Meet the Blog’s Host
Hank Lewis with Development Consultant Associates has over thirty years as a fundraising consultant and is a specialist in Board and Leadership Development, Capital Campaign, Bequest Program and Major Gifts. [Read more ...]Fundraising: Major Gifts
Major Gift Fundraising – A Three-Legged Stool
To stand, to be effective over the long term, a major gifts program needs all three legs: Leaders, Prospects and Involvement of both in the life of your organization. Leadership includes the organization’s CEO, Trustees and (often) key volunteers. It’s their role to define the funding need, take their case to the public, and identify, [...]
Looking Forward: Major Gifts In The New Year
Responsible planning, in any economy, involves identifying sources of funding sufficient to ensure continuation/survival of the programs that satisfy the needs of the people and the communities you serve. Ensuring the funding of your programs requires that you minimize the risk of (again?) losing a large percentage of your income. According to “Giving USA 2011,” [...]
Not All Large Gifts Are Major Gifts: Part Three – Real Major Gift Fundraising
Hopefully, over the last two weeks, you haven’t been cold calling, cold writing, sending “surprise” invitations or making “cold” visits to people who may or may not have been major gifts prospects. With that in mind, we’ll finish making the distinction between a “large” gift and a “major gift.” If the person who suggested the [...]
Not All Large Gifts Are Major Gifts: Part Two – Go-Away Money
Hoping that, between last Tuesday and today, you haven’t used the four illustrations of bad fundraising technique, we continue with the theme/intent of this three-part posting. Once in a while, the response to the cold Letter, the cold Call, the Invitation (out of the blue) or the Visit (not preceded by the appropriate education and [...]
Not All Large Gifts Are Major Gifts: Part One – How Not To Go About It
In our definition, we suggest that, no matter its size, unless a gift met certain parameters, it wasn’t “major.” We emphasize the requirement that the process that obtained the gift had to be based on a plan/strategy that included face-to-face cultivation and solicitation components, and that the gift had to significantly help in attaining fundraising [...]
After The Campaign Is Over…
An email indicated that “Our capital campaign has concluded. We’ve reached our goal, but we still have some prospects that have not been met/solicited and we have identified additional capital needs. We’re also looking at creation of a major gifts program.” = = = = = = = = = = = = = If [...]
Creating An Advisory Council
A recent email posed the question: I am the Director of Philanthropy for a small nonprofit foundation. Our Board of Directors and committees are all comprised of physicians. I am beginning to build a lay component and am working on developing a Development Advisory Council – made up of lay members. I am looking to [...]
Major Gifts Committee Member Job Description
In response to an email request…. “This” committee was created with the understanding that, to obtain the gift income needed for this organization to effectively pursue its mission, an organized approach to the acquisition of major gifts must be designed, and assiduously followed. Major gifts, for this purpose, are those that are obtained from a [...]
Outsourcing Prospect Research
I received an email some time back that, with my response, suggests a way to think through the question of whether or not to use a prospect research firm. “I was a participant in your recent workshop on Major Gifts and wanted to thank you for an informative and inspiring session. My organization, The XYZ [...]
Using Gift Clubs to Encourage Major Gifts
The club “leader” sets the pace, and invites others to join his/her Club – with an understanding that they are expected to give at a specific (major gift) level, and participate in specific activities. Not everyone who gives at that (specific) level is invited to be a club member … we are talking about club [...]
