Guest Article by Hannah Davis, EverTrue
When to make a major donor request is one of the hardest calls in fundraising. Ask too early, and a donor who isn’t ready may feel pressured or simply say no. Wait too long, and you leave your nonprofit strapped for vital resources.
However, since donors rarely make major gifts unprompted, you can’t get around making the ask, even if doing so can be stressful. Fortunately, by considering the amount, timing, and relationship status, you can set yourself up for successful fundraising conversations.
With the help of your donor management tools and expert fundraising skills, your team can spot key signals that a donor is ready to give. In this guide, we’ll explore a few signs that now is the right time for your major donor request.
Affinity for your nonprofit is high.
Donors give to causes they feel a deep connection with. Without that connection, even a donor with significant wealth is unlikely to say yes. Instead of simply asking your wealthiest donors for gifts, instead consider who has shown a commitment to your nonprofit.
A few signs of high affinity include:
Consistent giving. Major donors often start as mid-level donors. Look for individuals who have made consistent, notable contributions. For example, a donor who gives $500 every month has made a significant investment in your cause and may be interested in scaling up their support.
Involvement beyond donations. Prospective major donors often attend events, volunteer, and discuss your nonprofit on social media. For example, a university alum who returns for reunion weekend every year, posts about your football team on social media, and volunteers for youth mentorship opportunities is committed to supporting your school. You can find information like this quickly by investing in social media listening tools that pick up mentions of your nonprofit’s name on websites like Facebook.
Personal connection to the mission. Supporters who are affected by your cause are far more likely to recognize your mission’s value and choose to donate to your nonprofit. For example, a wealthy CEO who used to live in your small town might donate to help with disaster relief, or someone whose family member passed away due to heart disease may donate to help fund medical research.
To gauge affinity, have meaningful conversations with your donors about why they give. Ask open-ended questions about their interests and what drew them to your mission. Plan these conversations early on in your major donor stewardship process. Or, for major campaigns, you might hold planned interviews, such as during a capital campaign feasibility study.
Record what donors tell you in their giving profiles. This will help you structure future conversations and determine if the donor is ready to turn their interest into a gift.
Capacity to give is available.
Plainly, to make a major gift, donors have to have the financial capacity to do so.
Prospect research can give your team a realistic picture of which of your donors are capable of giving at high levels. Specifically, EverTrue’s guide to AI fundraising explains how AI tools can scan donor and public data to analyze your donors at scale and detect key wealth indicators, such as:
Real estate holdings
Stock holdings
Business affiliations and job titles
Major gifts to other nonprofits
Board and foundation service
Additionally, continually research your current major donors’ financials. When a donor experiences a sudden windfall or appears to be on a giving streak, they may be more likely to make a major gift to your nonprofit.
Your nonprofit has a compelling need.
Your nonprofit likely has prospective major donors with the interest and ability to make a major gift, but they just haven’t yet. Why? They haven’t had a compelling reason to.
If your nonprofit has a strong reason as to why donors should give now, share it with your supporters. A few common reasons why new major donors may step up include:
A major project or goal. New projects can get donors excited, especially if they have a clear vision behind them. For example, a university may decide to start an endowment to fund research on developing climate-resistant crops. As part of this project, you would share how you will assess research proposals, how many projects you’ll fund, and how you plan to leverage the endowment to fund the program indefinitely. Supporters interested in the topic and persuaded by your pitch may choose to make their first major gift to help out.
An emergency need. Urgent situations, such as disaster relief, give donors a clear reason to step up with a larger gift. In the event of an emergency, reach out to your entire donor base to express the need for immediate support and explain how your nonprofit will help address the situation.
A request from someone they have a strong relationship with. Donors are more likely to say yes when the ask comes from a person they know and trust. This may be a member of your donor development team who has developed a relationship or someone in their life speaking on your nonprofit’s behalf. For instance, you may ask your current major donors to set up introductions to others in their network. When someone they know personally encourages them to donate, potential major donors are far more likely to give.
For help making a compelling pitch, connect with your current top donors to seek their feedback. Asking for advice can help build your relationship with your existing major donors, lay the groundwork for them to introduce you to others, and provide real insight into your case for support’s effectiveness.
Time has passed since the last gift.
Even the most committed donor needs space between fundraising asks. When you time asks too closely together, donors may not have had time to reorganize their finances after their last gift or may even become doubtful about the state of your nonprofit if you’re relying so heavily on them for financial support.
Be patient, and use the time between asks to steward donors by:
Thanking them for each gift. Show thorough appreciation for each gift before moving on to the next ask. This may involve meeting with the donor in person, shouting them out at an event, or even constructing a donor wall that includes their name.
Reporting impact. Show donors what their last gift accomplished before you request another. Create impact reports that go into detail about the specific projects they helped fund to help them understand how their gifts are making a difference.
Continuing to stay in touch. Regular check-ins go a long way toward keeping prospects warm and moving donors toward their next gift. Call donors on the phone, send them email updates, and meet in person whenever possible. Graham-Pelton’s guide to prospect meetings provides a few email templates you can send out to schedule in-person meetings in bulk when you’re in a specific area. For instance, you might be in New York for a nonprofit conference and take the opportunity to meet up with as many local donors as possible.
How do you know enough time has passed? Look for three signs: the donor has seen the impact of their last gift, you’ve had a recent meaningful conversation, and they’ve stayed engaged with your work. With careful listening and consistent communication, you can often tell when a donor is ready to give again.
There’s no magic time of day or year for making a major donor request. Instead, keep track of each of your major donors and giving prospects to make your ask based on your knowledge of them.
Start planning your next asks by reviewing your top donors for these signals and potentially investing in prospect research tools if you haven’t already.
This guest post was written by Hannah Davis.
Hannah Davis is the Senior Manager of Growth Marketing at EverTrue. She works with nonprofit advancement teams to help fundraisers connect with more donors in meaningful ways. Before joining EverTrue, Hannah worked in higher education advancement at the University of Connecticut Foundation, leading annual giving communications and donor engagement efforts. Her experience in fundraising fuels her passion for helping nonprofits modernize their outreach while staying donor-centric.
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