The five basic elements in Major Gift Fundraising are Leadership, a Prospect Base, Involvement by Prospective Donors in various aspects of organizational life, a Donor Recognition Program, and someone to Guide the process.
1. Leadership includes the organization’s CEO, Trustees and (often) key volunteers. It’s their role to define the funding need, take their case to the public, and identify, cultivate and evaluate those most likely to make a major gift. It is, of course, also the job of the leadership to set the example and ask others to follow that example.
2. The most likely Major Gift Prospects are those individuals with the means to make a gift of the appropriate size, who know your organization, believe in its mission and that it is being run effectively, are accessible to your leadership, and have been substantively involved with your organization.
An effective major gifts program requires the active participation of your leadership in getting your prospects actively involved in the life of your organization. Please note, active involvement of prospects does not necessarily equate to attendance at special events.
In the identification and initial evaluation process, involvement by leadership is absolutely essential. It is they who must have access to the wealthy, before the wealthy can be considered prospects. Your leaders must know your prospects and their interests well enough to identify the best means for involving them with your organization.
3. Involvement is an ongoing process that ranges from asking the prospect for advice – in one-or-more areas, to having that person serve on a committee – for an event, to help identify/evaluate prospects, to add expertise on a project, etc.
Involvement can also mean working with you to help provide the service that is the mission of your organization. It can also be speaking for you – to community groups, corporations, the press, even one-on-one with other prospective donors.
There is no time limit for involvement, it depends on the prospect. By definition, you ask for the major gift at the point where the prospect is likely to respond, “Of course. What took you so long to ask?” That’s why, since it’s not always easy to identify that point, the people doing the cultivating/involving must know the prospect well enough to make that determination.
4. In a major gifts program, Donor Recognition is not about names on a list or how a donor fits a category, it is about what will satisfy each donor’s needs. Their needs can be satisfied by a range of activities … from a handshake with the right person, to a publicity piece in the newspaper, to a name on a building or program.
Recognition in a major gifts program must focus on the individual; and, you won’t be able to determine what the appropriate recognition will be for each donor until you’ve established a solid relationship with them, and get to know their needs.
5. The fifth element is the person who will hold the process together, and be sure that all concerned do what’s needed, when needed. That’s your Director of Development – a person with the experience and expertise who can direct your development program.
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