Key steps to a successful major gift strategy by Virginia Fisher, Senior Consultant, Revenue Fundraising
The economic news continues to depress the spirits and concern extends to charities facing a difficult funding environment, with additional pressure on the fundraising team to deliver consistent funding.
Are there any streams of income which may not be affected by the current economic climate?
One area is Major Gifts as although, the wealthier philanthropists will undoubtedly be affected by the adverse conditions, the impact on their capacity to give will be limited, so this is a good time to reassess what major donors you might have and how and when you will approach them to support your cause.
What is a major gift? The term ‘major gift’ applies to all organisations large and small as ‘major’ is relative to your donations as a whole - it could be anything from £100 to £1million.
How do you secure one? It isn’t an easy or quick process but there are four key steps to securing a major gift – Identify, Ask, Engage and Nurture
• Identify
You are not just trying to create your own rich list but a list of rich people with a qualified propensity and interest in giving to your cause. Often this has been a case of screening data bases or using intelligence from the individuals within your charity to identify prospects. The ideal is a combination of both.
It is all too easy to chance on a rich person and have visions of them writing a large cheque. Why should they? What life events have they had that would generate a reaction to your need? Understand your prospects. Research them to find out their interests, their aspirations, the circumstances that they or their friends and families have lived through, their wealth, how they made it, their investments, their social networks. Talk with your trustees and stakeholders and find out who knows whom. You will start to gain an insight into why and how they may respond to partnering with you. It will also provide ideas of who should make an approach.
• Ask
Any major gifts strategy starts by identifying need. But more than that, for the major donor you have to ask a further question. What is it that has changed in the level of need that demands support at this time? It is not just need but it is the heightened opportunity to meet that need in a one off significant way that will appeal to a major donor.
You will also have to identify your organisation’s response to that need. How do you plan to meet it, what steps will you take and at what cost? The answers will allow you to define your budget into a number of gift amounts, to assign an outcome for each gift. Tailoring your generic case for support to each individual donor will be your next action. Major Donors like to know what difference their gift will make and you have to be able to quantify that within a timeframe.
• Engage
The skill of every good fundraiser is in playing ‘matchmaker’. Aligning the right need with the right donor through the right relationship (i.e. the right person making the ask) at the right time. Decide how many prospects you can realistically manage and prioritise accordingly. Develop a plan of approach for each one including steps to inform, communicate and involve before asking them to invest.
• Nurture
In any fundraising nurturing is crucial which includes saying thank you in a way relevant to each major donor, continuing the relationship and their involvement with your charity.
Making these four steps the backbone of your major donor strategy will ensure a successful route to securing a major gift. However, as with all good relationships, it takes time to build up this trust so don’t expect results to come over night. A successful major donor strategy requires a long term outlook and commitment from everyone across the organisation. With these in place, you should be able to stave off the economic gloom.
to read more articles from this briefing click on the links below..
Kerry Rock Robin Thomas Virginia Fisher John Studzinski Michael Hintze
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