The Oshkosh Food Co-op is in the midst of preparation for their capital campaign and I am honored to be working with them to train their volunteers! Training capital campaign volunteers is one of the most important things a co-op can do to help ensure the success of a capital campaign. After all, cooperative capital campaigns are quite complex because of the uniqueness of our structure and our ability to source capital from our owners. My capital campaign training recommendations include a funnel approach that starts at a high level and narrows based on role of the volunteer.
- An introduction of owner loans to EVERYONE associated with your co-op. This includes everyone who volunteers on a regular basis including your entire board of directors, all committee members (think outreach, site selection, finance, communication, etc.) and the entire capital campaign planning team. In a perfect world this training could include 40-50 people.
- The second recommended training would take place soon after the first session and be designed for volunteers who are soliciting owners (either by phone or in person) and who are administering loans (handling the paperwork, collecting checks, etc.). Topics in this training range from how people feel about money to how to effectively ask for money.
- Finally, the last training would again be targeted at those folks making the asks as well as those administering contributions and includes specific logistical information about the campaign. In this training attendee’s learn exactly how to make calls and what systems & processes they will be using to log their progress.
If you invest the necessary time, energy and resources into training your volunteers, the likelihood of success will sky rocket. After-all, owner loans are complex and foreign to most of our volunteers. Investing in their understanding of the campaign, how it works & what their role is will serve you well when your campaign kicks off!
If your co-op will soon be embarking on a capital campaign let’s talk.
