Philanthropy Case Studies

Having since protected more than 414,000 acres of the state’s natural lands and waters from the mountains to the coast, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has partnered with CapDev to develop South Carolina’s role in The Nature Conservancy’s global campaign.

The driver for a significant campaign is NOT the nonprofit’s needs; it is the needs of the community the nonprofit serves.

Could your biggest supporters be just around the corner? By Stephanie Flores de Valgaz In 2022, the leadership team of the NC Aquarium Society, embarked on a mission to revitalize community engagement and secure support for much-needed improvements to their facilities. Step one was re-engaging CapDev as campaign consultants to help conduct a $57.5-million campaign. […]

CapDev was able to work with The US Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum, a top military museum, on a capital campaign.

Leading a nonprofit demands a unique skillset and a kind of commitment often referred to as “grit.” At CapDev we meet all kinds of leaders, and some stand out as especially “gritty,” like Dr. V. Ann Tippitt, Director of The Schiele Museum of Natural History. The museum’s nearly 20-year leader was recently given two prestigious […]

We’ve seen hurricanes, floods, elections and recessions impact our campaign work with CapDev clients over the past nearly 40 years. But when the pandemic hit in 2020, it was unchartered territory for our world, for nonprofits, and for us as a firm. What does a major campaign do when a pandemic hits? In June 2020, […]

Campaigns come up with their names in all kinds of ways. Western Carolina University (WCU) found their theme in the words of their fight song. The “Fill the Western Sky” theme is now prominent on the campaign’s web page: https://westernsky.wcu.edu/, including an inspirational and on-theme campaign video. The $75 million comprehensive campaign, the largest in […]

As faith communities across the U.S. face diminishing congregations, Judea Reform Congregation (JRC) is growing in the Triangle. Anticipating 1,000 new Jewish families arriving in Durham and Chapel Hill in the coming years, JRC is readying to embrace them. Given the critical role of Rabbinic leadership, JRC could not remain a one rabbi congregation and […]

Back when Dix Park was just an idea, a small group of influential leaders in Raleigh invited CapDev to talk about funding possibilities and philanthropic support. This group of dreamers, led by the late J. Gregory Poole Jr., called themselves the Dix Visionaries, and they set out to preserve the former Dorothea Dix property as […]