Major Gifts: The Opportunity Already Within Reach

PATHYWAY TO PHILANTHROPY | PART 1:
Why Strong Donor Relationships May Be One of Your Best Investments in Philanthropy Revenue
By Angie Thompson

Nonprofit organizations need diversified revenue. Grants, sponsorships, events, annual giving, monthly donors and other sources all have a role to play. But when we talk about philanthropic revenue, there is one source nonprofits cannot afford to overlook: individual donors.

According to Giving USA 2026, Americans contributed an estimated $617.2 billion to charitable organizations in 2025. Individuals gave $394.2 billion, making individual giving by far the largest source of charitable contributions.

Recent fundraising data reveals something else worth paying attention to. The Fundraising Effectiveness Project reported that total fundraising dollars increased approximately 5 percent in 2025, even as the estimated number of donors declined 3.6 percent. Much of the revenue growth was driven by donors making larger gifts.

We are raising more money from fewer people.

That does not mean nonprofits should abandon small donors. Quite the opposite. Today's $50 donor may become tomorrow's $5,000 donor, board member, advocate or legacy donor. A healthy fundraising program needs people entering and moving through the donor pipeline.

But it does mean we should ask an important question: Are we spending enough time developing relationships with the people who already care about our organizations and have the potential to invest more significantly in the mission?

Major gift fundraising for nonprofits doesn't have to begin with a sophisticated development program. It can begin by identifying the people who already care about the mission and intentionally developing those relationships.

Major Gifts Aren't Just for Large Organizations

Early in my development career, I completed major donor training and certification with fundraising consultant Amy Eisenstein. I subsequently used many of those principles in development work with the organizations where I served in a lead development role.

One of the most useful lessons is also one of the simplest: a major gift is relative to the organization.

Amy Eisenstein defines a major gift as one requested individually, for a specific amount that is significant to both the donor and the organization. A major gift for a small community nonprofit might be $1,000 or $5,000. At a university or hospital, the threshold may be $25,000, $100,000 or considerably more.

The number itself isn't what makes major-gift fundraising different. The relationship is. Major-gift fundraising moves us away from communicating with everyone in exactly the same way and toward understanding individual donors: why they care, what interests them, how they became connected to the organization and what they might want to accomplish through their philanthropy.

Start With the People You Already Know

When organizations tell me they don't have major donors, my first instinct is to look at their donor records.

Start by asking:

• Who are your largest individual donors?
• Who are your most loyal donors?
• Who has given consistently for five or ten years?
• Who attends your events, buys tickets, volunteers and gives?
• Who has increased a gift?
• Who has served on your board?
• Who has a strong personal connection to your mission?

Eisenstein recommends looking at both an organization's largest donors and its most loyal donors when identifying major-gift prospects. A donor who gives a modest amount consistently may be a stronger prospect than someone who made one large gift and disappeared.

This is an important distinction because wealth alone does not make someone a prospect.

A person can have tremendous financial capacity and absolutely no interest in your organization. Another person may already love your work, understand its value and have both the capacity and desire to do more.

Fundraising works much better when we begin with the second person.

Major Gifts Are Built Through a Process

Major-gift fundraising can sound intimidating because people imagine walking into someone's office and asking for $50,000. That's not where the process begins.

Eisenstein describes a straightforward progression: identify prospective donors, build relationships, ask for a gift, and thank and follow up with the donor.

The simplicity is important. Organizations don't necessarily need elaborate software, a large development department or hundreds of prospects to begin. They need a manageable list of people and a commitment to consistently develop those relationships.

For a smaller nonprofit, I might begin with 20 to 25 qualified prospects.

Then I would develop an individual plan for each relationship, asking and analyzing the following questions:

• Who knows this person?
• What is their history with us?
• What do they appear to care about?
• When did we last have a meaningful conversation?
• What could we invite them to experience?
• What do we still need to learn?
• What might we eventually invite them to fund?

The purpose isn't to manufacture a relationship so we can get someone's money. The purpose is to discover whether the donor's interests and the organization's opportunities intersect.

Cultivation Isn't Entertainment

One misconception about donor cultivation is that it requires elaborate dinners, receptions and expensive events.

It doesn't.

Some of the best cultivation opportunities cost almost nothing.

Invite someone for coffee. Ask them to tour a program. Let them sit in on a rehearsal. Introduce them to a student, client, artist, teacher or program leader. Call because you want their opinion. Send them a story that relates specifically to something they told you they care about.

Most importantly, talk with them when you aren't asking for money.

A donor relationship becomes much stronger when every interaction isn't attached to an appeal.

This is where boards can be enormously valuable. Board members often know people the staff does not know, and they can open doors that would otherwise remain closed. They don't have to become professional fundraisers. They can introduce people, share why they personally care, participate in visits and help thank donors.

Eventually, We Have to Ask

Cultivation without solicitation isn't major-gift fundraising. Eventually, when we understand what matters to the donor and believe there is a meaningful connection between their interests and an organizational need, we have to invite them to invest.

The request should be personal and specific.

Instead of:

“Would you consider supporting our organization?”

the conversation becomes:

“You've told us how important it is to you that young people have access to these opportunities. Would you consider a gift of $10,000 to help us expand this program next year?”

Before that conversation takes place, be prepared to explain exactly what the donor's investment will make possible. Are you seeking support for a particular program, an expansion, equipment, education, or general operations? What does it cost? Why is it needed? What will change because the funding is available?

This is where a strong Case for Support becomes especially valuable. It gives staff and board members the information they need to confidently explain the need, answer questions and connect the proposed gift with meaningful impact.

A major donor isn't simply deciding whether to give $10,000. They are deciding whether they believe what that $10,000 can accomplish is worthy of their investment.

The amount you request should reflect what you know about the donor, the relationship, their interests and the opportunity being presented. It shouldn't simply be the amount the organization happens to need.

Sometimes the answer will be yes. Sometimes it will be no. Sometimes it will be, “Not that much,” “Not right now,” or even, “I'd actually rather support this other part of your work.”

Those responses aren't failures. They give us information and often deepen our understanding of the donor. A conversation about one opportunity may reveal that the donor cares deeply about something else.

Listen to the answer. It may tell you where the relationship should go next.

The Gift Isn't the Finish Line

One of the most expensive mistakes in fundraising happens after someone says yes. I call it “gift and forget.”

The organization receives a significant gift, processes the contribution, sends an acknowledgment, and moves on to the next fundraising priority. In the process, an important opportunity to strengthen the donor relationship can be lost.

A major gift should begin the next stage of the relationship, not end the fundraising process.

The first acknowledgment matters. It should be prompt, personal and appropriate to the significance of the gift. Gratitude should never make the donor feel as though their generosity created an administrative burden for the organization. A tax acknowledgment may satisfy a requirement, but it doesn't necessarily communicate how much the donor's investment is valued.

Then stewardship begins.

If donors funded a program, tell them what the program accomplished. If they helped purchase equipment, show them the equipment in use. If they created opportunities for young people, share the story of someone who benefited. If they supported general operations, help them understand what that support allowed the organization to accomplish.

And don't assume that posting those stories on social media is donor stewardship.

Social media is valuable for telling the broader community what is happening within an organization, but it is communication with a mass audience. A major donor relationship deserves intentional, direct communication. Some donors may never see your social media posts. Others may see them but have no way of knowing how the story connects with the investment they made.

Develop a regular, donor-centered method for communicating impact. That might include a personal email or letter, a phone call from a board member or executive director, a brief impact update, photographs from the program, a conversation over coffee, or an invitation to see the work firsthand.

The communication doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive. It does need to be intentional.

This is where good storytelling becomes an essential part of fundraising. The same story you share publicly can become much more meaningful when it is personally connected to the donor:

“I thought you would enjoy seeing this. Your support helped make this program possible, and I wanted you to know what happened.”

Stewardship isn't simply another thank-you letter, nor should every communication become another request for money. It is an intentional effort to help donors understand that their philanthropy accomplished something that mattered.

When we do that well, we create natural opportunities to continue the relationship. Over time, that relationship may lead to another gift, a larger investment, an introduction to someone else, monthly support or a legacy commitment.

The gift isn't the finish line. It's another point in the donor relationship.

The issue isn't more communication. It's communication designed for the donor rather than assuming the donor will find the organization's general communications.

Major Giving and Legacy Giving Belong Together

This is also where major-gift strategy connects naturally with legacy giving.

The donor who has supported an organization for many years, developed relationships with its leadership, seen the impact of their philanthropy and come to think of the organization as part of their life may eventually begin thinking differently about their giving.

Instead of asking only, “What can I give this year?” they may begin asking, “What do I want to continue after I'm gone?”

That is why I don't think organizations should treat annual giving, major giving and legacy giving as completely separate programs.

They are stages and possibilities within a larger donor relationship continuum.

A $100 annual donor can become a $1,000 donor. A $1,000 donor can become a $10,000 donor. A major donor may eventually include the organization in an estate plan. And a legacy donor may become even more engaged and generous during their lifetime.

The common denominator is relationship.

A Stronger Use of Limited Fundraising Time

Major-gift fundraising does require time, but so does every other fundraising strategy.

Events require months of planning, committees, sponsorship solicitation, ticket sales, decorations, food, volunteers and follow-up. Grant writing requires research, applications, budgets, reports and compliance. Acquisition campaigns require lists, creative work, postage, advertising or digital investment.

The question isn't whether major-gift fundraising requires resources. The question is where limited fundraising time has the greatest potential return.

For many organizations, spending five hours each week developing relationships with 20 or 25 qualified donors could produce substantially different results than simply adding another fundraising activity to the calendar.

The work isn't complicated. The discipline is.

Someone has to own the list. Someone has to schedule the calls. Someone has to make the visits. Someone has to record what was learned. Someone has to decide what happens next.

Without that discipline, major-gift fundraising continually falls behind whatever feels most urgent that week.

Start With 20 People

If your organization doesn't have a major-gift program, don't begin by creating a complicated program.

Begin with 20 people.

Look at your donor history. Identify your largest and most loyal individual donors. Talk with board members and organizational leadership about who has demonstrated a meaningful connection to the mission.

Then make a plan to know those people better over the next six months.

• Call them.
• Thank them.
• Ask questions.
• Invite them closer to the mission.
• Learn what matters to them.
• Share stories.

When the time and opportunity are right, invite them to invest in something meaningful. And after they give, show them what their generosity made possible.

That is major-gift fundraising.

It isn't reserved for universities, hospitals or organizations with large development departments. It is something almost any nonprofit can begin doing if it is willing to make donor relationships a priority.

A Conversation for Your Board

As a starting point, I would encourage nonprofit boards and leadership teams to consider these questions:

1. What constitutes a major gift for our organization?
2. Who are our 20 largest and most loyal individual donors?
3. How many of those people do we actually know?
4. When did someone from our organization last have a conversation with them that wasn't primarily about asking for money?
5. What opportunities could we offer donors who want to make a more significant investment in our mission?
6. Who on our board can help open doors, make introductions, share their own story or thank a donor?
7. Do we have a system for determining the next step with each prospective major donor?
8. After a major gift is made, how do we demonstrate what the donor's generosity accomplished?

Major gifts aren't simply about finding people who can give more.

They are about knowing the people who already care, understanding what matters to them and giving them meaningful opportunities to accomplish something through your organization.

The opportunity may already be sitting in your donor database.

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Resources & Further Reading

Amy Eisenstein, ACFRE. Major Gift Fundraising: Everything You Need to Know. Eisenstein's major-gift guidance covers defining a major gift for your organization, identifying prospects, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship. Her prospect-identification approach emphasizes both an organization's largest and most loyal donors.
Amy Eisenstein, ACFRE. An Effective Major Gifts Plan Template: Just 4 Simple Steps. Eisenstein organizes the major-gift process around four fundamental activities: identifying prospects, building relationships, asking for gifts, and thanking and following up with donors.
Giving USA Foundation and Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Giving USA 2026: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2025. U.S. charitable giving reached an estimated $617.2 billion in 2025, including $394.2 billion contributed by individuals.
Fundraising Effectiveness Project, Association of Fundraising Professionals Foundation for Philanthropy and GivingTuesday. Q4 2025 Fundraising Effectiveness Project Report. The report found that total fundraising dollars increased approximately 5 percent in 2025 while the estimated number of donors declined 3.6 percent. Growth was concentrated among major and supersize donors.

A Note About Professional Advice
This article is provided for educational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, financial, investment or estate-planning advice. Charitable giving decisions should be considered in light of each donor's individual circumstances. Donors are encouraged to consult with their own attorney, CPA, financial advisor or other qualified professional when considering significant or planned charitable gifts.