When it comes to nonprofit fundraising, studies show that 80% of individual donor revenue comes from the top 20% of donors. These major gifts can give your nonprofit a huge boost as you begin major projects and ensure you have enough funding to run all of the programs that help further your mission.
The key to bringing in major gifts is having an effective donor cultivation and stewardship strategy. Building relationships with potential major donors is essential. Significant contributions are much more likely to come from donors who feel a deep connection with your organization and your cause. And one significant contribution can lead to a lifelong partnership.
In this guide, we’ll walk through four tips for building relationships with major donors:
Assemble a Dedicated Major Gifts Team or Dedicate Leadership Time
Conduct Prospect Research
Personalize Major Donor Outreach
Recognize and Thank Major Donors
While these tips can serve as a starting point for any organization, keep in mind that your major donor cultivation strategy will be unique to your nonprofit. You may find it helpful to work with a fundraising consultant to address your specific needs and make the most of your major donor relationships. Let’s get started!
1. ASSEMBLE A DEDICATED MAJOR GIFTS TEAM OR DEDICATE LEADERSHIP TEAM
Major donor cultivation and stewardship is a team effort. It’s unique among your organization’s fundraising efforts and requires a lot of time and resources to be effective . So, you’ll want to put together a dedicated team to solicit major gifts and build donor relationships.
If your nonprofit is just getting started with major giving, appoint or hire one person as a major gifts officer. For smaller organizations, this may be the Executive Director or Founder, but it is important to hold time for these activities every week. This person should have relevant professional experience and training in nonprofit fundraising to be able to succeed in the role, as they’ll have to take on a wide range of responsibilities from tracking touchpoints to drafting communication.
As your organization grows, you’ll be able to (and should!) expand your major gifts team. Having multiple staff members take on different responsibilities associated with major donor fundraising will reduce stress and maximize your efforts over time.
2. Conduct Prospect Research
Your major gifts team will be most successful when their fundraising strategies are data-driven. To focus your organization’s efforts on building strong relationships with the most likely major contributors , you’ll need to conduct prospect research.
Donorly’s guide to prospect research advises looking at both capacity and affinity markers to determine the strongest major donors for your organization:
Capacity markers show that someone is in a financial position that would allow them to make a significant contribution to your organization. These include the individual’s net income, stock holdings, real estate ownership, and business affiliations.
Affinity markers indicate a donor’s interest in supporting your nonprofit’s mission. For example, you might look at their giving history, fundraising event attendance, advocacy work, and connections to other donors in your database.
As you conduct prospect research, remember that donors who haven’t given to your nonprofit before can still be good prospects if they’ve engaged with other similar organizations in the past. Also, once you’ve narrowed down your list of potential major donors to the top prospects, make note of each candidate’s specific affinity markers, as these details can help you target your relationship-building efforts.
3. Personalize Major Donor Outreach
Besides helping your organization identify the strongest major donor candidates, analyzing data from prospect research can help you personalize your outreach efforts. Since you’ll be asking major donors to contribute a significant amount (even though they have the capacity to do so), you’ll need to make an ask that they’ll be receptive to in order to secure their support.
To develop an effective process for personalized major donor outreach, follow these steps:
Make a strategic introduction. If a staff member, board member, or loyal supporter at your organization has a connection with a major giving prospect, ask them to facilitate the introduction. Send a personalized invitation to an initial meeting, and allow them to choose whether they’d like to meet in person or virtually.
Hold the initial meeting. In this meeting, you’ll introduce the prospect to your organization and start getting to know them as a person. Learning about their values, families, and interests is important to build an authentic relationship and understand how and if a partnership with this individual will be fruitful. You do not want to leave them feeling like you view them as a blank check.
Follow up regularly. Use the prospect’s preferred contact method, whether that’s phone calls, personalized emails, or direct mail messages, to check in with them periodically and provide an update on your nonprofit’s work. Keep notes from each of your conversations. It’s easy to forget details over time, and you’ll want to revisit the personal details you’ve learned about them to help build a relationship—for example, asking them how their child is liking college so far or if they enjoyed their recent vacation.
Invite them to a fundraising event. Double the Donation’s guide to major gifts points out that fundraising events can help prospects form a more complete picture of your nonprofit by allowing them to meet other staff members and supporters who are passionate about your mission.
Although this process works in many situations, the major donor cultivation process can take anywhere from a few months to several years. You’ll need to determine the right time to make your request on a case-by-case basis and hold additional meetings with them to discuss the details of their contribution. Wait until you’ve formed a strong relationship with the prospect and frame your request through shared values and goals in support of your mission.
4. Recognize and Thank Major Donors
Recognizing your donors is always important. A major donor’s significant contribution made a major difference for your organization, and you’ll want to not only express your gratitude in a meaningful way, but honor their generosity in a way that sets the stage for retaining their support long-term.
Some of the best ways to thank major donors include:
Sending handwritten thank-you notes. Taking the extra time to put a pen to paper and write an individualized note will show major donors how much they mean to your nonprofit.
Including their name on a donor recognition wall. These displays allow major donors to visualize how their contributions fit into your organization’s mission and publicly recognize their support.
Recognizing them on your nonprofit’s website and social media. Whether you interview a major donor for a blog post or post a social media shoutout, you’ll reinforce your donors’ value to your organization by including them in your digital marketing content.
You’ll likely need to adjust your recognition strategy based on each donor’s unique preferences. While this will require more time and effort on your part, it’s another way to show donors you value them as individuals and want to continue your relationship with them.
Nurturing major donor relationships requires a lot of effort, especially when your organization is getting started. But the process will become more streamlined as you grow your major gifts team, streamline your prospect research, and hone your outreach and recognition strategies to make the most of these essential contributions to your nonprofit. Good luck!
About the Author:
Founder and President Sandra Davis leads Donorly with 30 years of fundraising experience and leadership. Sandra has consulted on numerous capital campaigns, led strategic planning and feasibility study efforts, and managed board development and recruitment efforts in addition to overseeing planned giving, special events, and annual giving programs. Under her leadership, Donorly has grown to support the fundraising efforts of over 75 clients to date.