January 22, 2004 | Read Time: 1 minute
Capital Campaigns from the Ground Up: How Nonprofits Can Have the Buildings of Their Dreams
by Stanley Weinstein
Careful planning is necessary for nonprofit organizations to raise money for, design, and construct new buildings, writes Stanley Weinstein, president of a nonprofit management and fund-raising consulting firm in Albuquerque that bears his name. His book offers suggestions on working with architects to develop new buildings and on running capital campaigns.
A charity first should evaluate its space, equipment, and technology needs for current operations and future services, writes Mr. Weinstein. As an organization starts to develop plans for a new building, it should consult with architects, builders, and real-estate developers to gain a realistic expectation of what the project will cost. The book includes sketches of buildings used by different types of nonprofit groups and estimated construction expenses per square foot.
Nonprofit organizations should also identify and gather information about prospective donors to determine whether and how much they might contribute, writes the author. He says that groups should hire a consultant to interview potential donors, as well as community leaders and board members, to assess the feasibility of a campaign and to solicit their opinions on drafts of documents articulating the need for a project. The book includes several such “case for support” statements.
The book also features descriptions of successful campaigns, suggestions for fund raising for religious organizations and historic-preservation projects, and several chapters written by architects on designing and managing construction projects.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 1 Wiley Drive, Somerset, N.J. 08875; (800) 225-5945; fax (800) 597-3299; http://www.wiley.com; 287 pages; $40; I.S.B.N. 0-471-22079-5.
