Objective
To raise $3,000,000 to enable the construction of a new office and production facility.
 

Strategy
Friendship Industries, Inc. is a sheltered workshop for the mentally and physically disabled. The organization provides real jobs and training ranging from direct mail services to assembly of products for shipping.

Because its mission is to provide work, not charity, to the disabled, Friendship Industries had never formally asked for voluntary contributions before. DeWitt & Associates, Inc. was contracted to guide the organization through the process of preparing for and implementing a capital campaign.

The challenge was to prepare potential donors and campaign leadership for giving and soliciting the needed funds – to build ownership of the organization and its capital needs among those necessary for financial success. To accomplish this, a Campaign Planning Committee was recruited, and, through a series of three meetings, became thoroughly informed and committed to the needs of the organization. Campaign chairs and the steering committee were recruited from the planning committee. Major contributions were received from some of the planning committee members, and each of them assisted Friendship Industries in carrying its story to the broader community.

In addition to the capital campaign, DeWitt & Associates advised the organization to establish an ongoing program of raising friends and funds. This would include a communication program, an annual fund, major gifts program, and estate-related giving. In this way, the community would continuously be informed and involved in the progress of the organization. Future campaigns would already have a cadre of committed people ready to respond to capital needs.
 

Results
The result was a successful campaign, a new building, and the institution of an ongoing program in marketing and fund-raising.

“ . . . I wasn't completely sold on Friendship Industries getting involved in fundraising. We had spent the past twenty-seven years trying to show the world that people with disabilities could be productive employees and citizens, giving back to the community, and be, at least in part, self-sufficient.

“I think that you performed a great service for our client's by convincing me that we could provide them more services and support, assist them further and more quickly along the way towards self-sufficiency, by inviting the community to invest in the mission of the organization.

“I have been amazed at the community's response. We have gone from a donor base of virtually zero, just a few thousand dollars per year in unsolicited donations, to $2.7 million and counting with many major donors yet to be solicited. Plus we now have an established development function with a Director of Development to continue cultivating those donors, large and small.”

David L. Flick, President, Friendship Industries, Inc.