One of the most important purposes of a campaign feasibility study is to determine whether an organization is truly ready to move forward.
The City of Bedford was considering a capital campaign for a proposed Performing Arts Center and engaged The Huddleston Group to evaluate fundraising readiness and capacity.
The Huddleston Group examined the organization’s campaign readiness, philanthropic capacity, strengths and areas that would need further development.
The purpose was not to produce a predetermined recommendation. It was to give leadership an independent basis for deciding whether the proposed campaign should proceed.
Based upon the study findings, Bedford determined that it would not move forward with the campaign at that time.
That result demonstrates why an independent feasibility study can be valuable even when the answer is “not yet.”
Launching a campaign before the necessary donor support, organizational capacity and campaign conditions exist can consume financial resources, exhaust volunteers and damage future fundraising potential. Identifying those issues before a public campaign begins allows leadership to address them deliberately.
The study provided Bedford with clear recommendations that identified both existing strengths and areas for growth, creating a strategic foundation the organization could use in planning for the future.
Former Bedford City Manager Jimmy Stathatos recommended The Huddleston Group’s work and emphasized the value of the study’s thoughtful recommendations and assessment of campaign readiness.
A feasibility study should tell leadership what it needs to know, not simply what it hopes to hear.
Learn more about The Huddleston Group’s Campaign Planning & Feasibility Studies.
