Major gift fundraising can be hard for a variety of reasons. One reason is that it’s intimidating to ask for money. And human nature dictates that we delay things we fear. For that reason, major gift fundraising often gets relegated to the bottom of your to do list.
Unfortunately, there are no natural deadlines when it comes to raising major gifts. Other types of fundraising have deadlines built in and help create urgency:
- Grants have deadlines.
- Events take place on a certain date.
- Even direct mail needs to be sent by Thanksgiving, along with emails sent on #GivingTuesday.
That leaves major gift fundraising, which is both scarier than most other types of fundraising and not deadline driven to conveniently fall off the radar. After all, no donor is sitting around waiting for your call.
3 Ways to Stay Accountable When Raising Major Gifts
When it comes to raising major gifts, if you delay the task at hand by a few days, weeks, or months, who would know? It’s up to you to stay accountable. With that in mind, here are three ways to stay on track when raising major gifts.
1. Weekly major gifts meeting
Schedule a regular meeting with your supervisor to help you stay on track. At the meeting, identify one to three things each of you will do that week to move the needle on raising major gifts. The following week, start with the list of to-dos from the previous week. Did they get done? What are the next steps?
2. Create deadlines
Deadlines create a sense of urgency. How many deadlines can you come up with to help you raise major gifts? Announce those deadlines in public (to staff and board members) to create urgency and accountability.
For example, let board members know you will be asking them for their pledge/gift for the year no later than February 1st each year. Another example is identifying a challenge/matching gift. Ask a donor if they would consider giving $100K if you can get ten donors to give $10K or more by a certain date (like 3 months from now).
3. Find an accountability-buddy
As in weekly meetings (see #1 above), instead of meeting with your boss, you’ll meet with a peer or colleague to hold one another accountable. Share the one thing you commit to doing this week and ask your partner to ask you about it in a weekly check-in call the following week.
This is a great opportunity for good, old-fashioned peer-pressure. So don’t let one another off the hook or make excuses!
Need More Accountability? Consider Outside Help
When all else fails, it’s time to hire a coach or mentor.
We often value what we pay for. If you simply can’t make headway raising major gifts on your own, maybe it’s time to bring in a professional. You’re more likely to do what you say you will if someone will be checking in on you. You can also work with a coach to set realistic, yet aspirational, goals and deadlines.
No matter what method you choose, it’s important to have outside pressure and accountability to help you stay motivated and on track. Otherwise days, weeks, or even months could slip by without you making any progress toward raising the biggest gifts for your cause.
Thoughtful and helpful article – thanks! One helpful thing we do in my office is to have a monthly meeting to review “open opportunities” aka planned solicitations for the year ahead. this is always good reminder to be in touch with those top donors who we plan to solicit soon.