Learn how a communications-focused committee helps nonprofits build awareness, confidence, and relationships that lead to sustainable major gifts fundraising.
When we talk to organization leaders about getting started with major gifts fundraising, one of the most common hurdles we hear is that the organization just doesn’t have access to any high capacity donors. And this likely means they don’t know anyone in their immediate circle who seems like a “high capacity” giver.
We then ask what they’ve done to solve for this, the activities shared include things like wealth screeners, lists of “high-capacity” individuals, and awkward Board conversations that reduce their network down to one characteristic of net worth.
While those approaches might logically seem like the next right step, it’s our belief that they skip the most important part of major gifts fundraising: helping people understand your organization before asking them to invest in it.
You see, major gifts rarely begin with wealth; they begin with proximity and shared understanding. With someone taking the time to listen, ask questions, and see themselves reflected in the work. And when organizations assume they need access to wealthy people before they can begin, their efforts likely stall. Not because they lack generous people in their community, but because they lack a structured way to invite people into deeper conversations about their work.
Enter: The Committee.
In our work, committees are not about asking for money, but rather, asking for feedback. They are a way to create space for honest, thoughtful conversations about how the organization communicates its mission, impact, and vision. As clarity grows, awareness expands. And as more people understand your work, support follows in ways that feel natural rather than forced.
This post walks through how we use a single, communications-focused committee in our major gifts fundraising projects, why this approach works, and how you can apply this thinking to your own organization, whether you work with us or not.
Table of Contents
Seeing the Committee as a Tool for Awareness, Not Solicitation
When we first began supporting organizations with major gifts fundraising, we leaned heavily on the committee process Brianna used in capital campaign management. We created a fundraising committee that functioned very similar to a capital campaign steering committee. It worked well there, so why wouldn’t it here?
We soon realized it wasn’t an even comparison. Organizations seeking support with major gifts fundraising were often at a fundraising pivot point. And it was likely they did not have a large prospect list or a clear system for relationship-based giving. The capital campaign committee model introduced pressure too early and unintentionally reinforced the idea that committee members only existed to “find money.”
So, we shifted.
Today, in our major gifts projects, we use one committee whose clear purpose is to strengthen how the organization communicates its work. This is a communications-focused committee, not a fundraising committee. Members are not asked to solicit, but rather, asked to provide feedback.
That feedback is done through a process called validation. First, a committee reviews the materials on their own, and then we ask them to share it with 3-5 individuals in their own network, who then provide feedback via survey. This validation process was something we carried over from capital campaigns and organizations have really valued the process of receiving honest reactions, knowing the insights help shape their future donor communications for the better.
Why this works so well is that when people are invited to give feedback, conversations become more honest and less performative. Committee members gain a deeper understanding of the organization’s work, and their confidence in talking about it grows. Awareness spreads naturally through their networks because of the validation process. While not every member will become a major donor, every member leaves with a clearer sense of the organization’s purpose and who might be a good fit to care about and invest in the work (i.e., committee members feel comfortable sharing about the organization more naturally, recommending their friends and acquaintances to get involved in an event, or introducing a friend to the organization leadership).
What the Committee Actually Does
1. Reviews, Reacts, and Asks Questions
Committee members begin by reviewing the organization’s communications strategy and conversation scripts. This includes how the organization talks about its mission, impact, and priorities in one-on-one conversations, not just what appears in written materials.
We ask questions like:
- What feels clear or unclear?
- What sounds natural versus overly internal?
- Where does the story lose momentum?
This feedback is used directly to refine the executive summary or case statement. Language is updated based on where committee members get stuck, ask clarifying questions, or respond most strongly. The result is core fundraising language that reflects how the organization is actually understood and talked about, not just how it intends to be perceived.
2.Validates the Case for Support
Once the language is refined, the committee participates in a validation process focused solely on the executive summary or case statement (based on fundraising package level). These are the long-form materials that will ultimately be used in major gift solicitations.
Validation happens in two ways:
- Internal validation, where committee members read through the materials and provide direct feedback.
- External validation, where they share the executive summary or case statement with a small number of people in their network who feel like a strong fit for the work.
These are not fundraising conversations. Committee members asking for reactions, questions, and moments of resonance. This helps ensure the case statement reflects how people actually understand and talk about the organization, not just how its being described internally.
3. Builds Confidence for Committee Members and Organizational Leaders
As committee members engage in this process, their understanding deepens and their confidence grows. They gain shared language and real-world experience talking about the organization’s work in a way that feels natural and grounded.
At the same time, this process builds confidence for organizational leaders, especially the executive director. Hearing real-time feedback allows leaders to see where language feels clunky, unclear, or overly abstract. It creates space to adjust how they talk about the work before they are in a solicitation conversation.
By the time one-on-one donor conversations begin, the language has already been tested, refined, and practiced in lower-pressure settings.
4. Expands Awareness and Identifies Future Pathways for Support
Not every committee member will become a major donor, and that is not the expectation. What matters is that each member leaves with a clearer understanding of the organization’s purpose, impact, and vision.
Some committee members deepen their own engagement over time. Others begin to say, “I know someone who should know about this,” and help expand awareness in thoughtful, relational ways. Occasionally, a committee member may want to take on a more intentional role in fundraising, and that door is always open.
Because the committee’s focus is feedback rather than solicitation, awareness grows without pressure. Relationships develop organically, and the organization builds a stronger foundation for major gifts fundraising rooted in understanding first, not assumptions about capacity.
A Different Starting Point for Major Gifts
Major gifts fundraising doesn’t stall because organizations lack generous people. It stalls because too few people truly understand the work well enough to talk about it with confidence.
Committees, when used in a relationship-building, feedback-driven way, create proximity before pressure. They allow organizations to listen before asking. And they help leaders hear, in real time, how their work is landing so they can adjust long before a solicitation ever happens.
If your organization feels stuck searching for “high-capacity” donors, the next step may not be finding new people. It may be helping the right people understand your work more deeply, and giving them a clear, supported way to engage. embody the principle that effective fundraising happens when you take a brand-led, relationship-based approach.
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.
