For more than 30 years, the American Battlefield Trust has been the nation’s foremost champion of historic preservation—saving over 55,000 acres of battlefield land across 25 states. But with America’s 250th anniversary approaching in 2026, the organization knew it had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deepen its impact.
Many of the most iconic Revolutionary and Civil War battlefields were still unprotected. Rapid development threatened to erase sites that hold the stories of our nation’s birth and defining moments. The Trust had a bold vision: launch a $150 million campaign to preserve these lands and transform them into educational platforms for generations to come.
But there was a challenge. While the organization had impressive national reach and name recognition, its donor pipeline lacked depth. Many of the individuals and families with the financial capacity to support the campaign had little to no previous engagement with the Trust.
That’s where the Winkler Group came in.
The Campaign: Bridging the Gap Between Capacity and Connection
The Trust partnered with the Winkler Group to conduct a nationwide feasibility study—not just to test a campaign goal, but to uncover donor passions and align them with the mission. Through this process, we identified a critical insight: the organization had enormous opportunity among donors with high capacity but low affinity.
From there, we built a custom cultivation and campaign strategy focused on three goals: qualify and re-engage major prospects uncovered in the study; leverage relationship mapping to build bridges between board members and new prospects; and elevate the organization’s positioning among potential funders with a broader philanthropic focus.
We facilitated high-touch vision-casting sessions, created segmented cases for support, and implemented cultivation strategies that aligned each donor’s personal interests with the campaign’s national significance.
Donors didn’t just buy into the idea—they began to see the Trust as one of their top philanthropic priorities.
