An evidenced picture of your major donor programme, benchmarked against 201 UK charities, with recommendations your leadership has heard and agreed.
Your Major Donor Audit
You have been raising money from major donors for a while. Income has flattened, and before you spend more you want to know where you really are, and what to change first.
A programme that has stalled has usually done a lot right. There are donors, a giving history and a team who know the work. Your Major Donor Audit shows you which parts of the programme are carrying it and which are holding it back, and gives your board the evidence to agree what changes first, and what it will take.
Income has plateaued and it is hard to say why.
When people book this
Major donor income has been flat for two years and nobody can say why.
The board is willing to invest more in major donors and wants to know what it would get.
You have inherited a programme and the handover was a spreadsheet.
Your Major Donor Scorecard result was mid-table and you want the detailed version of that answer.
Donors who used to give have drifted, and nobody has asked them why.
If one of those is your year, this is the audit.
of UK charities say the ways they have been fundraising are starting to flat-line
58%
have a prioritised list of donors
24%
UK charities in the dataset your programme is measured against
201
Source: the Major Donor Scorecard, 201 UK charities, June 2024 to June 2026.
What Your Major Donor Audit involves
1. Behind the scenes
We review your fundraising documents, data, privacy policy and case for support, and interview four people from your leadership, trustees and fundraising team about how major donor fundraising works in your organisation today.
2. Your income portfolio
We analyse three years of your income and review your top 20 donors with you: who is giving, who has drifted, and where the untested capacity sits.
3. Your donors' views
Six structured interviews with donors you choose and introduce. Donors will say things to an independent interviewer that they will not say to you.
4. Your report and presentation
A written report with findings by area, each benchmarked against the 201-charity dataset so you can see where you stand in numbers, prioritised recommendations and a roadmap for the first 90 days. We present it to you and your leadership team.
5. Afterwards
Three calls over the three months after the report, so the recommendations turn into action.
What you leave with
A written audit report: findings by area, organised against the six stages of major donor fundraising
Your position against 201 UK charities on every category, in numbers
Prioritised recommendations, with a roadmap for the first 90 days
A presentation to your leadership team, so the decisions are made in the room
Three follow-up calls in the three months after the report
Who it is designed for
You have an existing major donor programme, or scattered major donor activity, that has plateaued, stalled or never quite started working. It is also the natural first step if you want the detailed version of the answers our Major Donor Scorecard gave you.
Right for you if
A pipeline build or a systems overhaul. The audit tells you what to fix and in what order. If the answer is a new pipeline or stronger foundations, we have a programme for each, and the report says which. Some audits end with a plan you can run yourselves, and the report says that too.
What it is not
What we ask of you
Fundraising is a team effort, and we have the greatest success when our clients work with us. We will ask you to gather information at the start, to introduce us to your interviewees and donors, and to join a portfolio review meeting and the final presentation. In all, around four days of your team's time across the nine weeks.
Your Major Donor Audit
Nine weeks. Remote. A named consultant throughout.
Up to six donor interviews and 20 names in the portfolio review included.
£6,964 + VAT
in two instalments
Who you are working with
199
contracts delivered since 2018
of our work comes from returning clients and personal recommendation
76%
A fundraising audit before a major appeal
A performing arts charity with a new head of fundraising asked us to audit its fundraising before planning a major appeal. The audit covered team skills, internal reputation, process, data protection, the case for support and historical income. The two most urgent areas for change, data protection and donor acquisition, were acted on as soon as the report arrived. The remaining recommendations were woven into the team's workplans.
Find out if this is right for your charity
Book a free 30-minute conversation with Rachal Minchinton, our New Business Manager, to talk through where your major donor programme is and whether Your Major Donor Audit would help.
Prefer email? Discover other ways to contact us
Questions people ask
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Yes, and they are the part of the audit that clients most often say changed their view. You choose up to six donors and make the introductions; we do the rest. Donors tell an independent interviewer things they will not tell the charity.
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Around four days across nine weeks: gathering information at the start, four internal interviews, a portfolio review meeting and the final presentation. The consultant does the analysis and the writing.
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Then an audit is the wrong purchase. Take the free Major Donor Scorecard, which will tell you which of the four areas to start with, and look at Build your Pipeline, which builds a first pipeline from the supporters you already have.