Major Gift Readiness Assessment: 10 Questions to Ask and Answer

What would it mean to your organization if you could raise 5, 6, or even 7 figure gifts?

If you’re not currently soliciting gifts in-person for specific amounts, it could be a game-changer for your organization. With just a small handful of gifts, you could raise an additional $50K, $100K or even $500K. That’s what makes major gift fundraising so powerful.

But are you and your development office truly ready to harness the power of major gift fundraising? This short assessment will help you find out.

Major Gift Fundraising Readiness: 10 Question Assessment

Ask yourself the following questions to find out how ready you and your organization are to raise major gifts.

1. Do you have a donor management database and record gifts in a timely manner?

If you are using Microsoft Excel or Access, you should answer NO to this question. A dedicated donor management system is critical for helping you identify donors, store information, and generate acknowledgements.

2. Is your system for depositing gifts efficient, well-organized, and documented?

Gifts should be deposited correctly and in a timely manner, usually within two business days of arriving at your organization. You should have someone who is not entering deposits spot-check for accuracy.

3. Are all gifts acknowledged within 48 hours?

Gifts should be acknowledged as soon as possible. While it would be wonderful to personalize all thank you letters, bigger and more loyal donors should be prioritized for personalization.

4. Do donors receive personal thank you calls or emails?

Go beyond the standard acknowledgement whenever possible — especially with large and loyal donors. It takes less than 2 minutes to add a few sentences to let donors know you are talking just to them. The same goes for leaving a message, as it’s rare that donors will answer their phones and you are likely to be sent to voicemail.

5. Do donors know how their gift was used and understand the impact?

Not only is it important to thank donors, but also let them know the difference they made with their donation. Communication can mimic the solicitation, therefore if a donor responded to a direct mail piece, they should get this information through the mail. The same applies to email. Likewise, when you solicit someone in-person, you should follow-up in person.

6. Have you A-B-C-qualified your top 100 donors?

Have you reviewed your largest and most loyal donors and run them through an A-B-C test?

• A = Access — If they are current donors, it’s likely you have current contact information, including an address and possibly a phone number. Thus, you can access them.
• B = Belief — If they are current donors, it’s also likely they care about your cause and mission.
• C = Capacity — It’s important to have a sense of whether they can give the kind of gift you hope to request. Do you know if they have made that size gift to other organizations? Do you have other reasons to believe they can make that sort of gift?

If you’re not sure of one or more of the above, it’s probably time to reassess your top 100 donors.

7. Do you have a pledge reminder system in place to remind donors of their commitments?

It’s important to track pledges accurately and remind donors of upcoming payments in a timely manner. If possible, avoid having your pledge reminders look like bills (i.e., do not send them in a windowed envelope). Be sure to let donors know where they are in their pledge and how much more they have to go, in addition to sharing a story or update to remind them of their gift’s impact.

8. Is there someone on staff who has a relationship with the top 25 donors?

Fundraising is all about relationships, therefore it’s critical that someone (or a few people on staff) develop strong relationships with your top donors. Think of these relationships in terms of whether you’d stop and say “hello” if you bumped into one another in public. You should also know something about your donors other than their giving history — such as what motivated them to get involved in the first place?

9. Do you have a system for moving donors up the pyramid?

It’s important to review your mid-level donors and evaluate ask amounts. You’ll want to move your mid-tier donors up the gift pyramid on a semi-regular basis.

10. Do you have simple cultivation plans for your top 25 donors?

For each donor you plan to solicit, you’ll want a simple cultivation plan to make sure they are ready when you ask them for a gift. That means having a pre-solicitation conversation to ensure your ask is appropriate for that donor. You will also want to provide volunteer and other opportunities for engagement prior to asking for a gift.

Major Gift Readiness Assessment: How’d You Do?

1. If you answered YES to most of these questions, then you are ready to solicit major gifts. You probably just need some pointers and accountability (more on that at the end of this post).
2. If you answered NO or NOT SURE to a number of these questions, then your nonprofit has some work to do.

If your nonprofit isn’t quite ready to raise major gifts according to this assessment, don’t lose hope. Develop a plan for improving in those areas over the next 4-6 months so you are ready to raise major gifts by year end.

And if you need help getting your nonprofit up to speed, check out the BONUSES toward the end of this post.

One Final Question

If you already have a major gift program, how well is it doing? Ask yourself the following question:

We’re half-way through the year — have you asked your top 25 donors for a gift of a specific amount this year face-to-face (either in person or virtually)? If so, you have an active major gift program and you’re likely doing just fine on your own.

But if you’re finding it difficult to manage your major gift program, keep reading…