Big Fundraising Visions, Small Communities

with Julie Bianchi, Cloudbreak Collective

Communities located outside of major metropolitan areas have access to fewer public and private resources to accomplish big fundraising visions, particularly capital projects. Yet, many rural and small communities are experiencing an influx of new residents. In many cases, these communities are turning to nonprofits to raise the funds needed for affordable housing, food insecurity, education, etc. As a Whidbey Island resident and fundraising consultant working in rural and small communities, Julie has collaborated with nonprofit leaders and volunteers on capital fundraising to be the “bridge to tomorrow” for these visions.

The key message of the presentation is that capital campaign fundraising is unique in small and rural communities. Some of the ways include the power of volunteer committees, sources of funding, types of assets given, the important role of non-financial gifts, and anonymous giving. Even with the many ways it’s unique, we will also address the foundational elements of any successful capital campaign.

This presentation will help uncover the opportunities in capital campaign fundraising in rural and small communities, despite the challenges of limited foundation and public funding and limited fundraising and campaign experience among organizations.