Maximizing Impact: 8 Key Elements for Successful Major Gift Fundraising
Major gifts are generally defined as large donations from individual donors, corporations, or foundations. They hold great potential for nonprofit organizations. For smaller organizations, a major gift may be $1,000 or $10,000, while for larger organizations the floor for a major gift may be $100,000 or more. Wherever your organization lands on this continuum, here are eight key elements to maximize the impact of your major gift fundraising efforts:
1. Donor Identification
Understanding the capacity of your donor base is crucial. Wealth screening, research on past giving to other organizations as well as yours, and assessing philanthropic interest all factor into whether or not a prospect or donor falls within the major gift parameters set for your organization.
2. Cultivation Strategies
With screening and research complete, how will your organization cultivate relationships with identified major gift prospects? Your strategy should outline how you plan to engage your prospects and donors, involve them in your nonprofit’s mission, and build strong connections over time.
3. Donor Motivation
In your assessment of your prospects’ and donors’ philanthropic interests, take time to learn what drives them to give generously. Include board members and key volunteers who can serve as resources and connectors. With each conversation, you can learn what resonates with your prospects’ and donors’ values. In turn, you can tailor your communication and approach to align with what is important to them.
4. Gift Planning & Solicitation
When is the right time to make an ask? Do you plan your solicitations around your organizational cycle or your donor’s preferred time to contribute? Beyond your organization’s set annual giving program, be sure to design a strategy for each of your prospects and donors, based on what timing they prefer for a solicitation. Some prospects and repeat donors may like shorter giving cycles, while others may take up to a year or more to indicate they are ready to be asked for and make a major gift. Be sure proposals are personalized and centered around your prospects’ and donors’ interests and include giving opportunities, such as bequests, endowments, and multi-year pledges, in your conversations and planning. This helps donors expand their investment and deepen their impact.
5. Stewardship & Donor Recognition
How do you steward a major gift donor and properly express gratitude for their contributions? Ask your donors how they want to be recognized. Though you may be tied to a rubric for a capital campaign donor plaque, for example, in most cases you can customize a stewardship plan for each donor to show the direct impact they make. Look for ways to enhance regular updates with a personal note from an organizational client, a program officer, a board member, or you. And if your donor prefers to be anonymous, heed that, while still finding opportunities to call, meet, and directly convey the meaningful impact they have made.
6. Donor Retention
Retaining donors and keeping them engaged in your mission is essential for sustainable fundraising. Use your portfolio-management program each day to manage the cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and communication plans you design for your prospects and donors. This helps ensure long-term relationships with your contributors — relationships that keep them at the center of your work and process.
7. Collaborate & Build Networks
Remember to collaborate, seek advice, and leverage your networks to identify and secure major gifts. Building partnerships can expand the reach of your fundraising efforts and attract new donors, which helps grow your organization’s development pipeline and donor base.
8. Metrics & Evaluation
Use your portfolio management system to track your activities and evaluate the return on investment for your fundraising strategies. This helps you measure the success of your major gift fundraising efforts, as well as iterate on them as you design your future plans and strategies.
By focusing on these key areas, you can develop effective major gift fundraising strategies and build strong relationships with generous donors invested in a shared mission.
Interested in how M. Gale & Associates can help you create or enhance your major gift program? Visit us at www.mgaleassociates.com.
Tobie Smith, MA, CFRE is a 30-year fundraising veteran and a Senior Consultant with M. Gale & Associates, a full-service philanthropic consulting firm helping nonprofits reach their fullest potential with campaign services, fundraising tools, and nonprofit management.
