Not Every Capital Campaign Builds a Building — But This One Changed 800 Lives

All About Capital Campaigns: Nonprofits, Fundraising, Major Gifts, Toolkit · May 5, 2026 · 28m

When most nonprofit leaders hear "capital campaign," they picture a new building. A groundbreaking ceremony. Architectural renderings. But what if the most transformative investment your organization could make isn’t a building at all — it’s the people who do the work?

In this episode of All About Capital Campaigns, Andrea Kihlstedt spoke with Esther Landau, Senior Director of Advancement Services at the Arc San Francisco, about a $3.3 million capital campaign that had nothing to do with bricks and mortar. Instead, the campaign funded staff pay increases to reduce crippling turnover and…