Last updated September 26, 2026
Capital campaign consulting fees vary based on the campaign's dollar goal, timeline, and scope, whether an organization needs a feasibility study alone or full quiet-phase and public-phase management. Catapult builds a customized proposal after an initial conversation about goals and readiness rather than quoting a flat rate up front.
What a consultant does across that engagement: runs the feasibility study and helps write the case statement, prioritizes and reviews prospect data, recruits and trains the Campaign Committee, provides the strategy and coaching behind major gift solicitations during the Quiet Phase, and, in Catapult's case, is the only national firm that also staffs the public-phase calling program with trained Engagement Officers rather than treating it as an afterthought handed to a separate vendor.
That last point matters for cost comparisons: many organizations end up paying three separate vendors (a feasibility consultant, a campaign counsel firm, and a calling company) where Catapult is a single accountable partner across all five phases.
Catapult service
Capital campaign consulting. How Catapult carries a campaign from feasibility study through quiet-phase major gifts and a staffed public phase, with one accountable team.
What drives the fee
Four things move a campaign counsel fee more than anything else. The dollar goal, because a $3 million church campaign and a $50 million university campaign do not need the same team. The timeline, because a quiet phase that runs 24 to 36 months costs more to staff than a nine month study. The scope, meaning whether you are buying the feasibility study alone or feasibility, planning, quiet phase counsel and a public phase calling program. And travel, because in person interviews and on site committee meetings carry real cost that a phone only engagement does not.
Catapult prices each engagement after a conversation about goal, readiness and timeline rather than publishing a flat rate, because a flat rate either overcharges the small campaign or underserves the large one.
Retainer, project fee, and why nobody credible charges a percentage
Most reputable firms, including Catapult, work on a fixed monthly retainer for a defined term, or a project fee for a defined deliverable like a study. You know the number before you start and it does not change if the campaign goes well.
What you should not accept is a consultant paid a percentage of dollars raised, or one paid on commission. The Association of Fundraising Professionals Code of Ethical Standards is explicit that fundraisers should not accept percentage based compensation, and for good reason. A consultant paid on commission has an incentive to chase the easy gift rather than the right gift, and donors who learn a share of their gift went to a commission rarely give again.
Count the vendors, not just the invoices
Cost comparisons usually break down because organizations compare one firm's proposal to another firm's proposal, when the real comparison is one relationship against three. A common path is a feasibility consultant for the study, a campaign counsel firm for the quiet phase, and a separate telefunding vendor for the public phase.
Three vendors means three contracts, three onboarding periods, three sets of prospect data handoffs, and nobody accountable for the whole result. Catapult is a single firm across all five phases, including staffing the public phase with trained Engagement Officers rather than handing it off. Whether that comes out cheaper depends on the campaign, but it is the honest comparison to run.
What you should get for the fee
- A feasibility study with real interviews, not a survey link, and a written report with a confirmed or corrected goal.
- A gift chart built from your actual prospect data, tested against capacity rather than aspiration.
- Case statement and campaign material development, not just editing what your staff writes.
- Campaign Chair and Steering Committee recruitment and training, plus solicitation coaching before volunteers face a donor.
- Named senior counsel who attends your committee meetings, not a pitch team that hands you off to a junior associate after signing.
- Regular written progress reporting against the gift chart so the board can see where the campaign stands.
A cheap study is the most expensive line item in a campaign
The single most costly mistake we see is buying the least expensive study available and then launching against the goal it produced. A thin study means fewer interviews, less candid feedback, and a goal built on optimism. Organizations then spend three years chasing a number their donor base was never going to reach, and the campaign is remembered as a failure even though the fundraising work was competent.
Spending appropriately at the front end is what keeps the rest of the budget from being wasted. If a proposal comes in far below everyone else, ask how many interviews it includes and who is conducting them.
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