The Challenge
The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Cedar Valley serves families with some of the lowest income levels in the state of Iowa with 75 percent living under the poverty level.
This requires specialized programs for children and teens that address a broad range of concerns from basic health, nutrition and safety to academic tutoring and behavioral mentoring.
It also requires adequate facilities and a plan for financial stability.
The Boys & Girls Clubs’ aging facilities and physical infrastructure limited the number of youth it could effectively serve to support its mission, so it reached out to ACB.
The Application of Solutions
Before undertaking a capital campaign, ACB conducted a thorough fundraising feasibility study to engage community leaders and donors to test the validity of the project and the potential for volunteerism and major gifts to the campaign.
BGCCV’s CEO Chuck Rowe with Advance Division Co-Chairs Kathy McCoy and Ben Jacobson, Head Coach of University of Northern Iowa Mens Basketball
With a positive outcome from the study, ACB and the Boys & Girls Club worked together to refine the vision, identify realistic goals, create a financial sustainability plan, and build a volunteer organizational structure to bring the vision to fruition.
Being a lean organization, Boys & Girls Club staff was already at workload capacity and to take on the full responsibility of a capital campaign was too much to ask. So, ACB took a direct and active role in the campaign; not one of doling out assignments and leaving town, but working alongside volunteers, leadership and staff.
Each stage of the campaign was based upon a comprehensive plan, orchestrated momentum and communication.
The Outcome
First testing a goal of $4.75 million, together the Boys & Girls Club of Cedar Valley and ACB decided to stretch the goal to $5.5 million. Within eighteen months, we are over-goal!
