Andrea Kihlstedt on Hiring a Capital Campaign Consultant

Recently, I interviewed my mentor, colleague and friend, Andrea Kihlstedt. Andrea is the co-Founder of Capital Campaign Masters and THE go-to-expert on capital campaigns. She’s currently in the process of finishing the 4th edition of her book, Capital Campaigns: Strategies That Work.

Interview Highlights (Transcript)

Here’s a BRIEF excerpt of our interview, but if you’re even remotely considering a capital campaign, you’ll want to watch the whole thing.

Determining if You’re Ready for a Consultant

AE:   How does an organization decide they are ready to hire a campaign consultant?

AK:   Most organizations don’t even stop to ask if they are ready. First, they need to know what they are going to raise money for, have a good case for support, engage their major donors, and have a notion of who will chair the campaign.

Watch the full interview for more on this topic.

Hiring a Campaign Consultant

AE:   Once they’re ready, how do they go about hiring a campaign consultant?

AK:   I have strong feelings about it — perhaps unconventional. I do not believe in RFP’s. If you put together an RFP, you are doing the work of the consultant. Also, many consultants don’t respond to them.

(I didn’t say this in the interview, but I wholeheartedly agree. I rarely respond to RFP’s. When I do, it’s because I know for certain that they’ve sent the RFP to less than five consultants, and that I was hand-picked, because someone on the board or staff picked me.)

AK:   Instead of an RFP, I would begin by asking board members and top donors to help select the best campaign consultant. Also, call colleagues to get a list of consultants.

Once you have a group of consultants picked out, make time to call them. Be careful. Firms are remarkably consistent. No consulting firm is going to behave better after you hire them.

AE:   I love the idea of using your top donors and volunteers to help in the hiring process — and not using an RFP.

Watch the full interview for more on this topic.

Big Consulting Firms vs. Small Consulting Firms

AE:   Say a little more about big versus small firms and pros and cons. What should people be on the lookout for?

AK:   Understand that if you’re running a small organization and a small campaign, it’s going to be difficult for a big, national firm to service you well. You should be talking to a local or regional firm. The reason to hire a campaign consultant is to hire someone with a lot of experience.

AE:   Yes, let them experiment on someone else’s organization.

AK:   After you’ve done enough campaigns, you hone your instincts, and you feel what’s important and what’s not. And, because most organizations only do campaigns every 10 or 15 years, most people don’t have experience on campaigns.

Watch the full interview for more on this topic.

Final Words from Andrea

AE:   Do you have final thoughts or words of wisdom?

AK:   It may make you gasp to think about how much a campaign consultant will cost, but the costs of the consultant will be in your campaign budget. You can afford things (in a campaign) you can’t afford day-to-day. Get excellence. Also, get someone you like. You’re going to be working with them for a while.

AE:   Yes, they (the campaign consultant) will work with your donors and board members, so they need to work well with your leadership.

More Campaign Advice from Andrea Kihlstedt

Watch the full video above to get all the details about the best ways to hire a capital campaign consultant. And get more free advice at Capital Campaign Masters (currently “Capital Campaign Magic,” but their name and site are updating soon).

I also conducted a second video interview with Andrea concerning pre-campaign prep and what to do BEFORE you hire a campaign consultant. Take a look!

Are you considering a capital campaign? What are your biggest fears? Andrea and I want to hear from you. Let us know what in the comments.