The Major Donor Staircase: 6 Steps to Sustainable Major Gift Fundraising
Who doesn’t love a happy surprise? And who among us wouldn’t want to experience the joy of receiving an unexpected major donation?
As exciting as such moments might be, surprise gifts – even large ones – will not provide the amount of funding your organization needs to become sustainable. For nonprofits that rely at least in part on philanthropy, the road to financial stability should be paved systematically.
Allow me to introduce the concept of the “Major Donor Staircase,” a six-part approach to leveling up your major gift fundraising that builds momentum with each step: Grounding, Identification, Cultivation, Solicitation, Stewardship, and Rinse and Repeat.
Grounding for Major Gift Fundraising
Where to start? First, determine what constitutes a major donor for your organization. One organization’s major donor gives $500 per year while another nonprofit might command annual gifts of $50,000 or more. Begin where you are and adjust as you go.
How many prospects should be on the list? It depends. Major donor officers at large nonprofits will generally carry a portfolio of 150 or so major donors. Remember, though, that these professionals are dedicated to major donor cultivation. Development staff at a smaller nonprofit may be tackling a more diverse set of responsibilities, such as event planning and annual giving.
Adjust the nature and size of your list annually. Grounding your program before you begin, and at annual intervals, will ensure that your major gift program is both ambitious and rooted in reality.
Step 2: Identify Major Donor Prospects
Make sure your data is clean and that a good data management system is in place. “Bells and whistles” are less important than accurate information and the ability to pull the information you need, when you need it.
Analyze your existing database to identify those who have given consistently over time - three years or more is a good starting point. If possible, see if you can cross-reference giving with other activities, like volunteering or attending your events. Personal involvement in your organization is a good sign of someone’s interest in your work.
Assess, to the best of your ability, the giving capacity of your prospects. Review the names with board members to see what they might know. If you can, consider retaining a prospect research service to gather information about your prospects’ resources and giving capacity.
If a professional service is not an option, use what the internet offers. LinkedIn profiles will tell you about current career roles; Glassdoor can help you estimate what someone’s salary might be. A “people” search of ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer can point up connections between your prospects and grant-making foundations. And please don’t leave your local reference librarian out of the loop! Their reference desk might include subscriptions to valuable databases such as LexisNexis.
It helps to work from a template, like the one described in this WealthEngine article. Organizations like the American Prospect Research Association (APRA) provide additional resources as well as information about ethics and best practices.
Step 3: Begin a Program of Cultivation
Brainstorm a menu of meaningful ways to build a relationship with your major donor prospects. Ideas include:
Handwritten notes from the executive director
Exclusive "insider" updates via email
An invitation for a “behind the scenes” experience, to see your mission in action
When appropriate, schedule one-to-one meetings over coffee or lunch
Integrate your strategies into an individual cultivation plan for each major donor prospect in your portfolio. This is an opportunity to tailor your approach to the interests of each individual on your list. Your cultivation plan should include targets regarding gift size and purpose, as well as solicitation strategy and timing.
What you do is important. So is how you do it. Here’s what I mean:
Set and maintain a regular schedule of “touch points” for each prospect. Make sure you have the next touch point set before you complete the current one. Large gaps between interactions lead to disinterest.
Track communications and interactions. Take note of what you learn each time you speak with your prospects. Add this information to your donor database. It will be incredibly valuable as you get closer to asking for a gift.
Step 4: Ask for a Gift
It’s time to align your organization’s vision for the future with your donor’s philanthropic goals by asking for a gift. What do you and your donor want to achieve together? Here are some aspects of the solicitation process to include in your plan:
Who is the best person to request the solicitation meeting? A peer-to-peer invitation might be more likely to secure a date and time. Be clear that the purpose of the meeting is to discuss the organization’s future.
When and where should this meeting take place? Opt for a comfortable location with minimal distractions.
Who should attend? The peer who made the invitation should be present, of course, along with the executive director of the organization. You may need to include someone who brings specialized knowledge about a program area as well but take care not to overwhelm the donor with too large a group. If the donor has a significant other, the ideal would be to include both partners.
Practice! Get your solicitation team together ahead of time to work the kinks out of your presentation. Role playing is a great way to prepare.
Go into the meeting with an initial strategy that includes a request amount, purpose, impact statement, and recognition plan for the donor.
Present a proposal that includes possible gift scenarios for the donor to consider. Vary the gift amount, payment schedule, purpose, and recognition plan. Listen to the donor’s response and be prepared to adjust your proposal to meet their needs.
Don’t panic if you don’t get an immediate yes. Thank your donors for their past support and for their consideration of your request. Promise to get back to them within two weeks to answer any questions they may have or to present a revised proposal, and to discuss the request further. Carefully plan a series of post-solicitation touch points to ensure you close the gift.
Step 5: Steward Your Donors
Take good care of your major donors and they are likely to continue, and even increase, their support. Stewardship is best when it is personalized to the donor, but here are some ideas to consider:
Special acknowledgment letters with personal notes from the executive director or board chair
A phone call from the executive director and the board chair, and/or the volunteer who participated in the solicitation
Regular impact reports, every six months or annually
With permission, a feature piece in the organization’s annual report or newsletter
If the gift involves a naming opportunity, a “ribbon-cutting” or other celebratory event can be a special way to recognize the donor
The stewardship cycle goes hand-in-hand with the cultivation cycle. Together, they require consistent attention to details – scheduling, implementing, and reporting interactions to build a relationship history. Close and consistent management of the program will render positive results.
Step 6: Rinse, Repeat
Congratulations! You have reached the next landing. Pause to re-ground your concept of a major gift; should it be adjusted for the coming year? Compare your updated donor data to your major prospect list. Are there names that should be added? Deleted? Refresh your cultivation and stewardship plans and set a timetable for the coming year’s solicitations. Onward and upward, as they say.
Level Up with Major Gift Fundraising
A commitment to the Major Donor Staircase transforms high stakes fundraising from a constant scramble into a sustainable system. With all six steps in place, your nonprofit will be positioned to close significant, even transformative, gifts.
But a brilliant strategy is only as good as its execution. It takes manpower to ensure consistency across all six steps, from data analysis to stewardship, to keep the staircase from collapsing.
If you are ready but your infrastructure – in particular your staffing – isn’t, consider the value a fractional nonprofit professional can bring to your organization. Fractional professionals from More Than Giving, from high-level fundraising experts to specially trained Nonprofit Virtual Assistants (NPVA®s), are a cost-efficient solution to mounting the Major Donor Staircase, rather than plodding along on the treadmill.
Click here to learn about how More Than Giving can help you achieve these 6 steps.