An effective major gifts program has one of the best returns on investment of all recurrent fundraising products for charities and not-for-profits. Australia and New Zealand have experienced huge growth in large gifts since 2013. Gail Perry CFRE, Xponential’s international associate, shared her latest insights in a workshop series. In this presentation, Craige Gravestein FFIA CFRE, Xponential Philanthropy Chief Big Gifts, gives his selection of 10 most actionable ideas. Use these ideas to immediately boost confidence of your major gifts executives, CEO and board, and increase the results from your major gift fundraising.

1. Catapult Your Major
Gift Fundraising with
Ideas
Craige Gravestein CFRE FFIA, Chief Big Gifts of
Xponential Philanthropy
10

2. Gail Perry CFRE,
Xponential’s international associate,
shared her latest insights in
‘Master the Art of Major Gift Fundraising’
Craige Gravestein FFIA CFRE,
Xponential Philanthropy Chief Big Gifts,
gives his selection of 10 most actionable ideas

3. Ask at meetings:
Seeking good open-ended
questions in your meetings with
donors?
How did you feel the last
time you made a big gift?
Why do you care about
this organisation?
1

4. 2
Give a short statement about something
new or important, then simply ask:
“What are your impressions?”
Finding yourself (or your CEO) stuck in
too much talking at the donors?

5. Searching for something authentic for the
launch of your capital campaign public
phase?
Hold a party to honour your
organisation’s founders:
Evokes your history
Communicates to big donors that they
too will be honoured
3

6. Try this statement:
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"We had always dreamed that we would be able to ….”
Refer to any dream to evoke the vision, and the donor can
respond without feeling a premature ask
Wanting a way to test whether an idea will
catch a donor’s imagination and motivation?

7. Wondering about frequency of contact
during cultivation of top donors?5
The more times you are in front of the donor,
the bigger the gift

8. How to respond to:
“I like your organisation, but you’re not my
priority for giving”
Try asking:
“What would it take for our organisation to
become one of your priorities?”
6

9. Looking for easy steps for board members’
involvement in fundraising?
Get board members to thank donors
It is a great first to cultivate their giving potential
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10. Finding the time of
leadership and program
managers is spread thin?
Record a video of someone saying
‘Thank You’
8
Take the video with you to show the donor.
Using tablets is becoming more familiar to
donors and allows for informal interaction.

11. 9 Looking for something special in
your stewardship program?
• Consider what your organisation can offer
with the sense of going behind the scenes
• Tours need to be planned, but shouldn’t
feel stage-managed

12. 10 Pondering whether giving by board
members really matters to donors?
In the USA, there are foundations that ask the question in
application forms:
‘What percentage of your board members give financially to
the organisation?’
Will this start to happen in Australia?

13. Xponential Philanthropy is the
Big Gift Specialist
raising millions of dollars for not-
for-profit organisations throughout
Australia and New Zealand.
Follow us on LinkedIn at:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/xponential-
philanthropy?trk=biz-companies-cym

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