Planning new facilities, expanding existing ones, or renovating requires specialized guidance and resources.
Planning new facilities, expanding existing ones, or renovating requires specialized guidance and resources.
Ultimately, this phase is about envisioning a project that is the right size, constructed in the right way, and for the right reasons that positively serve the community.
This phase likely includes specifically articulating the roles of the board and staff in the project as envisioned in the strategic plan. Typically, the board starts by forming a building committee that focuses on many of the aspects of the Pre-D phase. Later a capital campaign committee is added to focus on planning and raising the financial resources to achieve the goal. The CEO has an essential role in a capital project and must make the necessary time to fully participate. Additionally, other staff will be needed for a successful project. This is the time to determine the scope of their role to ensure they can participate in the project from start to finish. Note that the success of a project often hinges on adapting to the pressure on the team of a capital project. The board and staff will need additional support and resources to make it work successfully.
The Foraker Nonprofit Sustainability Model provides a helpful framework for clarifying a focus that incorporates the right people, partnerships, and funding to maximize success before, during, and after a capital project.
There are many steps toward achieving a successful capital project. The first is to establish your organization’s baseline readiness by completing the following self-assessment forms. Allow time to dig deep and include perspectives from your leadership, board members, and staff. This step may take weeks or even months. It is important. Do not move ahead to complete other steps until this step is well vetted.
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Once you become familiar with the steps required, explore the different possibilities such as fixing, building, or buying to meet your organization’s goals and achieve the greatest community impact. This is also the time to reach out to potential partners in the project. These can include other nonprofits but may also take the form of public/private partnerships or collaboration with governments. |
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After defining the project need, gather comments from staff leaders, board members, collaborators, and community stakeholders to confirm that the desired project aligns with mission(s) and to define how it is anticipated to improve service delivery for all the involved partners. |
A capital project often costs more and requires more commitment and time than is initially anticipated. Effective volunteer leadership by a strong board committed to fund development as well as policy making is required. Recruiting additional volunteers to serve on both the facilities and capital campaign committees is often recommended for success.
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There will be many questions to explore in the early Pre-D process to clarify the project. It is important to remember that mission and governance do not stop just because there is a major project in the works. Capital projects can be incredibly exciting, draining, and distracting all at the same time. To manage this, it is strongly recommended that committees be formed that can keep the focus on the project so that the whole board can maintain focus on governance. Ultimately the board is legally and financially responsible, so we generally see separate committees as “homework bodies” that process work and make the best recommendations for board approval. Each organization and collaborative will have its own adjustments to this recommendation, but regardless the intent should be ensuring that operations and governance do not falter before, during, or after a major capital project.
To this end, the first team to form is often known as the “building committee.” This team is often comprised of a few board members and additional volunteers with expertise and demonstrated interest in the mission. It is supported by the CEO or other senior staff member. This team will lead your external consultants, experts, and project manager during the Pre-D phase and beyond. The second committee will form toward the end of the Pre-D phase to focus on planning and raising the necessary resources to complete the project. This committee is often called a campaign cabinet.
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Read:For a job description and more about the composition of the campaign cabinet committee, see page 38 in Preparing to Fund Your Capital Project in Alaska and Beyond |
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The work plan involves mapping the steps necessary to get from strategic planning through construction. It includes an overview of required tasks, a schedule, and clarification of who is required and responsible to complete each step. It does not include the fundraising plan often known as the capital campaign plan. This is a separate plan developed later in the process.
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Funding for pre-development is a necessary, initial investment that yields future benefits. The Pre-D phase of any project is an opportunity for thoughtful preparation and planning that reduces cost overruns during construction and ensures the project is the right size and efficiently constructed. Pre-development funds are typically secured by using existing resources from organization reserves or savings, or by pursuing initial investments from key partners. These investments protect the larger contributions made when the project moves to construction. Everyone wants their contributions to be part of a successful project. Investments in the Pre-D phase are part of ensuring long-term success.
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A well-written business plan can accelerate your mission by providing evidence-based decision-making. This planning step provides the necessary information to fully articulate the project and is supported by thoughtful programmatic and economic reasoning and the identification of the management team who will deliver it. Investors will want to see the business plan to ensure the project ‘makes sense’ as they consider their participation. Sometimes the business planning process reveals that the idea is not sustainable. While this is disappointing, there’s no better time to learn that than before the financial investments are made and expenses incurred.
At this point in the process, the business plan is conceptual – laying out the general ideas, thinking, and intentions for the project. It will articulate the purpose of the building and how it will meet a community’s needs. As the project is further designed and validated, the details necessary to complete the business plan and fully develop the related financial investment and resources needed will become clearer.
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