The term “major gifts fundraising” may conjure up images of large foundations or national nonprofits with robust, dedicated development teams asking for multi-million dollar donations. The truth, however, is that nonprofits of any size can build an effective, achievable major gifts fundraising plan.
The size of what constitutes a major gift will depend on your goals and current capacity. For smaller nonprofits, any gift $1,000 or more could count as a major gift. Meanwhile, other nonprofits may target $10,000 gifts to jumpstart a new program.
The takeaway here? Even if you’re new to major gifts fundraising, building a plan for these large gifts is within your reach!
In this article, we’ll help you get started by introducing the key elements of a traditional major gifts plan, from identifying the right donors to reporting back to them on how you used their gift.
Major donors should be individuals who want to engage more with your nonprofit. To find these people, stick to the “three Cs” of identifying major donors:
A great place to start when identifying these donors is with your list of current donors. Query your donor database to review which donors:
You can also review your current board members, committee members, volunteers, and other community champions, whether or not they have given their first donation, to see if any show promise for major donor cultivation.
Once you’ve created your list of major donors to cultivate, set a personalized fundraising goal for each of them. It might be tempting to lump your major donors into a general “major ask” category, but having specific numbers for each will better drive your major gifts fundraising plan.
Donor-specific fundraising goals help:
Asking for major gifts requires a high level of personalization when it comes to cultivation. You need to have a personalized plan that goes beyond the segmented donor groups you may already have for different email appeals or other campaigns. Major donors need to know they’re special, and the way to accomplish that is through highly customized, individual cultivation plans.
Some of the details you’ll want to incorporate into your individual major donor cultivation plans include:
Use the information you have about each donor to tailor your stewardship to the individual donor’s needs and interests. Make sure each member of your stewardship team has access to holistic information about the donors they're cultivating, including not just past donations but also volunteer activity, family members who are involved in the organization, and more.
While this may seem like a time-intensive task, there are ways to streamline the process. You can collect this information in your centralized donor database which can be easily shared across your team. Once you begin your cultivation plan with the donor, ensure each team member is recording their interactions in this same space to create a historic cultivation record.
Your ask for a major donation is the bridge between what your donor would like to see your organization accomplish and what your needs are. Through your cultivation efforts, you should be able to identify where there is overlap between the two.
By the time you’re ready to make your ask, you should already have a strong connection with your donor. They should have an idea of where your nonprofit is trying to head in the future and how their support could make that a reality. Through ongoing cultivation, they should anticipate the ask coming, rather than it being like a “cold call.”
When you make the ask, continue to communicate it in a way that shows how the money will be put to use and the impact it will have. Your ask should be delivered as something for the donor to consider, but with a specific dollar amount attached to it.
For example, let’s say your donor’s name is Suzanne and you’ve identified and cultivated her as a good major donor option to support a new trap-neuter-return program for your nonprofit animal shelter. The basics of your ask would look like this:
Suzanne, thank you so much for your continued support of our mission. As we’ve discussed previously, our biggest hurdle right now is caring for the growing population of feral and stray cats in our community. Today, I’d like to ask you to consider a gift in the $10,000 range to allow us to launch a new trap-neuter-return program.
This includes language that gives the donor time to consider the ask, a specific donation range you’re looking for, and enough details to show how the donation will be put to good use.
All donors need to feel appreciated. Donors who give significant gifts that allow your nonprofit to jumpstart new programs or expand your reach especially require sincere thanks. Avoid missing a thank-you touchpoint by having a timeline in place for when and how you’ll thank your major donors following their gifts.
For example, your thank-you strategy may look like this:
Having a solid thank-you timeline in place is key to turning major donors into lasting, long-term relationships.
Post-gift stewardship is nearly as important as the initial thank-you in demonstrating your accountability to the donor. Don’t leave major donors wondering how their gift is being spent or if it has been yet. And don’t leave them hanging to the point where they have to reach out to you for an update.
Instead, report back promptly to the donor as you use their gift and let them know the frequency with which you will provide updates. Your update frequency will depend on what makes sense for your funded project that best shows that you’re doing what you said you would with the donation. If there are any delays in spending the gift, share those too, along with details of your plans to get things back on track as quickly as possible.
As your funded project or initiative gets moving, send your major donor data that shows the impact it is having toward your mission. Remind them that they made that impact possible.
Major gifts provide opportunities for nonprofits to launch new initiatives or expand their current work to have a greater impact. Nonprofits of any size can secure major gifts through building and following a major gifts fundraising plan. Following the steps above can help your nonprofit establish a process for this critical revenue source.
Ready to get to work? Download our Donor Cultivation And Stewardship Template to start creating your major gifts fundraising plan today!