What happens when a small rural hospital foundation that typically raises $200,000 to $300,000 per year is asked to launch a $2 million capital campaign and ultimately raises more than $5 million?
In this episode of All About Capital Campaigns, Andrea Kihlstedt speaks with Charity Roth, Executive Director of the Jersey Community Hospital Foundation, about the remarkable campaign that transformed her organization’s fundraising capacity and brought an entire Illinois community together.
When hospital leaders first asked Charity to raise $2 million toward a $20 million expansion project, the goal felt enormous. The foundation’s fundraising had centered primarily on its resale shop, special events, and smaller projects. Charity was the foundation’s only full-time employee, and she had never led a capital campaign.
Yet the foundation went on to raise $5.27 million, more than twice its original campaign goal.
Charity explains how a guided feasibility study changed the direction of the campaign. Through candid conversations with donors and community members, the foundation discovered that local support was far stronger than it had anticipated. The study did more than test the campaign goal. It gave Charity an opportunity to understand why residents valued their local hospital, what they wanted for its future, and how they hoped to participate.
Those conversations gave the foundation the confidence to increase its goal from $2 million to $5 million.
The campaign received an early boost from a $1 million lead gift made by the family of a beloved longtime physician. Near the end of the campaign, the same family stepped forward again with another gift and a matching challenge that helped carry the campaign across the finish line.
Charity and Andrea also discuss how donor recognition can reflect the character of a community. One of the campaign’s most memorable gifts came from 19 members of a local farming family who pooled their contributions to secure a naming opportunity. Their gift showed that meaningful recognition does not have to be reserved for a community’s wealthiest residents. It can celebrate families, shared history, and collective generosity.
This campaign was not without complications. The hospital experienced a CEO transition, the campaign temporarily lost momentum, and Charity initially approached the work as an “army of one.” She shares how part-time staff support, two committed volunteer co-chairs, board participation, and community business leaders helped make the larger campaign possible.
For nonprofit leaders considering a capital campaign, Charity offers a simple but compelling lesson: dream beyond what your organization has raised in the past. A successful capital campaign is grounded in relationships, a willingness to listen, strong volunteer leadership, and honest conversations about what donors care about.
Andrea closes with one of the episode’s most useful fundraising principles: find out what your donors want to accomplish, then encourage them to do it. When fundraisers understand a donor’s connection to the mission, they can invite that donor to give from a place of meaning rather than obligation.
To ensure your campaign ends in a celebration, download our free Capital Campaign Step-by-Step Guide & Checklist. This intuitive guide breaks down each step of your campaign, and the timeline allows you to visualize your whole campaign, from start to finish!
