Major Gift Fundraising Made Simple: Your Guide to Building a High-Impact Program

Created By: John Philligin
February 27, 2025

Many organizations successfully meet their fundraising goals but often find it challenging to diversify or scale their revenue, especially with limited resources or staff expertise. In today’s uncertain landscape—where economic shifts, evolving donor priorities, and policy changes are reshaping philanthropic giving—building a resilient funding strategy is more important than ever. A strong major gifts program offers a powerful solution, providing the kind of transformational support that helps organizations not just sustain their work, but expand their reach and capacity for the future.

While starting a major gift program to secure larger donations may seem daunting, it is achievable with the right framework and strategic focus. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to develop several major gift programs, gaining firsthand insight into both the challenges and benefits they bring. In this guide, you’ll find a clear, actionable plan for building your own major gift program—from laying the groundwork and establishing key elements to implementing effective strategies and evaluating your progress. These are strategies I’ve personally used and are designed to set you up for success in your major gift journey.

Why Major Gift Programs Matter

Without a strong major gift program, organizations risk missing out on substantial revenue opportunities and fail to cultivate deeper relationships with their most engaged supporters. Major gift programs focus on a smaller pool of high-capacity individuals, offering a sustainable way to fund key initiatives and expand impact. To fully leverage the benefits of a major gift program, it is essential that your organization is well-prepared to undertake this strategic effort.

Preparing for a Major Gift Program

Before launching your own program, ensure that certain foundational elements are present in your current fundraising strategy. With the following qualities already in place, your efforts will be more efficient and increase your chances of success.

Before Starting a Major Gift Program: Foundational Fundraising Elements You Need

1. A Wide Range of Donation Levels: You’ll benefit most from a major gift program when there is a broad range of gift sizes from your donor base. For example, an organization with donations ranging from $50 to $5,000 will be better positioned than one with a range of $50 to $500. The larger variance demonstrates a willingness to contribute at different levels and reflects a range of giving capacities.

Action Tip: If your data shows a lack of giving variance, consider what strategies are needed to diversify your funding base. Ask yourself: Are you encouraging and asking for increased gifts? Are you clearly communicating your budget needs to support your mission? Are you engaging a diverse range of prospective donors?

2. Compelling Mission and Clear Case for Support: It’s crucial to clearly explain how your organization makes an impact and why donations matter. Major donors tend to see their gifts as investments, so they’ll want to know exactly how their money will make a difference.

Action Tip: If your organization already has a compelling case for support, expand upon it to include specific initiatives that will benefit and grow through the support of major gifts. Identify and highlight the increased impact that will be possible with larger gifts and forecast what additional revenue will be needed to support the growth of these projects.  

3. Track Record of Successful Fundraising: If your organization has been hitting or even surpassing its fundraising goals, that’s a great sign you’re ready to dive into major gifts. If your fundraising has struggled or is relatively new, consider refining your current practices before launching a major gift initiative.

Action Tip: Analyze your current strategies to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement. Understanding what resonates with your current donor base will help build a solid foundation for your major gift program.

4. Capacity or Willingness to Invest: Your success in major gifts really comes down to how much effort your team can put into it. Make sure your team has the time and talent to implement necessary strategies. As your program grows, be prepared to potentially allocate resources for events, collateral, proposals, and even additional staff if needed.

Action Tip: Assess your team’s capacity and resources to identify any gaps. Determine where you might need to invest in training, hiring, or even increasing revenue to cover the financial needs to fill those gaps. While developing major gifts takes time, a mature program will yield a high return on investment.

5. Functioning Database or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System: A reliable donor management system is essential for tracking data, evaluating giving histories, and storing strategies and notes specific to everyone.

Action Tip: If you’re currently tracking data in spreadsheets, consider moving over to a CRM system. If your current system isn’t meeting your needs, connect with your vendor to explore upgrades or extensions.

Once you have established these foundational qualities, you’re ready to take the next steps to build and implement your major gift program.

Essential Steps to Building a Major Gift Program

1. Gain Leadership Buy-In

A successful major gift program will require support from your entire organization. Start by earning buy-in from your leadership team by making a compelling case for why a major gift program is important, how it will benefit the organization, and what involvement and commitment will be required.

Suggested Action Steps:

1. Prepare a Briefing: Create a concise brief to share with leadership that outlines the potential impact of a major gift program. Support your case with data and examples from similar organizations.
2. Gather Data: Gather some data on your donors, especially those who might be good candidates for major gifts, and figure out what kind of return on investment (ROI) you can expect.
3. Engage Key Stakeholders: Schedule meetings with your Chief Development Officer, Executive Director or CEO, and Board of Directors. Tailor your pitch to each group’s interests and priorities.
4. Outline Specific Roles: Clearly define the roles and expectations for each stakeholder, such as participating in solicitations or leveraging their networks to identify or engage potential prospects.

2. Analyze Your Fundraising Pipeline

Several resources suggest focusing solely on your top 25 or so donors when starting a new program. I highly encourage you to analyze your entire pipeline. Understanding the full spectrum of your funding base will help show how each giving segment can influence your efforts in building a major gift program.

Suggested Action Steps:

• Pull Donation Reports: Run cumulative giving reports for all donors over the past 3-5 fiscal or calendar years. Analyze their giving patterns and identify trends. Looking at multiple years will help eliminate any anomalies that may exist.
• Segment Your Donors: Break down your donor base into specific giving levels but avoid too many segments. Look for natural breaks in giving amounts to help determine your levels. Aim for no more than five segments, such as:

Donors giving below $1,000

Donors giving between $1,000 and $4,999

Donors giving between $5,000 and $9,999

Donors giving $10,000 or more

• Define a Major Gift: Determine what constitutes a major gift for your organization based on factors such as the percentage of revenue you want contributed through major gifts, your organization’s size, and fundraising goals. Looking for guidance from similar organizations of mission and budget size can help in your determination. Consider the 80/20 rule in which up to 80% of revenue is often contributed by the top 20% of donors.
• Don’t Forget About the Other Giving Segments: Outside of your major gift strategy, develop engagement strategies tailored to each giving segment, ensuring they have a clear pathway from smaller gifts to major gifts. This exercise can be great for identifying those who might fall within a mid-level, annual fund, or direct mail program.

3. Enhance Your Current Fundraising Strategies with a Major Gift Focus

You don’t need to start from scratch when building a major gift strategy—many of the successful fundraising approaches you already use can be adapted and expanded to develop a more tailored plan. Major gifts differ from general fundraising primarily through high-touch, personalized strategies that focus on an individual’s specific interests, capacity, and values. While personalization is important in all fundraising, major gift efforts emphasize building deep, direct relationships with individuals or couples, as opposed to broader audience engagement in other fundraising efforts. Begin by shifting your focus to truly understanding each person’s interests, values, and philanthropic motivations. Below, we’ll explore how to elevate donor identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship, and how these stages of engagement differ from non-major gift strategies.

Identification

Unlike broad-based fundraising strategies, such as direct mail or online campaigns that target large, general audiences, identifying prospective major donors requires a more focused approach on high-capacity individuals. This process for major gift work relies heavily on personal relationships and close connections within your network. Collaborating with board members, community leaders, and current donors can provide insights into potential prospects. Utilizing wealth screening tools, donor research, and data analytics can be quite helpful to create your own targeted prospect list.

Ideal Qualities for Major Gift Prospects Within Your Donor Base:

1. Current or recently lapsed donors who have given close to your major gift threshold but have not yet crossed it.
2. Lower-level donors who have a high giving capacity and demonstrate high interest or commitment to your organization, such as attending events, volunteering, or engaging in multiple ways.
3. Donors with high wealth indicators and a history of charitable giving in general, especially those who have supported causes like yours.

Please note that you can always identify potential major gift prospects from those who have never given to your organization. However, I suggest starting first with warm leads who already know your organization’s work and have demonstrated previous financial support. Prioritizing those outside of your current donor base can lead to a long chase and inefficient use of time and resources.

Suggested Action Steps:

1. Develop a Research Plan: Use CRM reports to analyze past giving data, donor engagement, and wealth screening results. Identify who meets your criteria for a top prospect and create detailed research profiles for each.
2. Be Clear on What You’re Looking For: Identify and share the qualities you seek in a prospect, and brainstorm individuals who fit that profile. If no direct connections exist, identify connectors who can help facilitate introductions.
3. Host Small Events: Organize small gatherings or virtual events to introduce potential donors to your organization’s mission and leadership. These events are beneficial if you assess interest, build relationships, and have a follow-up plan.

Pro Tip: If your organization doesn’t have access to a wealth screening tool, which can be expensive, a useful indicator of someone’s wealth is the value of their real estate. You can easily look up real estate tax records or check home estimates on Zillow to get a general sense of their financial capacity.

Qualification

Qualification is essential in major gift work as it focuses your later engagement efforts on the right people. Not everyone with the capacity to give will be interested in engaging further than they might already be. Strategies typically involve personal outreach, such as phone calls or emails, and ideally, one-on-one meetings to assess a prospect’s interest, motivations, and alignment with your organization.

Suggested Action Steps:

1. Set Your Criteria: Define the ideal qualities for your strongest prospects. Ask yourself: Will they respond to your calls or emails? Are they excited about your programs? Is there interest in becoming further involved in your work? Are there high wealth indicators?
2. Monitor Progress: Use your CRM to log outreach attempts and responses. For those open to further engagement, create an action plan for next steps; for those not open, note this in their account.
3. Keep Notes: After a qualification call or meeting, write a contact report that logs everything you learned about the individual in your conversation.

Pro Tip: Establish a standard outreach cadence before disqualifying a prospect if you’re unable to connect with them. For example, you might decide to disqualify someone after two phone call attempts, three emails, snail mail, and one message from senior leadership over a period of six to eight weeks. Sticking to this cadence allows you to move on to other names efficiently without spinning your wheels.  

Cultivation

Major gift cultivation is often a more time intensive process and requires a strategic approach that reflects your prospect’s values, interests, and capacity. Each engagement touchpoint should be rooted in building a deep, personal relationship over time. Take what you’ve learned about their goals, giving history, and personal connections from your qualification conversation to create a customized action plan for each person. Some examples of cultivation activities include:

• Program Site Visits: These visits provide a first-hand experience of your work in action and its impact, creating an emotional connection to your mission.
• Personalized Meetings with Staff or Leadership: Interactions with organizational and program leaders allow opportunities to ask questions, share thoughts, and feel more connected to your work.
• Tailored Communications: Personalization adds a layer of thought and attention that shows you care. Communications such as impact reports, newsletters, or thank-you notes should be  meaningful and reflect the prospect’s specific interests.

Suggested Action Steps:

1. Create a Calendar: Develop a timeline of cultivation activities tailored to each prospect’s interests and preferences. Note which activities can benefit multiple prospects to help manage workflow.
2. Segment Prospects by Interests: Group based on specific interests to tailor your engagement efforts efficiently.

Pro Tip: Small events can be effective for both cultivation and stewardship. Make certain that conversations and personal interactions with prospects or donors are tailored to their specific stage in the giving process.

Solicitation

Very rarely are major gifts secured through direct mail, e-mail, or social media campaigns which are generally designed to appeal to a large audience. Major gifts are most effectively solicited through face-to-face meetings, allowing for a two-way conversation to address questions or concerns. These meetings often involve a peer, a member of organizational leadership, or a program staff member who has a strong relationship with the prospect. If a prospect agrees to a solicitation meeting, your chances of closing the gift are significantly higher.

That being said, when in-person meetings aren’t possible due to scheduling conflicts, location differences, or health concerns, you should ask the prospect for permission to send a customized proposal. This proposal must be tailored to the potential donor’s interests and clearly communicate your case for support, emphasizing the specific impact their gift will have.

Suggested Action Steps:

1. Decide on Project to Fund: What funding priority most aligns with your prospect’s interests? Will their support go towards restricted project funding or unrestricted general operating expenses that benefit the whole organization? Increasingly, many donors and prospects understand the need for general operating support and trust an organization to spend their donation where it is needed most. However, restricted funding opportunities can provide a stronger investment angle through providing project-specific budgets and outcomes.
2. Prepare for the Ask: Develop a solicitation strategy, including the project to fund, ask amount, participants, key messages, and potential objections.
3. Role-Play and Rehearse: Practice with your team to ensure everyone is prepared and confident.
4. Follow-Up Promptly: Before leaving the solicitation, you should always agree on next steps with the potential donor. Be sure to follow up with a personalized thank-you note or call, regardless of the outcome, to continue building the relationship. If submitting a proposal, share with them when you’ll reach out to follow-up so that it will be expected.

Pro Tip: Build a strong relationship with your institutional giving team and ask if they can share proposals that align with your prospective funder’s interests. Foundations and corporations often require specific project outcomes and budgets, which can help frame your solicitation as a specific investment in your work.

Stewardship

Stewardship is vital for major donors, as it not only expresses gratitude but also demonstrates the impact of their investment through multiple touchpoints across your organization. Unlike general fundraising, which may rely on standard acknowledgments, major gift stewardship creates a personalized experience for each supporter. When done well, this engagement significantly increases the likelihood of larger future gifts and improves donor retention. Some strategies can include:

• Stewardship Reports: Include stories, photos, and data to create a detailed report on how the gift was used and the impact it made.
• Thank-You Calls from Leadership: Personal calls from senior leaders or board members to thank major donors for their contributions reinforce the importance of their support.
• Curated Events: Invites to donor appreciation events, behind-the-scenes tours, or intimate gatherings with organizational leadership help to build a sense of community.
• Public Recognition: Offer opportunities to recognize major supporters publicly in annual reports, on your website, or through naming opportunities, if they are comfortable with public acknowledgment.

Suggested Action Steps:

1. Develop a Stewardship Plan: Outline specific activities for each major donor based on their giving level and preferences.
2. Track and Evaluate: Use your CRM system to monitor all stewardship activities and adjust as needed.
3. Personalize the Experience: Tailor your efforts to reflect everyone’s specific interests and relationship with your organization.

Pro Tip: Create templates for stewardship reports, thank-you letters from your Executive Director or CEO, and other materials that stand out from your general fundraising communications. Having standardized major gift stewardship templates allows for easy customization without starting from scratch each time. You might also consider designing a separate suite of stationery that aligns with your brand standards, using heavier paper and embossing techniques to elevate major donor outreach.

Fostering Ongoing Success Once Your Program Has Been Established

Evaluate Staff Capacity and Resources

To foster the continued growth and success of your major gift program, regularly evaluate the capacity and resources available to support it. Whether you’re managing the program alone or collaborating with a team, it’s important to continually assess your current workload and skills to identify any potential gaps. If the workload becomes too large, determine if there are funds available to hire additional team members. Once your program is established, consider integrating planned giving into your strategy, as many donors—both major and non-major—are interested in leaving a legacy. Planned giving can be a natural extension of your major gift program and can be incorporated into your major gift solicitations.

Action Steps:

1. Conduct a Staffing Assessment: Review team roles to identify capacity constraints or skill gaps. Determine if a newly created role would improve program efficiency.
2. Develop a Resource Plan: Outline resources needed, including staff, technology, and training. Forecast program expenses 3-5 years out to align with organizational budgeting and secure buy-in if necessary.
3. Create a Professional Development Plan: Invest in training to build skills in major gift fundraising, donor research, and relationship management.

Monitor and Evaluate Progress

Establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) and regularly evaluating progress is essential for the ongoing success of your major gift program. Major gift fundraising relies on individual donors, who can be unpredictable and influenced by external factors like economic conditions, political landscapes, and social trends. To adapt effectively and ensure your program has a strong foundation, it is crucial to monitor performance continually and make data-driven decisions.

Key Performance Indicators to Consider

• Number of Major Donors Acquired: Track over a period to help assess the effectiveness of your identification, qualification, and cultivation strategies.
• Total Funds Raised from Major Gifts: This indicator provides a direct measure of your program’s financial success and helps set realistic future fundraising targets.
• Retention Rate: Monitor the percentage of major donors who renew or increase their giving from year to year. High retention rates indicate strong engagement and satisfaction, while low retention rates may signal the need to improve stewardship efforts.
• Number of Prospects Qualified: This KPI can help assess the effectiveness of your research, outreach, and qualification processes.
• Solicitation Success Rate: This metric can indicate how effective your solicitation strategies and messaging are in closing gifts.

Action Steps:

1. Monitor Progress Regularly: Schedule periodic review meetings (monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually) to assess progress against KPIs. Involve key stakeholders, such as development staff, board members, and organizational leadership, to gather insights and discuss necessary adjustments.
2. Refine Strategies Based on Data: Use KPI data to refine your major gift strategies continually. For instance, if your solicitation success rate is low, you may need to adjust your messaging, reassess the timing of asks, or involve different staff members or volunteers in solicitations. If your average gift size is declining, focus on re-engaging high-capacity individuals with targeted cultivation activities.
3. Celebrate Successes: Regularly communicate progress and successes to your team, board, and donors. Celebrating achievements, even small ones, can boost morale, motivate staff, and build stronger relationships with stakeholders.

Building a major gift program is a significant undertaking that won’t be completed overnight, but with careful planning and sustained effort, it can yield substantial results. A well-developed program will strengthen donor relationships, diversify your funding base, and ensure long-term financial sustainability for your organization. Remember, you don’t have to build your program alone—reach out to your network of fundraising peers to learn from their experiences and gain valuable insights.

Orr Group specializes in developing transformative fundraising strategies that are as unique and innovative as they are actionable and achievable. Get in touch to learn how we can help you develop the right strategy for your organization.

John Philligin is a Director at Orr Group. With over 15 years of experience, John has a proven track record of developing highly tailored cultivation and stewardship opportunities, designing and implementing new fundraising initiatives, managing high-performing fundraising events, and increasing support from individuals, foundations, and corporations.