Think you need more capacity to get started with major gifts fundraising? Here’s why the real starting point is internal clarity, not a bigger team.
In our brand and fundraising audit questionnaire, we ask organizations what’s keeping them from feeling ready for major gifts fundraising. Almost every single response comes back to capacity. No dedicated development staff. A Board that’s engaged but was never structured for donor cultivation. An Executive Director who’s excited about relationship-based fundraising but is still spending most of their time on day-to-day operations.
And if you’re already feeling strapped for time, it makes sense that pursuing something new(er) doesn’t make it to the top of the list. Or, perhaps it does, but then it’s usually the easiest item to push towards the bottom when other things come up.
So, how do you get out of this capacity trap, so you can finally get started with major gifts fundraising?
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Rethinking if major gifts are even possible for your organization
The organizations that we connect and work with have anywhere from a $500,000 annual budget to upwards of $4 to $5 million. While that is a large range, the challenge of capacity and working within the constraints of a small team is the same throughout. We hear lean teams and limited time regularly, and usually when we get a peek behind the curtain, it’s very lean and very limited.
What it typically looks like in practice:
- One person managing all program delivery and beneficiary engagement
- A Board that’s engaged in mission, but doesn’t participate much in fundraising activities
- An Executive Director who is responsible for all fundraising and communications activities, as well as day-to-day operations
What ends up happening is there being more hours of work than hours of available time to fill. And when you’re living in that space of constantly playing catchup, it seems like adding one more thing (like major gifts fundraising) seems impossible.
But here’s the thing – it doesn’t have to be.
Starting something new, or nurturing the bits and pieces that currently exist doesn’t have to feel like a race to the top of the hill. What if instead, building out a major gifts program was like strolling up a rolling hill?
Major gifts fundraising doesn’t start with an ask
I think there’s an assumption that automatically happens when the decision to pursue major gifts is made: That as soon as you say “yes”, you immediately need to turn around and find wealthy people, sit them down for coffee, and ask them for a substantial gift. All within a very short time frame, under an immense amount of pressure.
I understand where the sentiment comes from because if you listen to any number of podcasts or read books or articles around major gifts, there’s usually some story about a major gift officer taking someone out for coffee, and during that coffee meeting, that wealthy person gets approached numerous times about wanting to get together.
Unfortunately, these not-so-common experiences perpetuate the narrative that major gifts fundraising is just one uncomfortable experience after another of asking for a large gift and being bothersome to the individual we’re sitting down with.
But what if getting started didn’t require you to sit down with someone you barely know, and stumble your way through an ask?
Getting started with Foundation: What are we building, and why does it matter?
The first step of the broader framework we use to help organizations build a major gifts fundraising strategy is called Foundation, and its whole purpose is to get you clear internally before having any conversations with individuals externally.
Internal clarity means solidifying brand strategy elements like your organization’s purpose, mission, and vision, as well as understanding how much you actually want or need to raise through major gifts, and getting specific about what that amount would let you do as an organization.
What Foundation actually includes
Foundation work typically involves the Executive Director, sometimes alongside a senior leader or Board member. Regardless of who is in the room, it hinges on having a handful of focused conversations among the people who have strong ties to the organization.
Your brand strategy is the roadmap for consistent and cohesive communication. It covers elements like your purpose, mission, vision, values, positioning, and message. For a donor conversation, it means anyone on your team, not just the Executive Director, can speak to the organization the same way. And that same consistency is what strengthens your grant applications, your website, board recruitment, and every other place your organization has to explain itself clearly.
Want to dig further into brand strategy? Click here to read An Easy-to-Follow Brand Strategy for Nonprofits Guide
A beneficiary journey is what maps the change your organization makes possible for the people you serve, from their starting point to the outcome your work creates. It matters for major gifts specifically because donors aren’t investing in your programs; they’re investing in the change those programs produce. If your team can’t articulate that change clearly, it’s difficult to invite anyone else in to support it.
The theory of change shows the intentional path from your daily work to the long-term change you’re building in your community. It connects your programs to real outcomes, so impact language stays specific instead of vague. Think of it as a collective picture of what has to happen in order for the vision to become a reality, with donors being one contributing factor to reaching that goal.
A gift table with impact language lays out specific giving levels and attaches language to each one, so donors can see what a gift at a certain level can make possible. It turns “we’re raising money” into something concrete and also gives your team a shared reference point, so you’re not improvising numbers or impact statements in the moment.
Your contact list and relationship tracker is where you track who’s already connected to your organization and monitor what kind of relationship already exists with each. For a lean team, this is often the most reassuring part of Foundation, because it usually reveals more existing connection than leadership assumed was there.
Notice that none of these deliverables mention any activities that are invitation-focused. We do this because we believe that sustainable fundraising must start with first understanding the basics of who you are, who you’re for, what you need, and how you’re different. Because once the team is aligned and on the same page, it creates a strong foundation for what’s to come, and begins to give ownership of communicating on behalf of the brand to others outside of the Executive Director.
What Foundation does for the rest of your major gifts development
Because Foundation is building clarity both in your brand and your fundraising, it creates a ripple effect for every major gifts activity that happens thereafter.
Here are three examples of what I mean:
- When you have a gift table, you’re not guessing at what to ask someone for. It also allows you to organize prospects and outreach based on what someone is potentially capable of giving, instead of approaching everyone the same way.
- When you’ve defined who you’re trying to reach by creating a donor persona profile, you can make intentional asks of your Board. Instead of “does anyone know someone with money,” you can point to the specific kind of person or connection you’re hoping a Board member can introduce you to.
- When your theory of change is clear, you can make a genuinely compelling case for a transformational gift. You’re not asking someone to fund a program. You’re showing them exactly what has to happen, and what role their investment plays, for the change you’re building to become real.
None of that is possible without the internal clarity that Foundation creates.
The shift that actually happens
Most organizations assume getting started with major gifts means finding more capacity to develop brand new relationships. But Foundation asks for none of that, and because the work itself isn’t specific to major gifts, there’s no risk of spending time on something that only pays off if the program succeeds.
Getting started with major gifts is not about a bigger team, or a harder push. And it’s not a bet you’re placing on major gifts working out. Instead, think about getting started as bringing the strategic clarity your organization needs regardless of what you decide to do after.
Kelly is a passionate brand strategist and designer who loves supporting nonprofits on their mission to do more good work in this world. She’s seen firsthand the power of creating a consistent and cohesive brand – from building better connections with your audience to streamlining marketing and fundraising efforts.
