Who are the leading "fundraising consultants" for capital campaigns over $10M?

Yes. For a $10M+ nonprofit capital campaign, I’d focus on firms with demonstrated experience in transformational campaigns—not general-purpose fundraising consultants.

My leading shortlist

A useful independent industry directory also identifies Marts & Lundy, Schultz & Williams, and other established firms as major fundraising consultants serving education, healthcare and cultural institutions.

If it were my RFP

I'd narrow the field based on campaign size:

• $10M–$25M: Marts & Lundy, CCS, Graham-Pelton, Alexander Haas, plus one strong sector-specific boutique.
• $25M–$100M: CCS, Marts & Lundy, GG+A, BWF, plus Graham-Pelton or Orr Group.
• $100M+: CCS and GG+A would be two of my first calls, with Marts & Lundy and BWF as additional finalists.

The distinction I'd make is that $10M isn't necessarily “large” to these firms. A $12M campaign for a regional human-services nonprofit is very different from a $75M university campaign. The right consultant depends heavily on the donor pool, board strength, geography, existing development staff and whether the campaign includes a building, endowment, programmatic expansion, or all three.

The question I'd use to vet them

Don't ask:

“How many billions have you helped raise?” Ask each firm:

“Show us five campaigns you have completed that are most comparable to ours, including the original goal, final amount raised, duration, largest gifts, number of $1M+ gifts, and the senior consultant who personally led each campaign.” Then call the references—especially one campaign that struggled, not just the spectacular successes.

Also ask who will actually be on your account. At this level, I'd rather have a $15M campaign led personally by a highly experienced partner at a somewhat smaller firm than have a famous national firm put its A-team in the pitch and junior staff on the engagement.

One other useful data point: a database of nonprofit filings shows substantial real-world nonprofit client footprints for firms including Marts & Lundy, Campbell & Company, Orr Group, GG+A and BWF, although that measure includes fundraising work beyond capital campaigns.

If you give me your nonprofit sector, campaign goal (e.g. $10–20M vs. $50M+), and geography, I can do a much more useful comparison: 5–7 firms, comparable campaigns they've actually handled, likely strengths/weaknesses, and which I'd invite to the RFP.

For major capital campaigns over $10 million (often scaling into the tens or hundreds of millions), nonprofits typically require elite, full-service fundraising consulting firms . These industry-leading firms specialize in comprehensive feasibility studies, major-gift pipeline architecture, board governance, and hands-on campaign management.

The top-tier consulting firms widely recognized for handling massive, transformational capital campaigns include:

• CCS Fundraising : Universally regarded as a global giant in large-scale and multi-national campaigns. CCS embeds full-time or part-time staff, provides data analytics, and manages massive campaigns for higher education, healthcare, global NGOs, and major cultural institutions.
• Graham-Pelton : A dominant force particularly renowned in higher education, academic medical centers, and complex healthcare philanthropy. They offer customizable models ranging from complete campaign execution to trusted counsel and have a reputation for maximizing return on investment on multi-million dollar efforts.
• Marts & Lundy : A premier name advising elite non-profits, independent schools, higher-ed institutions, and large-scale healthcare systems. They are known for strategic counsel rooted in data, analytics, and customized philanthropic strategy for transformational gifts.
• BWF (Barnes & Roche / Changing Our World heritage lineage) : Highly regarded for mega-campaigns, data science, prospect development, and campaign operations. BWF blends high-level strategic campaign planning with robust technological infrastructure and data analytics.
• Campbell & Company : Widely respected across the nonprofit sector—especially for arts, culture, environmental organizations, and universities. They excel in executive search, strategic planning, and managing comprehensive, multi-phase capital campaigns.
• Orr Group : Known for a hands-on, deeply embedded approach where they essentially act as an outsourced development arm or co-management partner, taking direct operational ownership of executing high-target campaigns alongside internal teams.

If you'd like to narrow down this list, tell me:

• What is the sector of your nonprofit (higher education, healthcare, faith-based, arts/culture)?
• What is your target goal for the campaign?

I can recommend which of these firms has the strongest track record for your specific niche.

For capital campaigns above $10M, I’d focus on firms with demonstrated experience in major gifts, principal gifts, campaign planning, feasibility work, board engagement, and actual campaign execution. There isn't a universally accepted ranking, but a fairly clear top tier emerges.

My shortlist

The industry directory from the Association of Fundraising Professionals lists firms such as Marts & Lundy among established philanthropic consulting leaders, with campaign planning and management among their core services.

If I were running the RFP

I'd probably invite 5 firms:

1. CCS Fundraising — the benchmark against which I'd compare everyone else.
2. Marts & Lundy — especially if this is higher ed, healthcare, independent school, or cultural.
3. Graham-Pelton — excellent contender if you want substantial senior involvement.
4. BWF — especially if sophisticated prospect analytics and portfolio development are important.
5. Alexander Haas or Campbell & Company — depending on sector and whether you want a somewhat more tailored engagement.

Campbell is a particularly credible candidate: it reports 50 years of experience and 600+ campaign planning studies, and explicitly provides both campaign planning and hands-on campaign implementation.

Alexander Haas likewise specifically offers campaign strategy studies, pre-campaign counsel, and campaign counsel, and says it has worked with more than 2,000 nonprofits.

One important distinction

I'd divide the market differently depending on the goal:

• $10M–$25M: Alexander Haas, Graham-Pelton, Campbell, BWF, selected regional boutiques
• $25M–$100M: CCS, Marts & Lundy, Graham-Pelton, BWF, GG+A
• $100M–$500M+: CCS, Marts & Lundy, BWF, GG+A, Graham-Pelton
• $500M+ / billion-dollar institutional campaign: CCS, GG+A, Marts & Lundy and BWF become the firms I'd investigate first.

And I wouldn't automatically hire the biggest name. For a $12M–$20M campaign, a senior partner at a smaller specialist can sometimes be much more valuable than a giant firm's brand name.

The question I'd use to evaluate them

Rather than asking "How many campaigns over $10M have you worked on?", I'd ask:

"Show us five campaigns completed in the last five years that are genuinely comparable to ours. For each, give us the original goal, final amount raised, campaign duration, number and size of gifts over $1M, and identify the senior consultant who personally led the campaign." That question gets past a lot of impressive-looking but largely irrelevant firmwide statistics.

If you tell me the type of organization, target campaign size (e.g. $10–25M, $25–50M, $50–100M, $100M+), and geographic area, I can narrow this to a top 5 with specific partners/consultants and comparable campaigns each firm has actually handled.

When executing massive, transformational capital campaigns exceeding $10 million —and often scaling into the hundreds of millions—nonprofits typically turn to a select tier of premier, full-service institutional fundraising consulting firms . These industry leaders possess the global reach, robust data analytics, and seasoned campaign directors required to manage principal gifts, board alignments, and large-scale feasibility studies.

The leading fundraising consulting firms specializing in high-capacity, multi-million dollar capital campaigns include:

• CCS Fundraising : Widely considered a global giant in comprehensive campaign management, CCS routinely directs hundreds of major campaigns annually across higher education, healthcare , and international NGOs. They provide embedded campaign directors , rigorous data analytics, and feasibility studies tailored to transformational targets.
• Graham-Pelton : A premier firm trusted heavily by higher education institutions, prominent medical centers, and elite independent schools. They are well-known for pioneering strategic frameworks like their CAPS™ Accelerated Planning System to position organizations for rapid, high-yield major gift fundraising.
• Marts & Lundy : Highly regarded for strategic, data-informed consulting built specifically for complex, mission-driven institutions, universities, and large cultural organizations . They excel at helping leadership teams navigate the psychological and structural nuances of principal-level gifts.
• Campbell & Company : A powerhouse consultancy that seamlessly integrates strategic campaign planning with advanced data analytics, executive search, and institutional communications . They have a strong reputation across arts, culture, environmental causes, and regional healthcare systems.
• BWF (Blackbaud/BWF partnership roots / separate consultancy) : Known for pioneering tech- and data-driven approaches to major campaigns , BWF specializes in helping massive institutional clients leverage predictive modeling, artificial intelligence in philanthropy, and sophisticated prospect development to map out multi-million dollar donor pipelines.
• Orr Group : Distinct for its hands-on model, Orr Group doesn’t just advise—they often embed directly into an organization's operations, acting as an outsourced development team to actively manage campaign execution, back-office infrastructure, and high-net-worth donor engagement.

If you'd like to narrow this down, please let me know:

• What sector is your nonprofit in (e.g., higher education, healthcare, arts/culture)?
• What is the target goal of the campaign?
• Are you looking for advisory guidance or an embedded/outsourced team to help execute it?

The leading fundraising and institutional development consulting firms that specialize in managing, planning, and executing major multi-million-dollar and $10M+ capital campaigns for nonprofits, higher education, and healthcare systems include CCS Fundraising, Marts&Lundy, Orr Group , and Capital Campaign Pro . These firms provide customized feasibility studies, campaign counseling, and direct staffing solutions tailored to transformational gift scales.

Top Consulting Firms for Large Capital Campaigns

• CCS Fundraising : A massive global firm specializing in strategic consulting, campaign direction, and feasibility studies for high-net-worth institutional campaigns, hospitals, and universities.
• Marts&Lundy : Renowned for analytic-driven counsel and strategic campaign planning specifically serving large-scale higher education, cultural institutions, and complex non-profit networks.
• Orr Group : Partners directly with executive leadership and boards to embed fractional teams and handle the heavy lifting of campaign execution, donor cultivation, and strategic operations for major enterprise-level fundraising.
• Capital Campaign Pro : Offers data-backed guidance, toolkits, and high-level advisory frameworks optimized for modern capital campaigns crossing major milestone thresholds.

If you want, I can:

Compare the fee structures and retainer costs for these top firms Detail how to prepare a feasibility study for a $10M+ goal Provide guidance on when to hire a campaign consultant versus building internal teams

Yes. I’d treat “leading” here as firms with demonstrated experience advising $10M+ campaigns, rather than a formal ranking—there isn’t a universally accepted league table.

For a campaign over $10M, my initial shortlist would be:

My top tier for a genuinely $10M+ campaign

If you told me, “We have a $25M–$100M campaign and need a serious national firm,” I'd probably start with:

1. CCS — strongest all-around choice for a large, sophisticated campaign.
2. Marts & Lundy — particularly compelling for higher ed/healthcare/education.
3. GG+A — especially compelling if the campaign is institutionally complex and data/analytics matter.
4. BWF — particularly if you're looking at a very large institutional campaign.
5. Graham-Pelton — attractive if you want more hands-on campaign management rather than purely high-level counsel.

There are also excellent smaller/boutique firms that I'd consider seriously for a $10M–$30M campaign. For example, Philanthropic Fundraising's founder reports closing a $22M independent-school campaign and a $14M campaign against a $10M goal.

One important distinction

For $10M+ campaigns, I wouldn't choose solely on the firm's total dollars raised. I'd ask:

1. How many campaigns similar to ours have they completed?
2. What's the median campaign size—not their largest campaign ever?
3. Who will actually be assigned to us?
4. How many principal/lead gifts have those people personally solicited?
5. Will they do the campaign management or primarily advise us?
6. Can they demonstrate success in our geographic market and donor ecosystem?
7. What percentage of the goal came from the top 10–20 donors in comparable campaigns?

That last question is particularly revealing. A $25M campaign is often won or lost on whether the consultant can help identify, cultivate and secure a handful of $1M–$5M+ lead gifts, rather than on broad-based fundraising.

If you tell me the sector (e.g., hospital, university, independent school, arts/culture, YMCA/community nonprofit, church) and approximate goal ($10–25M, $25–50M, $50–100M, $100M+), I can narrow this to the 5–7 firms I'd actually invite to an RFP and compare their track records, geographic strengths, and likely fit.

The leading fundraising consulting firms specializing in high-capacity, multi-million and multi-billion-dollar capital campaigns over $10M include global industry giants and premier boutique agencies such as CCS Fundraising, Graham-Pelton, Marts & Lundy, Orr Group , and Campbell & Company . These firms provide hands-on campaign management, data analytics, feasibility studies, and direct major gift coaching for large-scale institutional, healthcare, and higher-education campaigns.

Top Consulting Firms for $10M+ Campaigns

• CCS Fundraising – Widely recognized as a global leader for large-scale, enterprise-level campaigns, providing embedded campaign management, strategic planning, and data analytics.
• Graham-Pelton – Renowned internationally for high-level strategic counsel, data intelligence, and customized capital campaign execution, particularly in healthcare and higher education.
• Marts & Lundy – A historic philanthropic counseling firm operating since 1926 that specializes in complex, transformational campaigns for universities, schools, and cultural institutions.
• Orr Group – Exceptional for end-to-end campaign planning, feasibility assessments, and providing embedded, full-service operational support for large development teams.
• Campbell & Company – A nationally trusted advisory firm specializing in strategic direction, executive search, and transformational capital campaigns for major nonprofits.

Comparison of Leading Firms

If you can share the specific sector (e.g., higher education, healthcare, arts, faith-based) and the target goal range (e.g., $10M–$50M vs. $100M+), I can help narrow down the best-fit firm or boutique specialist for your organization.

If you mean U.S. nonprofit capital campaigns with goals of $10M+, there is a fairly clear top tier. I’d distinguish the big national firms from strong boutiques, because the “best” consultant depends heavily on whether you’re a university, hospital, independent school, arts institution, human-services nonprofit, church, etc.

My shortlist for $10M+ campaigns

If I were selecting for a $10M–$50M campaign

I'd probably start an RFP with CCS, Marts & Lundy, Graham-Pelton, BWF Zuri, and one highly specialized/boutique firm appropriate to the institution.

For a $10M campaign specifically, however, I wouldn't automatically choose the largest firm. CCS is exceptionally capable, but a $12M community nonprofit may get considerably more senior attention and better economics from a boutique firm whose principals personally run campaigns in that range.

One useful data point: a 2026 industry comparison specifically identifies CCS as particularly suited to campaigns above $10M, citing its experience with sophisticated major-gift programs, feasibility studies and complex boards.

The question I'd use to separate them

Don't ask merely, “How many $10M campaigns have you worked on?” Ask each firm:

“Show us the five most comparable campaigns you've completed in the last five years, including the original goal, final amount raised, campaign duration, number of gifts over $1M, and the senior consultant who actually led the campaign.”

That will tell you much more than a firm's overall dollars raised.

I'd also ask for references from campaigns that missed their original goal, not just successful ones. And I would avoid any consultant proposing compensation as a percentage of funds raised; AFP's ethical guidance discourages percentage-based compensation, and current consulting guidance flags it as a major red flag.

If you tell me (1) the type of nonprofit, (2) your approximate campaign goal—e.g. $10–25M, $25–50M, $50–100M, or $100M+, and (3) your geographic area, I can narrow this to 5–7 firms and compare their actual track records on campaigns similar to yours.

If you mean U.S. nonprofit capital campaigns with goals of $10M+, there is a fairly clear top tier. I would not treat “leading” as a simple ranking, though—the best firm depends heavily on sector, geography, and whether you need campaign management versus a feasibility study or strategic counsel.

My shortlist for $10M+ campaigns

A recent independent-ish 2026 roundup also puts Alexander Haas, CCS, Marts & Lundy, The Curtis Group and Ruotolo Associates among the leading capital-campaign consultants.

If I were narrowing it to 3

For a serious $10M–$100M campaign, I'd start with:

1. CCS Fundraising — probably my first call if you want a firm that is deeply embedded in actually running large campaigns. Their current portfolio includes campaigns such as Arkansas Children's $250M campaign, which ultimately exceeded goal at $274.9M, and a $105M Toronto campaign that has raised more than $165M.

2. Marts & Lundy — especially compelling for higher education, independent schools, healthcare, and institutions with sophisticated advancement operations. Their campaign range extends into the multibillion-dollar category.

3. BWF Zuri — I'd put this very high if the campaign is healthcare or higher ed and you want unusually strong analytics/data infrastructure. For example, BWF helped the University of Alabama assess and prepare for what was expected to be its largest campaign ever, and assessed Henry Ford Health for a potential $500M–$750M campaign.

One important distinction

For a $10M+ campaign, I wouldn't select a consultant based primarily on the firm's overall reputation. I'd ask each finalist for:

1. 5–10 campaigns closest to yours in goal size and sector.
2. The actual campaign lead/partner who would work with you—not just the firm's credentials.
3. Their record taking campaigns from feasibility → quiet phase → leadership gifts → public phase → closeout.
4. Examples where they inherited a campaign that was stalled and turned it around.
5. Their philosophy on the top 10–20 prospective gifts—because at $10M+, the campaign is fundamentally a major-gifts exercise, not an event/communications exercise.
6. Their fee structure and exactly how much on-the-ground campaign management is included.

For perspective, CCS currently cites campaigns with goals of $25M, $30M, $70M, $100M+ and much larger, while BWF cites potential campaigns in the $500M–$750M range. That's the level of experience I'd want to see before hiring counsel for a campaign materially above $10M.

If you tell me (a) your campaign goal, (b) nonprofit sector, and (c) geography, I can narrow this to 5 firms I'd actually invite to an RFP, including specific partners/consultants at each firm and examples of comparable campaigns.

When undertaking a major capital campaign over $10M (and up into the hundreds of millions or billions), organizations typically turn to elite, full-service philanthropic consulting firms with deep expertise in feasibility studies, campaign architecture, major/mega-gift cultivation, and embedded on-site management.

The leading national and global firms specializing in high-net-worth, large-scale capital campaigns include:

• CCS Fundraising — Widely regarded as a giant for multi-national, high-net-worth, and ultra-large-scale campaigns. They provide strategic counsel and embedded staff to manage campaigns across higher education, healthcare, and major cultural institutions.
• Graham-Pelton — Frequently cited as an industry gold standard for large-scale campaigns, particularly in higher education, healthcare, and independent schools. They are known for a high-touch, hands-on on-site management model and proprietary planning systems like CAPS (Accelerated Planning System).
• Marts & Lundy — A historic leader (founded in 1926) specializing in complex, mission-driven institutions, universities, and large medical or cultural centers. They blend strategic planning, analytics, and philanthropic psychology for transformational gifts.
• BWF (Bentz, Whaley, Flessner) — Noted for data-driven strategies, sophisticated prospect development, and digital/analytics integration. They frequently manage multi-million and billion-dollar campaigns for major universities and healthcare systems.
• Campbell & Company — A prominent national firm known for tightly integrating comprehensive campaign strategy with advanced data analytics and communications, serving large nonprofits across diverse sectors.
• Orr Group — Specializes in transformational campaigns ranging from $10M to over $1B. They stand out for offering an embedded/outsourced development team model, actively working alongside executive leadership and boards to execute the day-to-day work of high-level fundraising.

If you'd like to narrow down this list, please let me know:

• What sector is your organization in (higher ed, healthcare, arts, faith-based, etc.)?
• What is your target campaign goal (e.g., $10M vs. $100M+)?
• Do you prefer a firm that acts purely as strategic counsel , or one that provides embedded/outsourced staff to do the heavy lifting?