What to Do When Your Campaign Timeline Is Unrealistic (But the Board Loves It)

Frances Roen
20 hours ago
3 min read

You’re sitting in a board meeting, and someone says it:

“So… our goal is to reach our goal by next June, right?”

Heads nod. People are energized. The timeline sounds bold and inspiring.

And in your gut, you know: There is no way.

This is one of the most common campaign tensions I see: a timeline that looks great on a slide, but doesn’t match your donor pipeline, internal capacity, or external realities.

The good news? You don’t have to choose between being the “no” person and being unrealistic. You can protect hope and tell the truth.

3 Signs Your Timeline Is More “Wish” Than “Plan”

Your donor conversations haven’t started yet (or maybe you can’t even identify donors of 6 and 7 figure gifts)
If your top 20–30 prospects haven’t been getting insider updates, early conversations, or even a heads-up that something is coming (or worse yet, are missing in action) you’re not ready for a lightning-fast campaign (in fact, you probably aren’t campaign ready at all).

Key pieces of the project are still fuzzy.Unclear scope, large shifts in numbers, or big “maybes…” all slow campaign decisions. Having clarity on scope and budget are something that should be determined within a reasonable range prior to feasibility. If you still aren’t sure about those key pieces, asking for people to make large, multi-year gifts isn’t your next step.
Staff and volunteer capacity is already maxed.Campaigns sit on top of normal work. If everyone is underwater now, they won’t magically find 10–15 extra hours a month for donor meetings, follow-up, and committee work.

Step 1: Validate the Energy

Your job is not to throw cold water on the vision. It’s to channel the energy into a plan that can actually work.

You might start with:

“I love how much urgency and excitement we’re bringing to this.”
“The vision is time-sensitive, and that’s a strength.”
“Let’s put a structure around this that sets us up to succeed, not stall halfway through.”

This keeps people out of defensiveness and in problem-solving mode.

Step 2: Bring a Reality-Based Picture

Then, shift from general feelings to specific realities:

How many top prospects you have identified
How many visits you can reasonably complete per month
How long major gift decisions typically take for your donors (often 3–9+ months)
Other big organizational commitments on the calendar

You might say:

“To hit this goal by June, we’d need to complete about 60–80 donor conversations, many of them with couples or families who will need time to decide. Right now, we estimate we can meaningfully engage about 10–12 households per month. That puts us closer to an 18–24 month runway.”

You’re not being negative. You’re being specific.

Step 3: Offer Scenarios, Not Just Problems

Boards respond well to choices. Try coming with at least two options:

Scenario A – “All Gas”: Aggressive timeline with clear tradeoffs
- Shorter campaign
- Requires an investment in extra staff/consultant support and a very focused board
- Potentially higher risk of burnout
Scenario B – “Steady & Strong”: Realistic 18–24 month arc
- Phased milestones (quiet phase goal, public phase goal, finish line)
- Space for relationship-building and course corrections

Language you can use:

“If we want to keep a June 202X finish line, here’s what would need to be true: additional staff time dedicated to the campaign, a tightly focused prospect list, and very active board participation.

If we keep our current staffing and commitments, a more realistic finish line is early 202Y. We can build in interim wins so it still feels energizing, not endless.”

Step 4: Keep Hope Alive With Milestones

A longer timeline does not mean dragging things out. It means spreading the work and wins so you can sustain energy:

Quiet phase goal (“By next spring, we aim to secure 60–70% of our commitments.”)
Public launch date
Mid-point celebration
Finish line & “thank you” moment

When the board can see a path with real milestones, they’re more likely to bless a realistic timeline.

Bottom Line: Who’s Holding Both Hope and Reality?

Unrealistic timelines don’t make you visionary. They make you vulnerable—to burnout, donor fatigue, and stalled campaigns.

Real leadership is being willing to say:

“The vision matters this much.” and
“Here’s what it will actually take to get there.”

Because in the end:

Vision needs velocity and viability.

The healthiest campaigns aren’t the ones that move the fastest. They’re the ones where someone—ED, DD, consultant, or a brave board member—is willing to hold both hope and honesty at the same time… and invite everyone else to do the same.

Frances Roen is the Founder of Fundraising Sol and a fundraising consultant with two decades of experience. She is deeply passionate about relationship building, individual donor work, and supporting nonprofit professionals’ health and wellness to enable them to deliver their best work.