A successful capital campaign requires planning and perseverance, with trained staff and volunteer leadership, and donors at every level.

Recently, I toured the beautifully designed, highly functional, welcoming new building where New Hope Shelter is housed in Newton, Kansas. Executive Director Brian Bisbee showed me around the open area where men and women dine, the amazing commercial kitchen, the wings where men and women are sheltered and the outdoor space.

When I first met Brian about three years ago, the organization was on the cusp of a crisis. The organization’s facility that New Hope Shelter had been using for years now needed the space for its own programs. Like the men and women they served, they recognized they could soon find themselves homeless. They had just over a year to find a new shelter for those they currently served and for their expanding programs.

After a lot of search and prayer (New Hope is supported by 45 area churches whose volunteers bring supplies, meals and stay overnight), there was only one answer: launch the organization’s first major capital campaign to raise the funds to build a program-specific, energy-efficient permanent home.

Brian, like all good leaders, knew success wouldn’t come easily. They would have to work hard to find the funding. He had done this before in Carthage, Missouri and knew that while the need was urgent, the feasibility study process was critical, as was recruiting and engaging a committed group of volunteers to form a campaign cabinet.

From the first days, Brian carried one of those tiny, spiral-bound notepads you can find at the drugstore in his shirt pocket. Whenever we met for campaign counsel or when someone he met asked about how the capital campaign was going, Brian would pull the notepad out of his shirt pocket and provide a detailed answer. On the first page, he recorded that they still needed to raise $337,664 to meet the $1 million Mabee Foundation challenge grant, a far cry from the $5 million needed to purchase land; build, equip and furnish a new building; support their programs for three years; and start a strategic reserve fund.

Brian, his wife, Marilyn, who works with him, and his volunteer leaders all unleashed their power of philanthropy in attracting donors at every level into the life of New Hope Shelter.

The conversations and stories of hope and success led to significant support. Even more conversations on the front porches, in the churches and on the downtown sidewalks led to more interest, engagement, and ownership—and even more success.

After the tour, Brian and I sat in his new office to reflect. Brian showed me the same, little, worn notebook. He flipped many pages. The finishing entry, when he stopped recording in the notebook, was when they met the Mabee Challenge and exceeded it by $32,858.44. “There it is,” he said, smiling. I asked him about lessons learned and why he thought he was so successful. “You have to keep your hand open, not closed,” “Your hands aren’t begging—they are open.” Brian opened his hands. “Open,” he emphasized. “You have to let people in, and have faith that your needs will be provided.”

I feel grateful every day for my professional role with Kinetic. It’s hard work, but the rewards of our work are great. When we help clients build new buildings, support programs, form a rainy day fund or an endowment, we know the work doesn’t stop when we leave. Together – even though, as fundraisers, we try to disappear into the background – we know we’re helping to change and save lives.

I left Brian and Newton knowing New Hope Shelter and the individuals it serves are forever changed. That’s the power of philanthropy.

As Brian and his team—and anyone who has been through a capital campaign—has experienced, there will be moments of doubt, fear and sleepless nights. At the same time, there will be moments of joy, surprise and celebration when dreams start to take flight and plans become reality. There is a power that can feel magical when professionals, volunteers and donors come together with our hearts – and hands – open to the immense possibilities of an abundant, generous and beautiful world with our shared humanity at the heart of it all.