through tours and constituent conversations. 

Yes, a smaller capital campaign can present a challenge in competing with larger campaigns. However, those larger campaigns are unlikely to have as much impact as our smaller campaigns. Our campaign size isn't a flaw, it's a part of our compelling story. We can build a confident mindset when we grasp that as a strength.

The quote has entered the public domain.

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To explore small town capital campaign coaching deeper and to schedule an free explore coaching call, visit ServingNonprofits.com.

Music credit: Woeisuhmebop