A major gift is rarely a surprise. When one seems to arrive out of nowhere, someone usually did the quiet work long before, and nobody wrote it down.
That second part is the problem I want to solve. Large institutions have prospect researchers, gift officers with assigned portfolios, and software built to track every contact. Small shops have one development director, an executive director who is also the facilities manager, and a board that would rather do almost anything else. The stages of a major gift are the same in both places. What changes is who does each one and how much paper it takes.
Start with a definition. A major gift is whatever amount is large enough, at your organization, to deserve a personal conversation and a plan. For one school that might be $5,000; for a regional nonprofit it might be $50,000. Pick your number and write it down, because it decides who gets the treatment below.
Stage one: identification
Identification is making the list of people who could plausibly make a gift at that level. In a small shop, nearly all of them are already in your orbit.
Look first at your own records. The strongest signal is usually loyalty, not size: a donor who has given every year for six or seven years, even modestly, has told you something important. Then look at your board, your volunteers, your parents and alumni, your longtime partners, and the people who keep showing up to things without being asked.
Keep the list short enough to manage. For a one- or two-person office, 15 to 25 names is plenty. A list of 200 “prospects” is a mailing list with ambitions.
One caution. If wealth screening is your only filter, your list will tend to look like the people already around your board table. Loyalty, volunteer hours, and closeness to the mission are signals too. Use them.
Stage two: qualification
Qualification turns a name into a prospect, or doesn’t. I ask three questions about each person on the list.
Do they care about this work? Not in general. This work, here.
Could they make a gift at our major gift level? A range is enough. You don’t need a net worth, and you shouldn’t go digging for one.
Does anyone here have a real relationship with them? Or could someone build one?
In a large shop, qualification is a research report. In a small one, it’s a conversation. Call or visit and say something close to this: “We’re talking with a small group of people who know us well about where we’re headed next. I’d value your honest take.” Then listen far more than you talk.
Qualification is allowed to end in “not now.” That’s a good outcome. Thank them, keep them close in the ordinary ways, and take them off this list so your time goes to people who are ready.
Stage three: cultivation
Cultivation is purposeful contact that deepens someone’s involvement. The key word is purposeful. Every touch should have a reason and should set up the next one.
Good cultivation in a small shop looks like this: a tour led by a teacher instead of the development office; a seat at a small dinner with the head of school; a phone call asking for advice on a real decision you’re facing; an update on the program they said they care about, sent because of what they said. Most of these can be done by the executive director or by the board member who brought the person in. Your job is to keep the calendar and make sure nothing drifts.
Here’s the test for readiness. Can you say, in the donor’s own words, what they care most about in your work? If not, you aren’t ready to ask. If you can, you probably are.
The danger in this stage is that it never ends. Lovely lunches can go on for years. Put a target ask date in the plan from the start, and move it only on purpose.
Stage four: solicitation
The ask should be in person when possible, for a specific amount, for a specific purpose, made by the right person. Often that’s two people: one who knows the donor well and one who knows the work.
No ambushes. Tell the donor ahead of time what the meeting is for: “I’d like to come talk with you about a gift to the financial aid fund.” People who agree to that meeting are already halfway to yes.
In the room, make the case briefly, name the amount, and then stop talking. After the meeting, send a short letter that restates the purpose and amount, so the donor has something to show a spouse, a financial advisor, or a family foundation board. Agree on when you’ll follow up, and do it on that day.
There are three answers to an ask: yes, no, and “let me think about it.” The third is the most common, and it’s fine. It just needs a date attached.
Stage five: stewardship
Stewardship starts the moment the gift is made, and it’s how the next gift begins. In the first days, that means a personal thank-you from the person who asked, a formal receipt, and a gift agreement if the gift is restricted or paid over time.
The receipt is not optional. For any single contribution of $250 or more, the IRS expects the donor to have a written acknowledgment from you that states the amount and whether they received any goods or services in return. Get that right every time.
Then report back on what the gift did, in the terms the donor cared about. When the donor has heard how their gift worked, they go back to the top of this list, closer than they were before.
The one-page prospect plan
Here is the template I recommend. One page per prospect, kept wherever your team can find it: the database, a shared folder, or a binder.
Prospect plan
Name(s), and how they like to be addressed.
Staff lead. Who keeps this plan moving.
Partner. The board member or volunteer closest to them.
Current stage. Identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, or stewardship.
What they care about, in their words.
History with us. First gift, largest gift, years given, volunteer roles.
How they came to us. And who they know here.
Capacity range. And how we arrived at it.
Proposed ask. Amount, purpose, and target date.
Who asks. And who else is in the room.
Next three steps. What, who, and by when.
Open questions or concerns.
Last updated. Date and initials.
The plan only works if someone looks at it. Hold a 30-minute meeting once a month with the executive director, and the board’s development chair if you have one. Walk through each plan, update the next three steps, and ask one question: is this person moving? If a plan hasn’t changed in two months, decide on the spot whether to move it forward or move the person off the list.
That’s the whole system. A short list, five stages, one page per person, one meeting a month. None of it requires a large staff. It requires that the quiet work gets written down, so the next major gift is something you saw coming.
If you want help building the list and the plans behind it, that’s part of our Capital Campaigns and Major Gifts work.
– Mary-Ellen
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Featured photo: Photo by Yan Kolesnyk on Unsplash.
