Major giving is a very personal process, and one-on-one meetings build the foundation for a meaningful relationship with your potential major gift donors. The get-to-know-you visit is one of the most crucial steps in the prospect cultivation phase. Here are a few of our favorite ideas for cultivating relationships with each prospective major donor: This way, the eventual solicitation is more informed and better resonates with prospects. Major donor cultivation is based on how your major gifts team connects with prospects and learns more about each one. The more recent, the higher the frequency, and the greater the value of past gifts, the more likely that donor is to be an ideal prospect.Īlthough no philanthropic indicators can guarantee that an individual will make a major gift, it’s a great way to narrow down your target audience to the best possible candidates. RFM score: RFM scores speak to the recency, frequency, and monetary value of the gifts that have been made by a prospect.Whether as a foundation trustee, a director, a board member, or as a volunteer, someone who has been directly involved with organizations (especially those with similar missions to your own) is miles ahead of any other prospects on your list. Nonprofit involvement: Determine if any of your supporters are actively involved with yours or other nonprofits.Donors who gave between $5k and $10k to a nonprofit in the past are 5 times more likely to continue donating charitably. Past giving: It’s a good idea to look at your supporters’ past giving history (if they have one).That’s why these charitable markers are most commonly used to determine a prospect’s affinity to give: Logically, it makes sense that a donor who has given in the past, has been involved recently and frequently, or has donated large sums over time is highly likely to donate a major gift in the future. Philanthropic indicators speak to a prospect’s inclination towards charitable work in a general sense, as well as towards your mission more specifically.

With this information, you not only gain insight about whether or not a supporter can give, but also the ability to adjust the size of your ask according to supporters’ actual capacity.

When you take a look at donor characteristics like these, you can better understand a prospect’s ability to give. Studies have also shown that donors who give over $2,500 in FEC and charitable campaigns are 14 times more likely to contribute to a nonprofit than those who do not. Look at your supporters’ political giving histories for further insight into potential philanthropic giving capacity.

Political giving: Information about political contributions is publicly accessible.

This adds another unique way to give and can be more beneficial (if the stock is successful!) in the long run.

Stock ownership: Not only can stock ownership give you an idea of a donor’s potential ability to give, but it also opens up a possibility for donations in the form of stock.

After all, an individual that owns more than $2 million worth of real estate is 17 times more likely to give philanthropically than the average person.

Real estate ownership: A common wealth marker in donors is their real estate ownership.

These are some of the most common markers that prospect research looks at: Wealth markers are simply signals of someone’s financial capacity to give at the level that your organization considers to be a major gift. Wealth indicators are what people typically think about when considering prime candidates for major giving. Those who have strong indicators for both capacity and affinity are your top prospective major donors. This reveals both a prospect’s financial capacity to make a major contribution and their estimated openness to doing so. Prospect identification requires you to conduct research by scanning the individuals in your donor database for common wealth and philanthropic indicators. Since major gifts make up a large part of your overall funds raised, it’s vital that organizations invest time in pinpointing these prospects. In order to increase your major gift revenue, you need to first identify potential major gift prospects. Let’s walk through each phase in more detail. This fundraising cycle helps you find your prospects among a sea of dedicated supporters, then lead them to become vital major donors for your cause. The major gift fundraising process is broken into four distinct phases: identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.

Major gift manager job description