Major Gifts
16 Killer Strategies that Will Help You Raise More
Major Gift Fundraising Strategies for Every Phase of the Process
In this guide, we’ll take you step by step through every part of the major gift fundraising process and provide you with some tips to help you secure more (and larger!) major gifts.
Read ahead to learn how you can improve the whole process, or use the chart on the right to skip ahead to any parts of the process you’re interested in learning more about.
Major Gift Fundraising |
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Major Donor Identification |
Major Donor Cultivation |
Major Donor Solicitation |
Major Donor Stewardship |
Major Donor Identification Strategies
As the first phase of the major giving process, identification involves searching for prospects who possess your organization’s major gift qualifications.
In this section, we’ve laid out some tips that will help you better pinpoint major gift prospects and get prepared to start cultivating them.
Keep scrolling to read about all of the tips, or use the navigation to the right to jump ahead to a particular tip.
The Strategies We’ll Cover: |
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Clean Your Donor Database |
Perform Prospect Research |
Look to Your Annual Fund |
Check Planned Giving Donors |
Clean Your Donor Database
Perform Prospect Research
Look to Your Annual Fund
Check Planned Giving Donors
Major Donor Cultivation Strategies
Donor cultivation is a critical stage of the major gift acquisition process. It’s the time when you build the foundation of the donor-nonprofit relationship before jumping into an ask.
In this section, we’ll cover some strategies that you can use to help build stronger relationships with major gift prospects, and thus, make it more likely that they’ll donate a major gift when your nonprofit makes the ask.
Keep on reading through, or use the chart on the right to jump down to a particular strategy.
The Strategies We’ll Cover: |
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Hire a Major Gifts Officer |
Host Special Events |
Reach Out to Your Network |
Emphasize Return on Investment |
Hire a Major Gifts Officer
Host Special Events
Reach Out to Your Network
Emphasize Return on Investment
Major Donor Solicitation Strategies
Solicitation is the most pivotal phase of the major gift process. It’s when you officially make your ask, so it warrants special care.
In this section, we’ll guide you through how to make a major gift ask that your prospects can’t refuse.
Read through the section to learn all about the solicitation process, or use the table on the right to jump directly to the strategies you’re most interested in.
The Strategies We’ll Cover: |
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Predict Giving Capacity |
Prepare a Specific Ask |
Come Up With Alternatives |
Practice Your Pitch |
Predict Giving Capacity
Prepare a Specific Ask
Come Up With Alternatives
Practice Your Pitch
Major Donor Stewardship Strategies
The major gift process is not over once you have a check in hand. Afterwards, you’ll need to implement top-notch stewardship practices in order to first, demonstrate your gratitude and second, start making moves to retain your donor.
In this section, we’ll cover what happens after the ask, so you’ll be able to keep building on the relationships you’ve established with your major donors and successfully retain them.
Keep reading to learn all about major donor stewardship, or use the chart on the right to jump ahead to any one of the strategies we’ll cover.
The Strategies We’ll Cover: |
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Thank Quickly and Often |
Form a Major Donor Society |
Provide Unique Engagement Experiences |
Always Look to Improve |