Is Your Nonprofit Ready to Move to the Next Level? A Capital Campaign May Be the Answer!

Is Your Nonprofit Ready to Move to the Next Level? A Capital Campaign May Be the Answer! Main Photo

2 Mar 2017


Capital Campaign

Convergent Note: The following is a brief excerpt from an article written by Principal Mark Bergethon and published in the Mar/Apr 2017 issue of AmeriDisability, 'Florida's leading publication for individuals, businesses, and nonprofits supporting our disabled community.' To read the full article, follow the link at the bottom of the excerpt.

Nonprofits are constantly in fundraising mode. It's just the nature of the beast. For and away the best bang for your buck in the fundraising arena is to conduct a capital campaign. By 'capital campaign' I don't necessarily mean raising money for bricks and mortar. I'm referring to a major fundraising campaign above and beyond the normal development activities that is focused on funding specific programs, projects, and special initiatives. These campaigns might fund facilities, operations, endowments, new programs, organizational expansion - or all of the above (and more). We counsel our clients to develop a strategic plan that packages together everything they would like to do over a multi-year period (five-year plans are the most common) that would require additional funding, establish what that would cost and accomplish, and launch a capital campaign designed to secure multi-year pledge commitments from top stakeholders and significant potential funding sources.

The traditional capital campaign process (which has been successfully implemented by thousands of nonprofits nationwide for decades) is broken into three distinct steps.

Read the full article

About The Author

Mark Bergethon's Profile Photo

Mark Bergethon

Principal

Department: Team

I am passionate about empowering nonprofits to accomplish the extraordinary for the communities they serve. Although much of my career has focused on raising money for economic, workforce, and community development organizations (chambers of commerce, EDCs, etc.), I truly love the diversity of our clientele and the interesting variety of projects I get to work on. From public libraries to private schools, from senior assisted living facilities to YMCAs, and even from a puppetry arts group to a ski jump club, I’ve had the chance to help so many great client organizations raise the money they need to fulfill their missions. I love my work!"


As a founding Principal of Convergent Nonprofit Solutions, Mark focuses on empowering nonprofits to accomplish more for the communities and constituencies they serve by dramatically increasing their financial resources. He is recognized as one of the leading national experts in funding nonprofit organizations and community initiatives through fundraising campaigns.

Mark has managed and consulted on fundraising campaigns for a broad array of nonprofits, however, the bulk of Mark’s career has been spent securing funding for chambers of commerce and economic development corporations. His experience ranges from working in small, rural communities of a few thousand people to major metro areas, regions, states, and even national projects. Mark’s specialized expertise includes transitioning membership-based organizations into investment-based organizations, forging public/private partnerships, forming and capitalizing new economic development organizations, and establishing regional economic development collaborations.
 

Summary of Experience

  • Directed and provided oversight for more than 80 feasibility studies and fundraising campaigns for organizations nationwide, raising hundreds of millions of dollars for a wide variety of nonprofits.
  • Conducted dozens of successful high-profile six, seven, and eight-figure funding requests.
  • Managed major feasibility studies and/or capital campaigns with eight-figure goals in large metro markets such as Orlando, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Seattle.
  • Led workshops and participated in panel discussions at more than a dozen statewide, regional, national, and international conferences and events for economic development professionals, chamber executives, and nonprofit leaders.
  • Authored two legal reference books, a research paper in an international academic journal, and numerous articles on fundraising and other nonprofit concerns.
  • BA in Political Science from Emory University and a law degree from the University of Georgia, School of Law. Member of the bar in both Georgia and Florida.