Major gifts are the single most important element of a successful fundraising program.
Recently, we published a detailed overview of the 2024 Giving USA report, written by my colleague Austin Detwiler.
In it, he noted that general trends in philanthropy haven’t changed in 2024. Overall giving is up but isn’t keeping up with inflation. Faith-based institutions remain the number-one beneficiaries of American charitable giving, but they don’t receive as large a percentage of overall giving as they used to. And the charitable sector continues to drive about 2% of the GDP each year.
After laying out these facts, Austin dishes out some good advice. He says, “If you’re a fundraiser, the important thing isn’t to wonder about trends in the philanthropic sector. The important thing is to focus on what you have control over, which is where you spend your time and how you focus your efforts.”
Take heed of Austin’s advice. As fundraisers, we can’t control philanthropic trends, but we can control where we invest our time and where our organizations invest their limited resources and bandwidth. When it comes to fundraising, the best way to invest your time is in cultivating individual donors, since they drive most charitable giving in the United States each year. And of all the ways to raise money from individual donors, the best ROI for your organization lies in focusing on major gifts.
Major Donors = Major Returns on Your Investment
Every donor matters to your nonprofit. Every person who supports your work should be thanked, recognized, and cherished for their contribution to your organization. But if you want to grow your impact exponentially and get maximum return on the investment you are making in your fundraising program, you should focus on building your major donor program.
At most nonprofits, major donors provide anywhere from 60 to 80% of the organization’s fundraising revenue. This means that donors giving four figures or more to your nonprofit are providing the lion’s share of the funding your organization needs to carry out its work. Your annual fund and low-dollar fundraising activities help to fill in the gaps and provide much-needed support, but their real raison d'être for your organization is building a funnel of donors who can eventually become major givers.
If you’re not laser-focused on building a strong major donor program for your organization, you’ll never achieve the fundraising success you are looking for.
