How to attract major donors to your charity
Often I see people thinking that attracting major donors is about finding the right wealthy person and making a great ask. In reality, attracting major donors is about readiness.
Major donors are drawn to charities that already have the right foundations in place. To secure major gifts, you need to have built up your What, your Who and your How.
Define What a Major Gift Means for Your Charity
A pitfall I come across is not defining what a major gift is: how much, and who counts as a major donor. Clarify that first. Then you can share it with everyone in your organisation, so that when they come across someone offering or mentioning a donation at that level, they know to introduce them to you. It also means that as relationships develop, donors understand how the charity sees them, and you can steward them accordingly.
Build a Case for Support That Shows Impact
Donors are attracted to clarity and impact, not need alone. A strong case for support includes costed projects (including cost recovery for support functions, systems and support staff), clear outcomes, timelines, and how a donor can effect change.
Common mistake: leading with what the charity needs rather than what the donor's money achieves. You want potential donors to feel their donations are at the heart of your project, and that they are more than a transaction.
Build Your Major Donor Pipeline
The biggest challenge of major donor fundraising can be building a pipeline. Finding, maintaining and growing your donor base is a key component of the work, and it doesn't need to be onerous. Start with who already gives to your charity.
Why not try: segmenting your database to find your top current givers. What do you know about why they gave? What ongoing communication do you have with them? How could you strengthen those relationships, and could they give a repeat or regular gift? Then look at who they might know who could also be a potential donor. You could build a stewardship plan that includes asking whether they know those people, and whether they would feel confident introducing you.
Make Your Charity Visible to the Right People
You can have the best charity and the most life-changing projects, but if nobody knows about your work you will not attract major donors. Make sure people hear about your charity, ideally people who move in high net worth circles. Strategic events, board and trustee connections, good deployment of brand, and connections with professional advisers all help.
Remember: what you share needs substance behind it. A top tip is to have a short pitch ready. Five sentences at most, describing what you do clearly and concisely. Better still if you can do it in three.
Cultivate Before You Ask
It is easy to get carried away with the ask: when and how it will be made. In reality you should spend an equal amount of time, sometimes more, on the cultivation.
Try this: create individual donor cultivation plans. Break each one down month by month for the next year. Work out what each donor's journey looks like and how you will deliver it. Take time to think about when, how and what you should be saying, sharing and inviting your donors to, so that their interactions with your charity are richer and lead towards an ask.
Get Your Internal Systems and Processes Right
Donors are attracted to, and stay with, well-run organisations. You will be surprised how quickly donors and prospects pick up on your charity's culture and level of organisation. Poor communication with spelling mistakes can be a deal breaker. Not following up with a potential donor straight away may imply they are not valued. Whatever database you use, make sure donor details are up to date and historic donations are logged, including when, what they funded and why.
Don't forget: everyone in your organisation is responsible for the culture and the impression donors form of your charity. Retaining a donor is far cheaper than finding a new one, and it starts with how the whole organisation behaves.
Recap: Common Mistakes That Repel Major Donors
Asking too soon
Generic communications with no personalisation
No clear story of impact, backed with evidence and easy-to-understand facts
Poor stewardship after the first gift; after thanking, continuing to actively engage with donors is essential
Asking for a repeat gift without building a solid relationship first, so the donor is not expecting it
How ready is your major donor programme?
The Major Donor Scorecard is twenty yes or no questions covering the foundations in this blog. It takes a few minutes and shows you where your programme is strong and where the gaps are. Free, and your results arrive straight away.