In 2010, Wake Technical Community College, North Carolina’s largest community college, engaged CapDev to conduct a 30-person feasibility study to test a proposed $10 million 50th anniversary campaign, a response to record-breaking enrollment at the college and unprecedented demand for its education and training programs.
“After the Wake Tech Foundation Board and staff heard a presentation from Allan Burrows, it was almost unanimous to work with them on our campaign,” said Foundation Director, Mort Congleton. “Two years later everyone is saying, ‘we made the right decision to hire Capital Development.’ Capital Development Services is responsive and insightful and has been a big part in making a very successful campaign.”
After confidential interviews with 30 top leaders, Wake Tech supporters, and prospective donors, the feasibility study recommended a campaign of $7-8 million. Upon conclusion of the study, CapDev also recommended beginning a campaign planning phase, critical to the success of any campaign. In campaign planning, Wake Tech enlisted high-profile leaders, including campaign co-chair, Dr. Bill Atkinson, WakeMed CEO, and determined as a result of its campaign planning to begin a quiet phase with a campaign goal of $10 million.
Nearly $11 million to support scholarships, new technology, and faculty and staff innovation – that’s what Wake Tech’s major gifts campaign, called “The Ripple Effect,” generated by the time the campaign went public in early 2013.For more than a year, corporate and community leaders, educators and benefactors across the Triangle worked behind the scenes to build support for the campaign. Leaders celebrated the close of the campaign’s “quiet” phase, announcing that donations totaling $10.8 million. They also announced the start of the public phase of the campaign and their new goal of $12.5 million.
Wake Tech Foundation’s Executive Director, Mort Congleton, said of working with CapDev on their campaign, “Allan Burrows and the Capital Development team provided the structure and guidance that was the difference between a successful campaign and a VERY successful campaign. Capital Development’s guidance allowed up to be strategic and to set the pathway for not just this campaign, but for future campaigns as well.”
Return to Insights & Events