Need: Determining interest and support of master plan and campaign
Service: Pre-campaign planning
As The Children’s Home of Cincinnati looked to their future expansion needs, they asked Smith Beers Yunker & Company to conduct an analysis of the philanthropic climate in the community and the organization’s fundraising potential in preparation for a major capital campaign. Through a comprehensive pre-campaign planning process, Smith Beers Yunker delivered a report that helped The Children’s Home determine how best to proceed.
According to Vice President of Development Janet Burns, the report was “very specific to us, not ‘off the shelf,’ but addressing our particular needs as opposed to a generalization. We appreciated their candor in telling us the reality of what we could expect, rather than whitewashing it for us.”
“I also appreciated the way the confidential interviews and report were structured,” she added. “Smith Beers Yunker used well-defined criteria designed to gauge the potential of campaign success and then applied their findings to those criteria. I felt that the information we got was trustworthy. They looked at things with a practical eye and there was no ‘pie in the sky.’ I have a lot of trust in them.”
Ellen Katz, President and CEO of The Children’s Home, also commented on the candor of the Smith Beers Yunker team. “It is quite valuable to know realistically where we are in this process. The Smith Beers Yunker team got feedback from key people that our staff could not have gotten. I also value their knowledge of the community; they know all the connections and can see the whole picture very clearly. That is what they conveyed to us.”
Both Ellen and Janet agreed that it was a pleasure to work with the Smith Beers Yunker team and that the project was professionally managed. “Jim Yunker is very easy to work with and always accessible. He is quite good at handling the challenges presented by a high-profile governing board.”