The board of the Friends of the U.S. Army Women’s Museum Association (FAWMA) in Fort Lee, Virginia engaged CapDev to determine if and how they could raise $3 million to create a totally new re-imagined museum gallery.
In digging in, board member, Cydnee Gentry said that the CapDev team helped organize the association and recommended buying donor management software, which proved to be a huge benefit in helping them track and acknowledge donors.
Prior to starting the campaign with CapDev, FAWMA had only 100 donors, mostly women in their 60s and 70s, who had served in the Army. Their gifts were mostly less than $20. Today, as a result of the campaign work, FAWMA has tripled their number of donors to nearly 400.
FAWMA’s annual fundraising revenues before the campaign were around $15,000 – $20,000 per year. A major capital campaign felt like a bigger battle than any of the wars these women had previously faced.
Toward their $3 million capital campaign goal to renovate and remodel the museum, FAWMA received $1 million from the Center for Military History to fabricate exhibits, and $1.7 million from the U.S. Army to build a new part of museum and renovate the interior. This left FAWMA with $300,000 to raise on their own. It was “more than we had ever imagined we could raise,” Gentry said.
The campaign kicked off in May 2017, and by about a year later, they had raised over $230,000 with a pledge coming that fall for $100,000, meaning they would exceed their goal. “We couldn’t have done it without you guys. Everything you told us we’ve worked hard to accomplish,” said Gentry as she invited CapDev to join them for the grand reopening ribbon-cutting event in November, 2018.
This client said that CapDev was instrumental in helping them achieve their campaign goal, and we are excited to have played a role in not only their success in this campaign, but also in helping them build long-term sustainable philanthropy by growing the donor pool, increasing gift sizes and truly building a culture of relational philanthropy.
Visit their website to read more about the ribbon cutting event, and all that FAWMA does for the museum.
Return to Insights & Events