What It Is

A joint offering that pairs WOODFOLK’s major-gift campaign experience with wYrks’ 4P framework to prepare and run a capital campaign.

Who It's For

Schools, nonprofits and institutions facing a major funding goal that need donors to understand why it matters and how they can help.

What Changes

Your case, your giving ladder and your story line up with what your institution actually does, so donors give with confidence.

This might be you if...

“We have a big goal and a beautiful rendering, but no plan to reach it.”

“Our board is willing, but unsure who to ask or how.”

“Our case for support reads like a wish list.”

“We keep asking the same few families.”

“Our website and materials don’t reflect who we are now.”

“A consultant offered to work for a percentage of what we raise.”

What It Is

Two firms, one engine for capital growth

When people understand what’s at stake, why it matters and how they can help, they often give more. Many campaigns stall because the ask is separated from the institution behind it. The building is clear, but the reason it matters isn’t.

The Capital Growth Engine joins WOODFOLK, a capital-growth firm, with wYrks collaborative. The two firms remain separate companies and work as one team. WOODFOLK brings campaign strategy and major-gift relationships. wYrks brings the work that makes the case true: clear purpose, sound operations, evidence of impact and a story told well in every channel.

How wYrks does it differentlyWe build the case before we make the ask.Every campaign starts with an audit of where you stand and the friction holding back your next milestone, so the case for support rests on evidence.We combine campaign counsel with the work behind it.The same team writes the case, builds the giving ladder, redesigns the website and produces the videos and events, so every piece tells one story.We’re paid a fixed fee, never a percentage.Following AFP ethical standards, we never take a commission on gifts, and your donor data and relationships stay yours.

The Four Ps of a capital campaignDonors give to institutions that make sense all the way through. The Capital Growth Engine works on all four parts at once.Two ways to engageFoundation Build · three months, fixed feeFull Campaign Partnership · 12 to 18 months, includes the Foundation BuildProof is what makes the Promise believable, so we gather impact data and stories before we write the case for support.What donors seePromise“How do I take part?”The case for support, a named giving ladder, ask scripts for every level, and the website, video and events that carry the story.WOODFOLK and wYrks togetherProof“What difference will my gift make?”Impact data and real stories, gathered first, that become the foundation of your case for support.wYrksWhat donors see is built on what holds it upWhat holds it upProcess“Can they deliver on it?”The operating rhythm behind the campaign: roles, calendar, board engagement and prospect mapping.WOODFOLK, with wYrksPurpose“Why does this matter, and why now?”Your reason for being, aligned with what your community needs, and a clear campaign vision.wYrks, with WOODFOLK

What you get

4P Strategic Evaluation readout

How your leadership and frontline teams each see Purpose, Process, Proof and Promise, side by side, with every answer traced to how people know it.

Challenge Statement and Success Measures

The real problem in one paragraph, plus the human and business measures (HPIs and OKRs) that will show it’s solved.

Why Statement and Mantra

The root reason your organization exists, reduced to a short line people can repeat and act on.

Purpose Statement, tested

One sentence built around your customer, with the decision-test results from your managers.

Desired State Statement

The agreed picture of where you’re going, signed off by your sponsor as the mandate for what follows.

Charter and Next-Step Roadmap

Who does what next, in what order, and how we’ll know it’s working.

Strategic Audit & Challenge Statement

Where your institution stands, and the friction points standing between you and your goal.

4P messaging architecture

Your purpose, operations, proof and promise aligned into one message for every audience.

Case for Support

A written case built on impact evidence, explaining what’s at stake and how donors can help.

Giving Ladder & constituent map

Named gift levels with milestones, mapped to the people most likely to give at each.

Ask scripts

Documented conversations for every tier of your donor base.

Campaign calendar

With the Full Campaign Partnership: a 12–18-month plan, verified prospect list, and videos, podcasts and events that keep the campaign visible.

Partner perspective · WOODFOLK

Decades of campaign leadership, joined to the 4P framework.

Michael Woodfolk has spent more than 20 years in campaign fundraising, including leadership at UVA’s Darden School of Business. The Capital Growth Engine pairs that experience with the work wYrks does on purpose, operations, proof and story.

The Four Ps are the most well-conceived operational framework I have ever encountered, and I have encountered most of them.

Michael Woodfolk

Founder, WOODFOLK

Strategic AlignmentA hypothesis and challenge statement for your campaign, agreed with your leadership and board.Makes sure the promise you make to donors is backed by what your institution does and can prove. This joint offering bundles several wYrks services with WOODFOLK’s campaign counsel.Stewardship and reporting that keep donors informed about their gifts, and a stronger base for annual giving after the campaign.Every wYrks service is a building block of I.D.I.D., the path from understanding the parts to aligning the whole.See the full I.D.I.D. processIdentifyClarify the challengeDefineUncover truths & close gapsIdeateConceptual bridgeDeliverRefine, build & executeEvolveSustain, then elevateCommitment Brand

Often Paired With

Before it · Process

Market Research & Probes

Check whether what the market hears matches the purpose you're delivering on.

Explore Market Research & Probes →

Alongside it · Purpose

Brand Audits

Check whether what the market hears matches the purpose your leaders just agreed on.

Explore Brand Audits →

After it · Process

Corporate Culture Alignment

Turn the purpose into daily behavior, incentives and norms across your teams.

Explore Corporate Culture Alignment →

Before it · Purpose

Strategic Alignment

Make sure leadership and board agree on the why before the campaign carries it into the community.

Explore Strategic Alignment →

Alongside it · Proof

Data Translation & Storytelling

Turn your impact data into evidence donors can see and feel.

Explore Data Translation & Storytelling →

After it · Promise

Website Design

Give your campaign a home that shows the vision, the progress and how to take part.

Explore Website Design →

FAQs

Capital Growth Engine questions

How are you paid?

A fixed fee for the Foundation Build, or a monthly retainer for the Full Campaign Partnership. Never a percentage of what you raise, which professional fundraising ethics standards prohibit. Third-party costs like printing, media production and advertising are billed separately.

How long does it take?

The Foundation Build is a three-month engagement. The Full Campaign Partnership runs 12 to 18 months and includes the Foundation Build.

Do you ask donors for gifts?

In the Full Campaign Partnership, yes. We work alongside your leaders in high-stakes donor conversations and coach them in real time. Your institution always owns its donor relationships and data.

Are WOODFOLK and wYrks one company?

No. They are two separate firms that work as one team on this offering. You get one plan, one schedule and one point of contact on each side.

Capital Growth campaigns Rooted In What You Can Say And Prove