What’s Really Holding Your Major Gift Officers Back?

The Most Common Major Gift Fundraising Challenges We See in the Field

Major gift fundraising should be one of the most energizing and rewarding parts of any development program. When this essential fundraising program is working well, your donors feel inspired, your staff feels confident, and transformational gifts begin to flow.

But here’s the truth – too many talented Major Gift Officers (MGOs) are running into the same roadblocks over and over. 

But too often, major gift officers are working under pressure, without the tools or structure they need to succeed. We see the same patterns over and over: overloaded portfolios, stalled donor conversations, missed opportunities, and burnout. 

These are more than just operational hiccups – they’re signs of deeper issues in how organizations support their fundraising teams.

That’s why we created the Major Gift Officer Bootcamp. It’s our way of helping both fundraisers and their managers step back, reset, and build a stronger major gifts strategy – one that actually works in the real world.

Our consulting team works hands-on with clients across the country to untangle these challenges and help build practical systems that support strong donor relationships.

Below, we’ve outlined the top challenges we’re seeing across the sector – and why these roadblocks are so common. If any of these sound familiar, you’re in good company.

Let’s take a closer look.

1. Major Gift Fundraising Challenge: Finding Qualified Major Donor Prospects

Problem: Difficulty identifying and engaging high-potential donors

Often, major gift officers are spending valuable time on donor names that have not been properly qualified.

Their portfolios are overloaded with low capacity/low affinity suspects rather than true major gift prospects.

Without a clear discovery and qualification process, it’s hard to assess a potential donor’s capacity, interest, or intent. Fundraisers burn time on outreach that leads nowhere and miss key opportunities as a result.

With the right coaching and training from our team, your MGO’s can build stronger qualification approaches so that gift officers can focus on the right donors at the right time. 

Find out how we can help you achieve your fundraising goals with world-class consulting and custom training.

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2. Ghosted? Why Donors Don’t Respond to Major Gift Outreach

Problem: Lack of response to emails, calls, or meeting requests

We often see fundraisers trying to start a conversation, only to be met with silence—or a pattern of delays and deferrals. 

This is often a sign that the donor isn’t ready, is not interested or was never properly qualified.

In many cases, a MGO’s outreach efforts may not be tied to a funding opportunity that speaks to the donor’s interests. Or the donor’s interest level, enthusiasm or timing has changed.

Without a clear reason to engage, donors are less likely to respond or prioritize the relationship.

We’ve found that when fundraisers base their outreach on what they’ve recently learned about the donor’s interests or timing, conversations tend to move forward. That’s something we emphasize in our training programs – how to use discovery to shape relevant, timely outreach.

3. How Rushed Donor Cultivation Sabotages Major Gift Success

Problem: Pressure for quick results undermines authentic relationships

We see too many fundraising shops pushing gift officers to move too fast. Leadership often applies pressure to make asks based on what the organization needs right now versus knowing donors are truly ready. 

This rush leads to surface-level relationships, and much smaller gifts.

Effective cultivation and solicitation – requires time, trust, and meaningful alignment with the donor’s values.

When fundraisers bypass the discovery process, they miss critical insights about the donor’s motivation and readiness. Teams that focus only on short term results often sacrifice long-term giving potential. 

Successful advancement leaders allow time for strategic discovery conversations with donors. This is what sets the stage for transformational gifts. Our consultants regularly coach leadership teams on how to build a culture that supports thoughtful, long-view donor strategy.

4. Admin Overload Limits Time for Donor Cultivation and Solicitation

Problem: Reporting requirements and internal meetings dominate schedules

Major gift officers frequently report spending more time in meetings and reporting than they do on building donor relationships. 

We see major gift officers routinely diverted from donor work to plan events, write donor communications, or fill staffing gaps. 

This is a widespread structural issue in many fundraising shops, with MGO’s who are not allowed time to do their true work. Fundraisers lose the time they need for qualification and cultivation.

We recommend that development leaders protect donor-facing time and remove as many distractions as possible, so gift officers can focus on donors and their gifts. 

5. Why Gift Officers Struggle with the Major Gift Ask

Problem: Lack of training and confidence around solicitation

Even seasoned fundraisers can hesitate when it’s time to make a large ask. We find that many gift officers have never been trained through the process of structuring and delivering a transformational ask.

Without a framework, it’s easy to avoid or postpone solicitations. Gift Conversations get postponed by nervous MGO’s. 

This hesitation stalls gifts that might otherwise be ready to close.

Advancement leaders can build their team’s confidence by offering hands-on training and coaching, and clear strategies for bringing donors into Gift Conversations. That’s exactly what we do in our Major Gift Officer Bootcamp – build real-world solicitation skills through practice and coaching

6. Lack of Major Gift Officer Training Hurts Fundraising Performance

Problem: Inadequate onboarding and skills development

Too many fundraisers step into major gift roles without formal training in managing a donor portfolio, qualifying donors effectively, or making successful solicitations. 

That gap leads to guesswork instead of a clear moves management strategy. And it also leads to  lost opportunities, not to mention revenue! 

Many fundraisers never learn how to lead discovery conversations, understand donor motivation, or move a donor into a gift conversation. They often feel uncertain about when to ask, how to ask, or how to shape a customized ask for a high net worth donor. 

Without those core skills, they lose momentum, and the donor relationship stalls.

Advancement teams get far better results when they invest in training, coaching and onboarding.  Newer fundraisers can learn how to build relationships and guide donors toward a meaningful gift. (We’ve helped many teams strengthen their major gift fundraising skills!)

7. Gaming the Metrics? Why the number of visits may not be enough

Problem: Quantity-based performance goals alone don’t tell the whole performance story

What kind of metrics really drive results? Remembering that “what gets measured, gets done” reminds us that metrics can inhibit or support major gift progress.

The problem is that many gift officers are measured on visit numbers, without regard to who is being called on, why and the outcome of the visit! This creates huge pressure to prioritize volume of visits and contacts instead of solicitation strategy.

Key to driving success is ensuring that all qualified major gift prospects are called on and that a targeted number of ready donors are invited to give.  Metrics that drive this type of activity include percentages and rates, what we call leading indicators.   

Managers who align the right type of performance goals with the reality of true donor readiness can help their gift officers focus their time – and close more major gifts.

8. Poor Donor Stewardship Hurts Major Gift Retention

Problem: Lack of follow-up after major gifts are secured

Stewardship, and the donor’s post-gift experience is one of the most important (and most overlooked) moments in a donor relationship. 

We see many organizations that will celebrate a large gift, then forget to maintain an ongoing relationship with the donor. Donors who once felt excited and engaged can start to feel forgotten. 

When fundraisers fail to continue engaging the donor over time after the gift, then they lose a major opportunity to deepen the donor’s connection and build toward an even bigger future support.

Thoughtful stewardship isn’t just a courtesy. It’s a revenue growth strategy. Without it, renewed major gifts rarely happen, no matter how generous the donor’s first gift was.

Fundraisers who treat stewardship as part of the long game are the ones who build lasting relationships. And, they close the next major gift with confidence.  

Deep, personal stewardship is not just a nice touch, it’s essential to sustaining long term major gift relationships. Without it, renewed major gifts are probably not going to happen! 

9. Why Gift Officers Feel Undervalued by Leadership

Problem: Internal dynamics erode trust and morale

When happens when a fundraiser’s major gift results are not acknowledged or appreciated internally? Their morale drops. And probably their future performance as well. 

We often hear major gift officers who feel invisible within their own organizations. They bring in significant revenue, yet often don’t receive recognition, support, or a seat at the table.

It’s not just a lack of acknowledgement. It can also be a lack of respect. Too often, leadership dismisses frontline insight, withholds essential tools, or skips the training that helps gift officers succeed.

This disconnect creates frustration and sends the message that relationship-based fundraising doesn’t matter. Over time, gift officers may disengage, and top talent may even walk away.

Organizations that take major gift fundraising seriously invest in their people with trust, resources, and professional development. That’s how they keep their best fundraisers, and raise the biggest gifts.

10. Major Gift Officer Burnout and Turnover 

Problem: High attrition and lost donor relationships

Burnout doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It shows up when gift officers face unrealistic goals, clunky internal systems, and a constant push to deliver results without enough support.

Staff turnover – which is a huge problem in our sector – isn’t just a staffing issue, it’s more of a revenue issue. 

When a seasoned major gift officer leaves, years of trusting donor relationships walk out the door with them.

We’ve seen organizations lose hard-earned donor relationships because of turnover. No one else in the nonprofit knew the donor, their history, or their interests. Rebuilding those relationships takes time, and sometimes never fully recovers.

Teams that retain experienced fundraisers protect their pipelines, stabilize their revenue, and stay in the game long enough to win big.

Bottom Line: Fix These Roadblocks and Unlock Major Gift Potential

These are the most common – and costly – issues we see holding back major gift teams. But they are solvable.

With the right systems, training, and leadership support, your fundraising team can work more strategically, qualify better prospects, and move confidently toward transformational gifts.

That’s exactly why we created the Major Gift Officer Bootcamp. It’s designed to address these very challenges—through hands-on training, practical tools, and a clear roadmap for major gift success.

Let’s set your team up to succeed. Long-term growth starts here.