One way to identify major gift prospects is to look at your current donors and see if you have any donors with the capacity to give at the major gifts level. How does your organization cultivate relationships with potential major donors? This involves regular communication, personalized interactions, and engaging them in the organization’s mission and activities. Identifying potential major donors involves researching individuals or organizations with the capacity and inclination to make significant financial contributions. Major gifts, which include planned gifts, are the largest gifts an organization receives.

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These high-impact gifts typically support strategic priorities like capital projects, new programs, or multi-year initiatives. For more insights and tools to help you build and manage your planned giving program, explore Momentum’s AI Donor Engagement Platform. We’ve partnered with Giving Docs to develop cutting edge tools for planned giving fundraisers.

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It’s also an opportunity for donors to see your work up close, building trust in your operations. Warm introductions, or joining you on solicitation visits with those they know, dramatically increase your success rate in major donor cultivation. Ensure your fundraising team understands the nuances of planned giving and can effectively communicate the benefits to 8 considerations for a new major gifts campaign donors.

Chaz is a senior fundraising consultant dedicated to helping nonprofits achieve their missions. With more than ten years of donor engagement and fundraising experience, Chaz has led diverse development initiatives, with emphases on strategic donor communications and… The more specific you are, the more meaningful the gift becomes, and the more likely the donor is to stay engaged and increase their support over time. Fundraising systems like DonorPerfect allow you to use custom reporting tools to share impact updates and ROI by donor, project, or fund. For example, DonorPerfect allows you to assign and track major gift portfolios with visual dashboards and donor journey mapping tools.

Proper resource allocation ensures that day-to-day operations continue smoothly while the campaign progresses. Use your nonprofit CRM to track where donors are in the pipeline and assign roles or touchpoints accordingly. Major gift programs are most successful when they prioritize both acquisition and deep, ongoing stewardship. Create separate goals for each and review them quarterly to avoid neglecting either side.

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After all, it’s not like sending an email or direct mail fundraising appeal—asking for a major gift should be a highly personal, delicate conversation. A healthcare foundation I advised was preparing for a $20 million campaign to expand its services. We spent six months building their major gifts pipeline before even thinking about a public launch. They secured 74% of their goal in leadership gifts before the campaign went public, setting them up for success. The fundraising software you use to identify major donor prospects, record data from your interactions, and determine the best ask amounts can make a major difference in your success.

How to Be Confident When Approaching Major Donors

Only launch a major gifts program with a reasonable strategic plan, budget, key success indicators, or improvement areas. Lacking these will put you in danger of joining those who started but never followed through on prioritizing major gifts as a revenue source. If you can check most of these boxes, it may be time to launch and improve your major gift strategy. If you can only check 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.

Schedule a complimentary strategy session with me to discuss your campaign goals and how we can help bring them to fruition. Track each interaction you have with your supporters and prospects in your CRM to understand how far along in the cultivation process each prospect is and how the relationship is evolving. They allow your nonprofit to remain in operation and tackle major undertakings, such as implementing renovations or establishing new programs.

• Tailor your approach to match the personal interests and level of involvement of each donor.
• Remember, your fundraising goals should align with your organization’s strategic plan and the impact you aim to generate.
• Reviewing data from past campaigns can give you insights into what has worked best for you.
• Plus, according to our recent blog post on this topic, gifts of stock can have greater tax benefits than direct cash donations.

A potential donor needs to have both types of indicators to be a viable prospect for your nonprofit’s major giving program. Once you find these prospects, add them to your outreach list, prioritizing the individuals with the strongest philanthropic potential. Prospect research is the process of gathering information on potential donors to assess their giving capacity and likelihood of supporting your nonprofit. It’s important for a donor to consult with a financial advisor and estate planning attorney to determine the best type of planned gift for their circumstances.

• Let donors know that your nonprofit accepts DAF donations, and include information about contributing these funds on your website.
• When your nonprofit is ready to take the next step in major gift fundraising, it’s time to begin planning for a capital campaign.
• Unlike many who think competition is a good angle, having internal teams fighting for dollars may not bring you the best outcome.
• You’re fostering a community of patrons invested in the success and longevity of your nonprofit.

They find, cultivate, solicit, and steward potential major donors in their portfolio of prospects. Depending on the size of the organization, an MGO may be part of a team of gift officers or work independently. Many organizations successfully meet their fundraising goals but often find it challenging to diversify or scale their revenue, especially with limited resources or staff expertise. In today’s uncertain landscape—where economic shifts, evolving donor priorities, and policy changes are reshaping philanthropic giving—building a resilient funding strategy is more important than ever.

It can also give you something physical that you can leave with any major gift prospects to read over. 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 occur at the prospect’s home or office and last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. Many MGOs have enjoyed making fortuitous contact with a major donor who said yes to a large gift early in their career.

As mentioned, it’s unlikely that this person is brand new to your organization and your mission. They’ve gotten involved in several other ways, whether through donations, volunteer work, or event attendance. Tell them about the impact they’ve made and how much you appreciate their support.