GUIDE:
The Ultimate Guide to Major Gift Fundraising
A practical guide for fundraisers building or sharpening a major gift program, with real results from teams on catching the right moment and keeping donors close.
The Ultimate Guide to Major Gift Fundraising
Catch the moment before it’s gone. Built for fundraising teams building or sharpening a major gift program, lean staff included, this guide breaks down why timing is what separates the teams who land the gift from the ones who miss it.
Inside, you’ll find:
- Why a quiet donor might be six months from the biggest gift of their life, and how to catch that moment
- How to spot real major donor candidates using giving history, capacity, and affinity together, not wealth alone
- A breakdown of the major gift lifecycle, from first contact through the upgrade ask
- The metrics worth tracking, with realistic benchmarks for acquisition, retention, and request success
- Real results, including a foundation’s first-ever $100M year and $80K raised through renewed donor re-engagement
Whether you’re starting a major gift program or sharpening one, this guide gives you a clear way to find the right donors and reach them first.