Challenge
Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area faced a growing backlog, with children waiting more than two years to have a wish granted due to limited fundraising capacity. Closing it required raising $10 million above and beyond the organization's current annual giving of $7 to $8 million.
With a lean frontline fundraising staff and a goal that represented a significant step up in scale, leadership needed to know whether the campaign was genuinely achievable before committing resources and setting expectations with donors and board members. The stakes were real: without the right plan, life-changing wishes would remain on hold.
Solution
Covenant was retained by Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area in the fall of 2024 to conduct a Pre-Campaign Planning Study for a $10 million major gifts campaign. The study was designed to assess organizational readiness, validate the Case for Support, and identify the prospective leaders and donors needed to make the campaign successful.
To accomplish these objectives, Covenant conducted 27 interviews with board members, Wish families, corporate partners, and individual donors, managing an accelerated timeline that included the holiday season. Alongside the interviews, Covenant developed a comprehensive suite of study tools: invitation letters, task force presentations, job descriptions, a sample campaign budget, an organizational chart, gift charts, and more. A Case for Support was developed and refined throughout the process.
Impact
The Pre-Campaign Planning Study returned a strong signal. The vast majority of those interviewed expressed positive perceptions of Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area's mission, leadership, and staff, along with a genuine willingness to serve or support the campaign in some capacity.
The findings gave the organization the clarity and confidence to move forward. Covenant is now actively engaging the campaign committee with cultivating and soliciting prospects, building a prospect matrix, preparing for a leadership and major gifts training at an upcoming board retreat, and supporting the MAWGBA staff in executing the tactical recommendations from the final study report. As of April 2026, Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area is about halfway to their $10 million goal in a less than one year!
