Why Your Organization Needs a Major Gift Program

Why Your Organization Needs a Major Gift Program

A fruitful major gift program has the ability to expand the organization’s base of support, create and deepen relationships with its partners for the long-term and lift the overall fundraising effort to new heights.

However, because most nonprofit organization leaders, board members, and even development directors don’t know how to create or execute a major gift program, too little time is invested in raising major gifts. And so, too many nonprofit organizations, large and small, new and well-established, rely too heavily on labor-intensive and low-yield fundraising strategies like grant writing and special events to raise funds. Often times the funds raised from these strategies fall well short of what these organizations need to fulfill, let alone expand their missions. Rare is the case a nonprofit organization can survive, let alone thrive, with a heavy reliance on these strategies.

With good reason, the most productive nonprofit organizations are all heavily invested in their major gift programs. While it is true common threads and best practices can be found in all effective major gift programs, this is definitely not a one-size-fits-all situation. Major gift programs need to be tailored to meet the specific needs of the organization based on their donor’s needs, the organization’s size, resources, staff, and many other factors. And major gift programs should be enhanced by an organization’s other fundraising methods such as direct mail, email, special events, etc. The synergy between all these methods can help create and build the base for a major gift program.

Most of all, a truly epic major gift program will be donor-centric. The reality is, donors are less interested in fulfilling your mission than you might hope. They are actually more interested in fulfilling their own mission when it comes to their charitable giving. Donor-centric major gift strategies, with a focus on the donor’s (rather than the organization’s) needs, create long-lasting and meaningful relationships and an ever-increasing revenue stream to help the organization fulfill and expand its mission. Truly a win-win for all.

To learn how Accelerating Philanthropy can help your organization create a comprehensive strategic plan for fundraising, including effective annual fund and major gift programs, please visit our website.