Like many professional associations, the American Academy of Dermatology had achieved success in securing strong membership revenues and corporate sponsorships but had only begun to engage the philanthropic potential of its individual members.
The Academy recognized that building a strong individual giving program would require not only an effective fundraising strategy but also a shift in culture for members as well as the organization’s staff and volunteer leaders.
The Academy engaged a consulting firm to assess individual giving potential among its members and was disappointed in the consultant’s recommendation: a narrow strategy built around life insurance beneficiary arrangements. Convinced it could achieve more through a comprehensive program, the Academy turned to Campbell & Company to help chart a path forward.
To address the full scope of the Academy’s fundraising operations, we assembled a team reflecting the firm’s deep experience in professional association fundraising, including both an annual giving specialist and a member of our communications team.
We first conducted an in-depth analysis and interviewed a range of staff members, volunteer leaders, and prospective donors. Following this, we recommended a number of tactics to help the Academy build its annual giving program as the base for all future fundraising activities, invest in developing relationship-based major and planned gifts programs, and engage staff and volunteers in shaping a meaningful case for support.
We then assisted the Academy in implementing many of these recommendations.
“Other consultants can give you fuzzy recommendations that force you to continue working with them in order to move forward. Campbell & Company gave us concrete, clear and actionable steps supported by a very thorough analysis.”
-Eileen Murray, MM, CFRE, CAE, Deputy Executive Director, American Academy of Dermatology
Through our work together, the American Academy of Dermatology successfully engaged its Board in investing in a stronger development program, crafted a powerful case for support of its strategic vision and priority projects, strengthened its annual giving program, and began engaging individual members as major donors.