The Challenge
To finance a permanent home for their school and dance company, Kansas City Ballet undertook a $39 million capital campaign in 2001. By 2006, the campaign had stalled, with only half of the needed funds secured. The executive director and key leadership asked Campbell & Company, with a national perspective and deep experience in campaigns for the arts, to reignite the fundraising campaign.
The Process
Campbell & Company initiated a mid-campaign assessment, which indicated the Ballet’s need to focus in three areas: organizing, training and mobilizing staff and volunteers; sharpening the campaign messages; and helping identify, cultivate and solicit a broader pool of donors. With Campbell & Company’s strategic direction and counsel, a new group of major donor prospects was identified through peer and electronic screening, a new organizational structure was established for the campaign committee, and the key campaign messages were revised and focused. The proposed changes were effective in kick-starting the campaign so that construction could go forward on the Todd Bolender Center for Dance & Creativity.
