Success Story: Southern Tier Economic Growth

Why should an Economic Development Organization (EDO) that has run successful capital campaigns for years seek professional fundraising counsel? How do you get longtime investors to significantly increase their investment level? Our work with Southern Tier Economic Growth (STEG) on three consecutive capital campaigns provides great insight on the benefits of professionally managed capital campaigns.

southern tier economic growth logo

magnifying glass icon  The Situation: 

Southern Tier Economic Growth (STEG) is the primary economic development engine in the Chemung County, NY, region. With a declining population and limited growth in business and industry, the organization realized the importance of a far more aggressive approach to economic development back in 2011. Along with that came a need for a significant increase in funding for STEG, an organization that had been through capital campaigns in the past, but saw a need for a new and more professional approach to support their strategic goals of adding 1500 new jobs and $60 million in increased payroll to the region.

Like many similar organizations, past campaigns had been led by a volunteer board of directors. While these campaigns had been successful, the results had been diminishing to a degree in recent years. Therefore, sticking to the status quo was not something that STEG’s leadership believed would yield the desired results to support such significant goals. 

cross-hairs icon  Funding Goals: 

  • Minimum campaign commitments of $1.25 million
  • Increase the average investment of past investors
  • Identify new investors
  • Ensure that potential investors truly understood the role and importance of STEG to the region

checkmark icon  The Convergent Approach: 

At the core of Convergent’s philosophy is the belief that listening is the key to community-wide engagement. According to George Miner, Former President of STEG, this was one of the many factors that set his experience with Convergent apart from past, volunteer-led capital campaigns. By interviewing dozens of important business leaders during the feasibility study, Convergent was able to educate potential investors about the expected ROI of their investment and solicit their input to ensure they felt like a true part of the initiative.

A common pitfall of volunteer-led capital campaigns is a lack of context regarding appropriate “ask” for investors. This was certainly the case with STEG, and Convergent was highly successful in setting the right level of ask. In fact, several longtime investors increased their level of financial commitment on our first campaign, some by as much as 1900 percent, after meeting with Convergent and understanding the expected ROI associated with the capital campaign.

chart icon  The Results: 

  • Total campaign commitments of $1.68 million on the first campaign, far exceeding the minimum goal of $1.25 million and an increase of 60 percent over previous capital campaign
  • Increased investor base by 30 percent
  • Convergent then successfully managed the STEG’s next two campaigns, with the most recent campaign completed in 2022.