MAJOR GIFTS ON SHOE STRING
Margaret Clift McNulty
Head of Fundraising
Capability Scotland
“Can smaller charities with big
budget constraints build their own
major gifts programmes? In this
session we’ll explore tips on how to
build a major gifts programme
tailored to your charity.”
A Tale in Two Parts:
CONSIDERATIONS WHEN DEVELOPING AN OVERALL PROGRAMME...
•
•
•
What is a Major Gift?
What does a Major Gift fundraiser do?
What do you need to have in place for a Major Gifts programme to
work?
SHOESTRING TIPS FOR....
•
•
•
•
•
Finding Major Donor Leads
Turning Leads to Prospects
Turning Prospects to Donors
Looking after your Donors... Stewardship
The Readiness Check!
What is a Major Gift?
Characteristics of Major Gifts
• [Relatively] small number of
donors.
• Relationship building
(“cultivation”) is bespoke –
tailored to the individual.
• Donor engagement is much
closer – think partnership not
donation.
We do bespoke tailoring
Why do we bother?
The Pareto Principle AKA the 80–20 rule, the law of the vital few
etc……
80% of your sales/funding will come from 20% of your
clients/donors.
Focusing on the 20% is efficient
– it will yield the best return.
And let’s not forget… the results can be transformative.
First Principles
What do Major Gifts Fundraisers do?
We take people through a Major Donor Giving Cycle
Steward
Identify
Research /
Discover
Close
Negotiate
Gift
Cultivate
BUT before we get to that...
Are you ready for a Major Gifts
programme?
What do you need to get started?
3 Ps: The magic ingredients of a successful major
gifts programme
+ TIME!
+ Buy in
Prospects
Projects
Processes
Take any of them away and....
More than anything do you have...
The most important resource in establishing a
major gifts programme is TIME – time to set it
up, but most importantly, time to make it work.
TIME?
TIME IS MONEY
What’s the safest target for year one of a Major
Gifts programme?
£0
.
Which is why you need...
BUY IN
Do you have suitable projects?
Resource implication: £0 but staff time
Are your processes in place?
Client Relationship Management System (e.g.
Raiser’s Edge, ThankQ, Salesforce etc etc)
Gift processing – and protocols
Stewardship systems
Resource implication: CRM system & staff time
Do you have prospects?
Resource implication: it depends... (I’ll come
onto that)
Part Two: Shoe String Tips for every stage
Steward
Identify
Research /
Discover
Close
Negotiate
Gift
Cultivate
Another perspective...
Prospects who say
no go back to
cultivate
New
leads
replace
losses
Identify
Research
&
Discover
Donors become
prospects again
Cultivate
Negotiate
Close
Steward
Steward
Leads who are not prospects &
prospects who won’t give are
returned to pool.
100 Prospects
100 Prospects
The Fundraising Cycle: A quick tour
through the stages shoe string style!
Identify
Board – expect to pay per record
£££: A wealth screening company
members /
trustees
Beneficiaries
Data
Modelling
£: DIY – insight analysis (got the skills?)
Identify
Other
fundraising
activities
Data
Screening
£: DIY – qualitative – identify
network
entry points
Giving
to
other
organisations
Research and Discover
In the
Desk
field
Based
Cost implication: cheap as chips! Well, coffee.
Research /
Discover
Where should you be spending most of
your time?
Getting out in the Field!
• Prepare… know your prospect (a
bit). Then you can….
• Personalise your approach e.g.
refer to their giving, a project they
have supported.
• Be polite (obviously)
Where to get discovery meetings…
• Speaking to prospects at an event;
• Getting a contact to make an
introduction;
• Emailing or calling an existing
supporter.
Major Gifts Pitfall #1
Hiding behind your database. Desk-based research is a time
sink and it’s out of date by the time you find it. The best
research is face to face. Get out there! You don’t need dinners.
You don’t need fancy brochures. You just need YOU.
Cultivate
Passive Engagement
Useful as “next steps” for
progressing Active
Engagement e.g.
Active Engagement
Essential for building a
relationship e.g.
to Faceas
meetings
Cost implication: as long as piece •Face
of string,
short as a cup
•Invitation to Event
•Teleconference / Calls
of tea• Written
with your
CEO. Champagne•Private
(sadly)
not essential.
Mailing / Update
Tours
•Emails
Active Engagement is essential to cultivation. Active
Engagement is bespoke, personal and donor-centric. It
deepens the individual relationship. Measure this.
Major Gifts Pitfall #2
Event fatigue. You can spend all of your time organising events.
They don’t bring in big gifts. Relationships do. Most of your
time should be spent on Active Engagement e.g. Face to face
meetings. Save your cash – use them when they will make a
difference!
Negotiate Gift
I’m so excited that I
can make such a big
difference! I’ve found a
way to help something
I really care about. It
feels GREAT!
What she’s
thinking
Yikes this is a lot
of money! I can’t
possible ask for
£4 million. It’s SO
much money!
What I’m
thinking
Negotiate Gift
Cost implication: negligible– this is about your ability to have
a conversation and write a proposal
Doing it wrong
Doing it right
Major Gifts Pitfall #3
Perpetual cultivation. The biggest single reason people don’t
give money? It is never discussed! Find out what your prospect
cares about and show them how they can make a difference – by
making a gift. Ask.
Closing the Gift
Before you get to this you
have a few things to take
care of!
Can you deliver what the donor
wants?
Have you prepared a gift agreement?
What is the most tax
Will the donor be giving cash or
effective?
shares or through a trust or
company?
Do you have a payment What about
Is it a multiyear
recognition? And
schedule?
pledge?
reporting?
Major Gifts Pitfall #3
Not knowing how to maximise the gift. High rate tax payers can
claim back the difference between higher and basic rate tax on
their donation.
Stewardship a.k.a.Cultivation
“Mass” Stewardship
“Bespoke” Stewardship
• Events
• Meeting with beneficiaries
Cost implication: variable – but if you’re going to spend it somewhere,
• Annual Reports
• Personal visit to project
spend• itDonor
here.magazines
Keeping and developing •donors
is easier
Personal
report than winning
them!• Donor boards
• Meetings with key staff
• Behind the scenes visits
• Special awards
• Room namings
Stewardship is when the real cultivation happens. It’s
when your donors find out you know how to use their
gifts wisely and well. It’s when you become partners.
Stewardship: Top Tips
Keep it special –
don’t undersell
your best
events!
Happy donors are
your best
fundraisers!
Good
Stewardship
doesn’t have
to be glitzy.
Use stewardship
events to
cultivate new
prospects!
Major Gifts Pitfall #4
Forgetting the follow up. Say thank you. Say thank you again.
And most important of all show the difference the gift has made.
Never forget: your best prospects are your existing donors.
Don’t get disheartened if it takes a long
time because...
Immature prospect portfolio – most
propsects are at “discover” – few
solicitations will be made.
I
D
C
So
St
<1-24 Months>
I
D
C
So
St
Mature prospect portfolio – prospects evenly spread, solicitations
being made every month – steady income stream.
Major Gifts: The budget choice
YOU
For more tips...
www.fundraisingcollective.com
Thank you