Major Gifts

Why does one nonprofit receive $1,000 from a donor when another receives $1 million? What is the difference between fundraising and the process of securing transformational gifts? To get some answers we talked with Barbara Pierce, founder of Transformative Giving.

“Transformational gifts come out of a partnership with a donor, built on a common goal that neither the donor nor the organization can accomplish on their own. Fundraising is about getting gifts to meet a budget; transformative giving is about achieving a vision. Without fundraising and the financial foundation it provides, you cannot engage in transformative giving.”

The best place to prospect for major donors is in your small- and middle-donor files. But turning them into major donors doesn't happen overnight.

At Fundraising Day in New York, three fundraising professionals shared 15 things you absolutely must know about major gifts.

A career in major gifts can be rewarding, exciting, satisfying, but it can also be challenging and frustrating. Do you have what it takes? Depending on the sophistication of the development program, you may have to work your way up to being a major-gifts officer. Maturity is a huge factor. In some development offices, MGOs work one-on-one with high-level volunteers, prospects and donors who expect to deal with someone who has a lot of experience.

Rich Brown, a visiting clinical professor at New York University's George H. Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising, shared 26 conversation tips during his presentation, "Major Gifts: 15 Things You Absolutely Must Know," at the Association of Fundraising Professionals' Fundraising Day in New York last week.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t exactly love rejection. In fact, rejection is such a huge issue that most of us are extremely wary of major-donor solicitations. I can’t say that I love it when a potential donor does not come across with an enthusiastic “Yes!” but I do have some tips on how to find out what the issue is and make reluctance work for you. Here are a few questions to ask if your donor says, “I’m not sure.”

Every week Richard and I answer dozens of questions from executive directors, development directors and major-gift officers. While every question is slightly different and every nonprofit is unique, there are basic key absolutes hidden in all of them. So today I’m going to “answer” these questions by laying out seven elements of what a major-gift program and those who work with that program need. We firmly believe that if you follow these seven “absolutes,” you’ll be successful with your major-gift program.

At every level in fundraising, give your donors and prospective donors opportunities to share their stories. Let them know that they matter and that they can make a big difference.  

Major-gift prospects requires the critical first meeting, which can be facilitated by a door-opener or “access person.” With strong collaboration and information sharing between fundraisers and prospect researchers, the latter can play an essential role in identifying access people.

A question that Richard and I often get from development directors and MGOs is whether or not caseload donors should get regular direct-response appeals (mail and e-mail) just like the rest of the donor file. Our answer is always: Absolutely. Okay, so I heard a lot of gasps out there. But let me ask a question. Where do you think most donors who are on major-gift caseloads come from? Most major-gift donors come from those first $25 checks that are sent in from either a direct mail or e-appeal campaign.