A major gifts program can transform your organization empowering you to fulfill your mission greater than ever before. This major gift program guide is based on decades of nonprofit fundraising experience to help you understand how to categorize a major gift, what returns you may expect, and how to successfully launch your own major gifts program.
The presence of a well-run major gifts program has a profoundly positive impact on the success of a nonprofit's mission and vision. While there isn't a universal definition of what constitutes a major gift, a common threshold is a donation of $5,000 or more. Some nonprofits could categorize any donation above $1,000 as a major gift, but the scoring benchmark is the 80/20 rule. In other words, attributing 80% of donor revenue to 20% of the donors. Note that this measurement should also be used as a reliable indicator to determine if your organization is flush with large donations or could stand to grow your donor database through donor acquisition.
These significant contributions are a game-changer for your bottom line, allowing you to make a tangible difference in your community.
Financially stable and successful nonprofits do not miraculously appear out of the ether—in most cases, their bottom line is significantly bolstered by a strategic major gifts program. When launching a major gifts program, an organization must ensure you have these four fundraising "C's" to help you on your way:
Clear, compelling vision.
Your nonprofit's vision should be easily identifiable, and the best way to accomplish this is to repeat, repeat, repeat. Don't relegate the "why" behind your mission to one corner of your website. Incorporate it into the storytelling of your direct mail, online mediums, donor clubs, and more. Illustrate your vision by pulling at the heartstrings of potential donors—it's not desperate, it's a human appeal for the betterment of your world.
Consistent communication.
Would you be more likely to give to a nonprofit or ministry that keeps you in the loop through email, social media, and cultivation letters, or to one that has no up-to-date information on their programs or initiatives? Most people would agree that the more the feel included (i.e. communicated to), the likelier they are to want to get and stay involved.
Competent follow-up.
A generic thank-you is fine, but for major donors a little extra effort is advisable. Hiring a Major Gifts Officer who understands the specificities of major gifts and their donors can help your nonprofit boost its credibility and build relationships over time.
Champions of your mission.
Legacy donors, major or not, keep the lights on and the mission thriving at your nonprofit. These givers have been around for a long time for a reason, and are perfect candidates to provide testimonials that will bolster your organization's reputation or leverage relationships.
The following attributes are central to success for any organization seeking to move its fundraising to the next level. Does your organization have:
If you could check most of these boxes, your time to launch and improve your major gifts strategy may be now. If you only checked a couple, it might be time to review your notes and discern the next steps before diving head-first into a major gift fundraising program.
“Realistic” is the magic word when setting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to help determine Return on Investment (ROI). Below are some pointers to help you determine if your goals are ambitious but still within reach.
1. Don’t compare a new major gifts program to one that has been in place for years. Time and concerted effort is needed for proper development.
2. Factor in your major gifts officer’s (MGO) experience level when setting goals and expectations. If your MGO has years of work under their belt, you may go a bit higher on goal setting, but you may want to reign it in if they have been promoted to that title with no real-time experience.
3. Consider the level of management available to your MGO. If an MGO has strong support, the program's results could be exponentially higher than those of an MGO with limited or restricted support.
The outcomes highlighted above can vary by situation, including the experience of the MGO, the organization’s mission resonance or lack thereof with donors, supporting resources, and the organization's messaging. One way to leap forward faster is to hire a fractional MGO who can leverage deeper experience, large networks, and supporting resources, and already has a solid system for identifying potential foundation and high-net-worth individual donors for your organization.
Conduct prospect research to identify potential major donors with the capacity and inclination to contribute significantly to your cause. Look for individuals or organizations with a history of philanthropy and an interest in your mission.
Develop a support case: Create a compelling case for support document that clearly articulates why your nonprofit deserves major donors' investment. Highlight their contributions' impact, the urgency of the need, and your organization's unique role in addressing the issue.
Major donors are seeking a return on their philanthropic investments through increased personalization.
“Organizations embracing this change are climbing a mountain of success while others, forcing their own models onto their donors, are fighting in the foothills." (Fundraising Analytics by Joshua M. Birkholz)
Donors now expect relationships, not just transactions, with their favorite charities. Gone are the days when a donor would blindly give without requiring accountability and information related to that giving. That is why forward‐thinking nonprofits are spending more time figuring out how to add personalization into their gift processing.
With trillions of dollars transferring from one generation to another in the next few decades, planned gift-giving is an important part of the ideal major gifts program. Having a planned giving program front and center helps secure additional funding and provides clear options for loyal major donors looking to do long-term philanthropic planning.
“Over the next 20 years, an estimated $84.4 trillion will be passed down from the Baby Boomer generation, with around $11.8 trillion potentially benefiting nonprofit organizations. This seismic shift presents a critical opportunity for philanthropy to harness these resources responsibly and effectively.” Vanguard Charitable Giving
Planned giving takes you far beyond the traditional “ask and give” models and, using tax and financial planning tools, helps the donor think creatively about using the assets they control as a critical part of their giving. When incorporating such a program into your fundraising model, there are a few significant points to consider:
Many major gift officers miss the fact that not all success comes from one-on-one outreach. When an MGO begins to bring their organization's name in front of major giving prospects, those prospects will do their research. This is where your social media and website come in.
A key focus of your major giving program should be non-cash gifts like stocks or real estate. These gifts are much larger than cash since more than 97% of wealth is held in non-cash assets. Organizations that accept any non-cash gifts see 50% growth in fundraising revenue over the next five years compared to 11% growth in those accepting only cash donations.
If your organization accepts gifts of stock, Qualified Charitable Distributions (gifts from an IRA), or Donor Advised Funds, ensure you have an easy, accessible way for donors to make these gifts directly on your website. Online giving — even for major gifts like these — is surging, and donors will be headed straight to your site looking for smarter ways to give. Here’s how you can set your organization up for success:
Don’t get lost in meetings that seemingly last forever with little accomplished. Instead, follow this easy-to-follow five-step start after the initial initial chit-chat:
PIVOT
I want to be respectful of your time. Do you mind if we discuss the agenda?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this meeting is simply to determine if we should have a next step.
PLAN/AGENDA
To get us there, I’d like to ask you a few questions about your goals and tell you more about our mission and plans. Is that okay?
OUTCOME
From there, we can jointly decide whether it makes sense to take a deeper dive and keep moving forward. *Important to set the tone for what’s in it for me (WFM) and what’s in it for you (WFU)
CHECK:
Does that sound fair? Anything you’d add?
*This last step is important because it establishes safety and trust with your prospects by allowing them to co-create the agenda with you. It’s an act of intellectual curiosity that shows you genuinely care about what they have to bring to the conversation.
One goal of cultivation is to get to know your prospects better. To do this, you should ask them a variety of open-ended questions, including:
These questions encourage donors to think about your organization on a deeper level and consider how they can get involved in its mission to improve the world.
You can do these steps in any order that makes sense to you and your nonprofit.
This is a must. You cannot discuss a major gift in a group setting. This can be at the beginning of your cultivation or toward the end, but you cannot get around it. More than one person can attend a face-to-face meeting — usually a board member and the executive director or development director. The meeting can take place at the prospect’s home or office and last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.
Persuade each of your prospects to take a tour, visit a program, or attend an event. Choose something you think will have the greatest impact on that individual.
Invite your prospects to volunteer. On a committee, in the office, in direct service, one-time or ongoing. Volunteering brings people closer to your organization and makes them more inclined to give.
Updates about your programs and services can be delivered by phone, email, direct mail, or in person. You should also check in to find out how your donors are doing during these difficult times. Updates and check-ins should be sent twice a year to all prospects on your top 20 list.
Handwritten note cards, swag to remind them of your organization, invites to events, and sharing relevant articles that may interest them are great ways to build trust and brand affinity with your organization.
While individuals may often seem like an easier lift, do not forget to keep mission-aligned foundations on your radar. To do this, you should make sure that organizational fundraisers are part of the major gifts team. They should not be isolated from the individual MGOs or managed by a different department. They should be an integral part of the major gifts team.
Avoid the notion that you must get stuffy and intellectual in talking to foundation representatives. They will indeed require more processes, proof of outcomes, budgets, stats, and other numbers and facts. But don’t get away from the core fact that you, through your organization, are changing lives, the culture, and/or the environment, which is the important aspect of your work together. This also means that your communication, in addition to the business and process requirements, should also have emotional content. You need to find that common ground of shared values, passions, and interests, and then talk about those shared interests and values using stories to make your point.
While fundraising from organizations can be complex, the process really boils down to these simple points. Meeting the organization's funding requirements and successfully matching values and objectives will lead to success.
Have we unlocked all the secrets for a successful major gift program? Definitely not! The hope, though, is that you will be able to take a few of these highlights, key points, and resources that will put your organization on the path to more major gifts than you have had in the past and maybe, if the timing is right, land that transformational gift.