A successful Major Gifts fund-raising campaign is not magic. It is a
straightforward, concise process of executing well-defined components
arranged in a step-by-step progression. I know this to be so because I
have seen it done over and over again --- starting at A and working
through to Z, successfully carrying out campaign after campaign and
achieving goal after goal.
Looking at the nuts and bolts of a Major Gifts fund-raising campaign
is the best way I know to make its success probable and its process
understandable. Breaking down a campaign step-by-step, point-by-point,
lets you present it to staff and volunteers of your non-profit
organization in a way calculated to increase acceptance of over-all
goals and individual responsibilities.
However, if successful fund-raising is simply hard work on the part of
the thoroughly prepared, then that preparation must begin before a
campaign is planned. An organization contemplating a Major Gifts
campaign needs first to assess and evaluate its readiness to raise
money. To that end, I suggest that the checklist below be used to
self-evaluate your organization's Major Gifts fund-raising readiness
at a special board meeting, at a staff retreat, or as a one-on-one
survey of trustees and staff.
Try it yourself and see if it changes your own understanding of your
organization's readiness to raise money from Major Gifts. It's easy to
do. Just check each statement that you can honestly claim to be true
for your organization.
Our Major Gifts Fund-Raising Program:
- Works from a General Development Plan _____
- Operates with other campaigns without diluting any of our
resources _____
- Has a solid base of major gifts from our Board of Trustees _____
- Functions with the guidance of a Development Committee of the
Board _____
- Has the staff in place to provide all of the needed campaign
resources _____
- Involves and informs our organization's other departments and
personnel _____
- Prioritizes individuals, corporations, foundations for maximum
potential _____
- Rates and evaluates prospects for their maximum giving potential
_____
- Provides suggested asking amounts to all prospects _____
- Features challenge and matching gifts to attract the gifts of
others _____
- Always settles upon achievable goals before we start to solicit
_____
- Presents a compelling case for support _____
- Maintains stewardship and cultivation programs for donors and
prospects _____
- Projects what numbers of gifts in what amounts we need to meet
goals _____
- Promotes gifts via memberships and other named opportunities
_____
- Develops campaign time-lines for the leadership and solicitors
_____
- Provides job descriptions and duties for the leadership and
solicitors _____
- Equips our solicitation team with the best information and
instruction _____
- Provides solicitation training with special focus upon the
asking process _____
- Features one-on-one and partners for the actual asking of gifts
_____
- Seeks to have the best possible prospect to solicitor
assignments _____
- Benefits from a full range of relevant publicity and promotion
activities _____
- Provides progress reports and other regular campaign updates
_____
- Ensures that all requests for contributions are followed to
completion _____
- Obtains in all instances, reasons individuals refused or reduced
their gifts _____
- Records gifts and collects the money in a timely fashion _____
- Promptly acknowledges donors' gifts and apprises the respective
solicitors _____
- Announces results, gives recognition and thanks donors and
volunteers _____
- Reviews and assesses all completed campaigns to improve the next
ones _____
This checklist contains 29 key affirmations I believe a non-profit
organization must be able to make before planning and conducting a
Major Gifts fund-raising campaign. How many were you able to claim as
true for your organization?
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Now that you have gone through the entire list, I suggest that you
reread it to make sure you understand each affirmation. The points on
this checklist are synopses. Please don't let their brevity get in the
way of developing a full understanding of what they represent. On top
of that you should evaluate their relevance to your particular
situation, look for ways to maximize their effectiveness and value for
you, and consider adaptations and adjustments that better tune them to
your organization.
