# Five Feasibility Study Myths That Hold Campaigns Back

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/all-about-capital-campaigns-nonprofits-fundraising-major-gifts-toolkit-2136244/five-feasibility-study-myths-that-hold-campaigns-back.md
Podcast: [All About Capital Campaigns: Nonprofits, Fundraising, Major Gifts, Toolkit](https://stenobird.com/podcast/all-about-capital-campaigns-nonprofits-fundraising-major-gifts-toolkit-2136244)
Published: 2025-12-02T13:00:01+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/capital-campaign-pro/episodes/Five-Feasibility-Study-Myths-That-Hold-Campaigns-Back-e3bphij
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/46e7ddbc/podcast/play/112034835/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-11-2%2Fd96dbe87-9ec2-e929-b536-750afb9e9a7d.mp3
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Duration seconds: 1810

## Resource

Some long-held assumptions about feasibility studies can slow an organization’s progress long before a campaign begins. Many teams believe they should polish every detail, finalize every plan, and prepare elaborate materials before speaking with their largest supporters. But when you pause to look closely, those assumptions create missed opportunities and weaker campaign momentum. In this episode of All About Capital Campaigns , Andrea Kihlstedt and Capital Campaign Pro’s Vice President and Chief Happiness Officer, Sarah Plimpton , take a close look at five common myths surrounding feasibility studies and shed light on a more effective approach: the Guided Feasibility Study Model. Drawing from years of collective experience and more than one hundred guided studies, they share why early donor conversations strengthen your case, sharpen your direction, and build the kind of relationships that fuel successful campaigns. Andrea explains how her early career conducting traditional studies revealed a key flaw. Consultants were often the first people to speak with major donors about a project, even though they were not the ones who knew the organization’s plans with the same depth and nuance. When donors asked questions about the vision, program details, or the reasoning behind the project, the consultant could only speak to what they had been told. That disconnect revealed the need for a new structure—one that placed executive directors, board chairs, and other leaders directly in front of donors while still benefiting from consultant expertise behind the scenes. Sarah then walks through the first myth: the belief that everything must be polished before meeting with donors. She describes how donors respond with enthusiasm when they are invited to help shape ideas during the…

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