Endowment campaigns can provide an abundant source of funding for nonprofits, especially in the long term.

Although the basic drive is fundraising the help the organization fulfill its mission, endowment fundraising can differ from standard funding campaigns.

At a recent conference sponsored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Tom Wilson and Trish Roth of the consulting firm Campbell & Company offered several considerations that should be kept in mind for launching and maintaining an endowment campaign.

They are:

• From the donor’s perspective, an endowment campaign perpetuates personal values and priorities and creates a sense of immortality and permanent tribute but obligates the organization.
• From the institutional perspective, they are a significant investment in the future, they can find planning initiatives and they enhance financial stability.
• An organization must keep in mind what endowments it has that are critical to its mission and its strategic plan, as well as what endowments it needs and what endowment benchmarking it can do.
• An organization must share its 25-year plan with endowment donors, not its three-year plan. People plan on living for a long time and don’t like to hear suggestions that they won’t. The organization should show them it has a long-term perpetuity plan for this “gift of a lifetime.”

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