Major Gifts from donors are a crucial component of successful fundraising efforts for nonprofit organizations. These gifts, typically larger in size, are given by individual donors or foundations who are passionate about the cause and have the financial capacity to make significant contributions. Major Gifts play a pivotal role in the sustainability and growth of nonprofits, allowing them to carry out their mission and make a substantial impact in their communities.

Find below our articles about Major Gift Fundraising best practices.

How to Approach Your Major Donors for Year-End Gifts

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If you don’t do anything else in your year-end campaign, you must do this; visit your major donors & invite them to invest in your cause.

5 Things Smart Fundraisers Do in December

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With the holidays approaching & year-end fundraising closing out, we are all stampeding towards our goals. Here are 5 things smart fundraisers always do in December.
Q&A

Gail Perry’s Q&A About Major Gift Fundraising

We’ll answer all your questions about major gift fundraising challenges during these challenging times.

Thanking Donors – How to Show Your Donors Some Love

You might already be thanking your major gift donors for their contribution & support during the holidays, but what about all the others?
Building Lasting Relationships (1)

How to Have a Super Successful Visit with a Major Donor

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Major donor visits can be nerve-racking. Here you are with a golden opportunity—you've obtained a meeting with an important capital campaign prospect. It’s exciting but it is also high-stakes – because, of course, you want to…
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7 Tips to Create a Wildly Successful Donor Cultivation Event

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Why do we hold major donor cultivation events? These types of gatherings happen everywhere, and they happen often in the fundraising world. We find that a lot of major gift fundraising happens in these types of quasi-social donor events. Here's…

Storytelling Tours Are Great Donor Cultivation Tools

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One of our favorite donor cultivation tools is a carefully-designed storytelling tour. But we are not talking about just any tour - this is a special, scripted, step-by-step tour. A Storytelling Tour can help you spread the word in your community…
Our $5 Millon Capital Campaign Ask that BOMBED

A $5 Million Capital Campaign Ask that BOMBED

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I wish you could have been there. . . . It was a hot summer day in Virginia. We were seated in a small conference room with one of Virginia's top business kingpins. There the successful businessman sat --  so smart and so together…
porch party

Your Questions and My Answers on VIP Donor Cultivation Events

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Small VIP donor cultivation events are an easy way to open doors to new prospects -- and engage current donors in your mission. My last Porch Party in April! Here are my answers to your questions about donor cultivation events such as…

The Advice Visit: Opening the Door to Your Major Donor

Advice Visits are one of our golden tools to get to know prospective major gift donors and discover what’s on their mind. They are a key step in the qualification and cultivation process for major donors. Advice Visits are based on the…
A Backburner List for Major Gifts

The Backburner List: A Major Gift Fundraiser’s Top Secret Strategy

One of the biggest challenges for major gift fundraisers is in the area of prospect management. When you have a whole list of projects in your portfolio, how do you prioritize your assigned prospects? That's where the concept of a Backburner…
Mistake # 5

Even More Major Gifts Fundraising Mistakes!

Yes, there are many more major gifts fundraising mistakes to discuss! The activity of engaging with a potential donor, face to face, or person to person, can create fear and anxiety in many people. At best, it can feel terribly awkward. On…
Top Major Gifts Fundraising Mistakes and Bloopers

Top Major Gifts Fundraising Mistakes and Bloopers

Major gifts fundraising mistakes are everywhere! Dealing with major donors can be so challenging - and the entire effort is subtle, full of nuance. You're trying to make friends with someone who expresses interest in your cause, but what to…
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How to Reconnect Major Donors Who Have Drifted Away

Have you ever tried to reconnect with major donors who have lost touch with your organization and your team? Here’s a quick video we posted to Linkedin yesterday, where we discussed success stories from the Major Gifts Intensive. Our guests…
The Three Success Principles for a Profitable Major Gifts Program

(Major Gifts #8)The Three Success Principles for a Profitable Major Gifts Program

These three success principles will set up your major gifts fundraising program to succeed: you need systems, teamwork and skills training.
(Major Gifts #7) What’s the Best Structure for a Full-Scale Major Gift Program

(Major Gifts #7) What’s the Best Structure for a Full-Scale Major Gift Program?

Everyone wants the secret to success for to a profitable, full-scale major gifts program.  Our email series this month is sharing the top "secrets" you need to be successful with major donors. Today we're talking about two systems that…