Success Story: The Chamber of Greater Springfield

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expand greater springfield logo

magnifying glass icon  The Situation: 

The Chamber of Greater Springfield and Community Improvement Corporation engaged Convergent for their Expand 2024 capital campaign, to fund the delivery of their 2020-2024 strategic initiatives designed to accelerate regional economic growth through four key areas: workforce, building the local economic engine, enhancing liveability, and talent attraction. 

cross-hair icon  Funding Goals: 

  • Raise $3.9 million
  • A fully-funded strategic initiative allowing the Chamber to focus on economic development opportunities over the next five years

lightbulb icon  The Challenges: 

  • Summed up in one word: PANDEMIC

The Chamber and Convergent team hosted numerous virtual meetings, in both individual and group settings, proving the organization was a solid resource in an uncertain time for the county’s small and large businesses.

checkmark icon  The Convergent Approach: 

In 2019, Convergent conducted a feasibility study for the Chamber interviewing almost 60 business and community leaders. The organization’s credibility, outcomes, and fundraising skills (“Asking Rights”) were held in positive regard, with 90 percent of potential investors recognizing the Chamber’s purpose and results achieved over the past few years. A quiet phase funding goal of $3.9 million was set for the capital campaign.

In 2020, fundraising got underway. On March 15, 2020, the Chamber suspended all activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial plan was to pause the campaign for at least 30 days as the country shutdown to slow the spread of the virus.

As the shutdown continued into May, Convergent maintained close contact with Chamber Vice President of Economic Development Horton Hobbs and the campaign co-chairs with a goal of resuming the campaign as soon as safely possible. In June, the campaign restarted.

It was a definite shift in paradigm for fundraising in 2020. The Chamber and Convergent quickly embraced the virtual format and found that there were some positive effects of this new way of fundraising. In the first six months of the pandemic, the Chamber made over 600 calls in support of the business community which resulted in the eventual support of the campaign by organizations assisted by the Chamber. Convergent also utilized over a dozen, well-attended, group virtual meetings. Holding these informational sessions also proved beneficial and significantly increased investments and the number of new investors in the campaign.

chart icon  The Results: 

  • Attainment of funding goal that was established pre-COVID
  • Raised dramatically more than the organization ever had before
  • Significantly expanded Chamber’s investor base