Not being prepared for a fundraising meeting is a mistake you should only make once. I remember the embarrassment and panic that struck when during one of my first fundraising meetings the prospect asked for a more granular breakdown of costs than I was prepared for. What was a warm lead turned cold the second I fumbled through my papers and had to admit that I didn’t know. Their response was kind, but they clearly lost confidence in our organization and in me.

The major gift pipeline has two primary entry points. The first is to upgrade existing donors through appropriate involvement and cultivation. The second is to identify high net-worth individuals through peer associations and networks and attempt to ignite an interest in the organization and form a linkage.

Major gifts fundraising is a process based on the premise that it takes time to prepare donors and ask them for a major gift. It can take 6-18 months from when a major gift prospect is identified and then finally solicited for a donation. During this time, the prospect transitions through various stages in the major gift process. Common stages include identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. In Part 1 of this post, I will outline the key elements of identifying and qualifying major donors.

Cultivating major donors is equal parts art and science. It is the process by which we build stronger and deeper relationships with current donors and prospects while simultaneously testing our assumptions regarding the prospect’s linkage, ability, and interest. While the goal of this stage is to build an authentic and natural feeling connection with the prospect, the major gift officer, must also be disciplined to create and document a cultivation plan for each prospect.

Stewardship is the process of acknowledgment, recognition, and donor involvement that follows after an individual has made a major gift. Effective stewardship should (1) further establish the donor’s positive feelings about their gift and (2) strengthen their relationship with the organization.

A major gift to your organization will depend upon a number of factors. A donation of $10,000 may be considered a major gift to one organization, and an annual gift to another. The key to understanding what makes a donation a “major gift,” is in the process of solicitation. The solicitations for major gifts differ significantly from the solicitation process of smaller donations.