A Board Member’s Guide to Capital Campaign Fundraising: How to Raise Game-Changing Money for Your Nonprofit

by Amy Eisenstein, Sarah Plimpton

The Capital Campaign Guide Every Nonprofit Board Member NeedsLeading a nonprofit through a capital campaign can feel overwhelming—especially when you’re expected to raise more money than ever before without a clear roadmap for success.

Nonprofit CEOs, development directors, and board members often try to piece things together on their own with generic fundraising guides or by turning to peers (or ChatGPT) for advice. Yet uncertainty remains around setting the wrong goal, losing momentum, or falling short in very public ways.

A Board Member’s Guide to Capital Campaign Fundraising removes the fear by explaining step by step how successful capital campaigns actually work. This book offers a clear, practical framework for nonprofit capital campaign planning, board fundraising, and major gift fundraising—without relying on jargon, hype, or outdated myths.

Amy Eisenstein and Sarah Plimpton, nationally recognized experts in nonprofit fundraising and capital campaigns, bring their insights and expertise to help organizations raise game-changing money with confidence, structure, and shared understanding.

Inside, you’ll learn how realistic capital campaign goals and fundraising plans based on donor capacity, not guessworkDefine clear roles for nonprofit board members so fundraising feels less scary and even enjoyable Identify and cultivate the right major donors for your campaign without falling into the trap of costly events or broad appealsAsk for large gifts with confidence—without pressuring friends, family, or fellow board membersAvoid common capital campaign mistakes that stall progress and drain energy
This is the only comprehensive fundraising guide written specifically for nonprofit board members planning a capital campaign. By the end, you’ll understand the campaign process as well as how to align your board and move forward with confidence.

If your organization is considering a capital campaign, this book belongs in every board member’s hands.

217 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 25, 2026

Reviews

[Marc]

Board members can make or break a capital campaign. They mean well but their vision of a campaign is skewed. They want the big announcement, the balloon drop, the ribbon cutting, the moment the wider community finds out. So they mistakenly push to hurry to that point. That eagerness, left unguided, puts their capital campaign at risk by skipping the very steps that make campaigns successful.

Amy Eisenstein and Sarah Plimpton fix that.

Capital campaigns have a proven formula. Organizations have been running them successfully for well over a hundred years. This book walks board members through every step of that formula. They learn not just the exciting public moments, but the careful, quiet, unglamorous work that makes those moments possible.

I've long admired Amy's expertise and what she and her team have built at Capital Campaign Pro. This is the book I've been wishing existed for every board I've ever worked with. Read it before your campaign starts. Then buy a copy for every board member in the room.

[William F. Bartolini]

Great Guide to Big Fundraising Campaigns

This book is a great guide to fundraising campaigns, especially if you haven’t run one before. It goes through each of the stages and tells you why you need to complete it in order to be successful. The examples found at the end of each chapter are great and illustrate the need for that step. Finally, the book concludes with a Q&A Chapter that’s equally useful. I wish I would’ve had this book when I started my first campaign.

[Laura Young]

Helpful informational book for nonprofit leaders

I appreciated the specific details on all the aspects of a campaign. This is an excellent resource for board members and staff of nonprofit campaigns.