The document discusses the findings of a study on major gift fundraising for small and mid-sized nonprofits. Some of the key findings include that nonprofits with budgets of $10M or less can successfully raise major gifts, with the average major gift being $24,555. Factors found to correlate with fundraising success include donor retention practices, prospect research, staff and volunteer training, board and volunteer engagement, and use of customer relationship management systems. The document provides recommendations in these areas to help nonprofits improve their major gift fundraising.

1. Unlocking the Poten.al
for
Major Gi5s Fundraising

2. Your Presenter
Jay B. Love
• 33 Years of Technology Leadership
• Over 20,000 Database Installa.ons
• Former Founder & CEO of eTapestry
• Former CEO of Master So5ware/Fund-Master
* Former Senior VP of Blackbaud
• Conner Prarie Museum Board Member
• AFP Ethics CommiUee Chairman
• United Methodist Founda.on
• Innova.on Fund at Butler University
• Co-Chair of Indianapolis YMCA Capital Campaign
3

3. Can small and mid-sized
nonprofits really raise
major gi5s?

4. Three Experts Wanted An Answer »

5. MasteringMajorGifts.com/Report
The Result »

6. Lead Sponsors »

7. Study Par.cipants »
662 nonprofits
w/ opera.ng
budgets of $10M
or less

8. Study Methodology »
• Literature review
• Interviews
• Survey

9. Respondents By Budget Size »

10. Respondents By Category »

11. Findings

12. Mean Contribu.on By Channel »

13. Number Of FTEs Doing Fundraising »

14. “Major Gi5” Defined »
Mean: $24,555
Median: $5,000
Mode: $1,000

15. Number Of Fundraisers Engaged
To Work On Major Gi5s »
Mean Mean Total FTEs
$5m - $10m 3.2 0.9
$1m - $4.9m 2.5 0.5
Under $1m 2.1 0.3

16. Number Of Volunteers Engaged
To Work On Major Gi5s »

17. Major Gi5 Fundraising Performance »

18. Major Gi5 Pipeline »

19. Correla.ons »
• Focusing on first-.me gi5s nega.vely
impacts performance

20. Correla.ons »
• Focusing on first-.me gi5s nega.vely
impacts performance
• Sugges.ons:
• 5+ years of giving
• 12-18 touches to build rela.onship

21. Correla.ons »
• Few organiza.ons track drivers of
long-term value such as donor
sa.sfac.on or commitment

22. Correla.ons »
• Few organiza.ons track drivers of long-
term value such as donor sa.sfac.on or
commitment
• Sugges.ons:
• new donor survey within 3 months
• donor survey a5er 2-3 years
• telephone survey a5er 3-5 years
• “would you recommend this charity?”

23. Correla.ons »
• Strong correla.on between training
and fundraising performance (each
addi.onal form of training is
associated with a $37k increase in
revenue)

24. Correla.ons »
• Strong correla.on between training
and fundraising performance (each
addi.onal form of training is
associated with a $37k increase in
revenue)
• Sugges.on:
– Find truly good educa.on sources …

25. Correla.ons »
• The quality of IT systems in place is
key to driving the number of major
gi5s received

26. Correla.ons »
• The quality of IT systems in place is
key to driving the number of major
gi5s received
• Sugges.ons:
– Find a system everyone will use daily
– Track ALL communica.ons
– Measure engagement in some manner

27. Correla.ons »
• Organiza.ons whose boards and
volunteers play an ac.ve role are
more successful in major gi5
fundraising

28. Correla.ons »
• Organiza.ons whose boards and
volunteers play an ac.ve role are
more successful in major gi5
fundraising
• Sugges.ons:
– Groom them slowly
– Allow them to see & feel success

29. Correla.ons »
• Individuals with longer tenure tend to be
more successful in major gi5 fundraising

30. Correla.ons »
• Individuals with longer tenure tend to be
more successful in major gi5 fundraising
• Sugges.ons:
– Share this report with CEO/Board
– Find the right posi.on (more later)

31. 10 Recommenda.ons

32. 1. Donor Reten.on »
hUps://bloomerang.co/reten.on

33. hUps://bloomerang.co/reten.on

34. Acknowledgement segmen.ng »

35. 2. Prospect Research »

36. 5 best indicators »

37. 5 best indicators »
1. Previous Giving To Your
Nonprofit
hUps://bloomerang.co/blog/5-indicators-for-iden.fying-the-best-poten.al-donors

38. 5 best indicators »
1. Previous Giving To Your
Nonprofit
2. Giving to Other Nonprofits
hUps://bloomerang.co/blog/5-indicators-for-iden.fying-the-best-poten.al-donors

39. 5 best indicators »
1. Previous Giving To Your
Nonprofit
2. Giving to Other Nonprofits
3. Par.cipa.on as a
Founda.on Trustee
hUps://bloomerang.co/blog/5-indicators-for-iden.fying-the-best-poten.al-donors

40. 5 best indicators »
1. Previous Giving To Your
Nonprofit
2. Giving to Other Nonprofits
3. Par.cipa.on as a
Founda.on Trustee
4. Federal Poli.cal Giving
hUps://bloomerang.co/blog/5-indicators-for-iden.fying-the-best-poten.al-donors

41. 5 best indicators »
1. Previous Giving To Your
Nonprofit
2. Giving to Other Nonprofits
3. Par.cipa.on as a
Founda.on Trustee
4. Federal Poli.cal Giving
5. Real Estate Ownership
hUps://bloomerang.co/blog/5-indicators-for-iden.fying-the-best-poten.al-donors

42. 3. Tenure »

43. https://www.compasspoint.org/underdeveloped

44. https://www.compasspoint.org/underdeveloped

45. 4. Training »
Development Activity
Percent
Online training tools/webinars 56.4
Ad hoc or occasional training 54.5
Mentoring by a member of your organization’s team 25.3
Mentoring by an external consultant or fundraiser 22.4
https://bloomerang.co/resources/webinars
What has your experience been?

46. 5. Educa.on »

47. 6. Donor-Centered Culture »
https://bloomerang.co/blog/5-ways-organizational-culture-impacts-fundraising

48. https://www.compasspoint.org/underdeveloped

49. Developmental Team Mee.ngs »
• What did we do this week to raise
more major gi5s?
• What will we do next week to raise
more major gi5s?
• Involve other departments

50. 7. IT Systems »

51. https://www.compasspoint.org/underdeveloped

52. 8. Volunteer Engagement »
https://bloomerang.co/blog/category/volunteerism
How does your organization engage volunteers?

53. 9. Board Engagement »
https://bloomerang.co/blog/infographic-the-2014-nonprofit-board-survey/
Do your board members ac.vely fundraise for your organiza.on?
• Yes (all) 4%
• Yes (most) 26%
• Yes (a few) 52%
• No: 18%
https://bloomerang.co/blog/category/nonprofit-boards/

54. 1. Proper board recruitment
2. Proper board orienta.on
3. Strategic discussion in every mee.ng
4. U.lize former board members
4 Steps to Board Engagement »

55. 10. Metrics »
• Dollars raised
• Mee.ngs aUended w/ prospects
• New gi5 dollars
• Solicita.ons made
• Success rate in solicita.ons
• Donor sa.sfac.on
• Personalized gi5 proposals made

56. Can small and mid-sized
nonprofits really raise
major gi5s?

57. Can small and mid-sized
nonprofits really raise
major gi5s?
YES!

58. MasteringMajorGifts.com/Report
Execu.ve Summary And Full Report »

59. Free eBook »
@StevenShaUuck
hUps://bloomerang.co/resources/downloadables/maximize-the-life.me-value-of-your-donor-database/

60. Free Educa.onal Resources »
hUps://bloomerang.co/resources
• Daily blog post
• Weekly webinar
• Downloadables
• Nonprofit Wrap-Up
• Bloomerang TV
• Bloomies

61. Ques.ons?
Jay B. Love
jay.love@bloomerang.co
@JayBarclayLove