Many schools focus on cultivating an extraordinary major gifts program. No matter your school size, a successful major gifts strategy requires careful planning, research, and execution.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to what constitutes a major gift. For some schools, it may be $1,000; for others, $100,000.
A major gift is one that is substantially larger than your school’s average annual gift. It should be “transformational,” allowing your school to do things that would’ve been previously outside the scope of financial possibility.
However, every major gift prospect has this in common—he or she requires individualized attention to become a donor. The prospect must feel a connection with your school, your mission, and your place in the community.
Consider these strategies to help convert a potential donor’s ability to give into a willingness to give—and to give at capacity.
Identify potential donors
Identification is more than knowing a name. Learn everything you can about each potential donor. What are each prospect’s philanthropic interests? What motivates each one to make a gift? What are the typical gift amounts?
The acquisition of donor data is a continual process. Analyze this information to create a giving record for each donor. At the same time, you should define the school’s needs and look for common ground. Ultimately, successful gift solicitation matches the donor’s desire to give with the school’s need in a compatible area.
Educate donors about your school
This educational process should cover your school’s mission and vision, the value of the programs that you offer, and what makes your school different from its competitors.
You should also focus on the impact you have on the community, including any services you offer and events that serve the neighborhood as a whole. Donors desire association with positive, achieving, and successful institutions.
Individually connect with each donor
Each donor must feel a personal connection with a representative from your school, whether that’s with the School head, a Trustee, administrator, staff member, or parent.
Have this person call on the prospect for advice. Perhaps the representative can invite the prospect to share expertise in an area of particular interest, professional or personal. Ask the prospect to speak at a school assembly or to participate in a career day program. Prospects want to be needed for their wisdom as well as their wealth.
Your goal is to make the prospect feel like a school insider and fold them into your school's culture. Major donors not only want to support your school with their gifts—they want to be an integral part of your institution with lasting connections and relationships. They want to belong and know they are making a positive difference.
Ask for the gift
With your research in hand and a solid relationship established, match each donor's interests with a specific school need and target an amount. Design a proposal, and with the approval of the School Head and representative, present it to the prospect.
Many schools neglect to ask for the gift, expecting the prospective donor to take the initiative. But prospects expect to be asked to contribute. Courting them without asking for a gift can lead to confusion and frustration—and often to a smaller gift than you anticipated.
With these strategies in hand, your school's major gifts program can reach new heights.
Want to learn more about cultivating a successful major gifts program? Join us for our How to Build and Implement an Extraordinary Major Gifts Program workshop, October 21–23, 2018, in Dallas, TX.
Additional ISM resources:
The Source for Advancement Vol. 16 No. 3 How Small Schools Can Approach a Major Gifts Program
The Source for Advancement Vol. 16 No. 10 Helpful Hints for New Development Directors
The Source for Advancement Vol. 15 No. 4 Guidelines for Maintaining Your Gift Documentation Records
Additional ISM resources for Gold members:
I&P Vol. 35 No. 6 Influencing Upward: Skills for the Development Director
I&P Vol. 42 No. 6 The Donor Cycle
