https://bloomerang.co/resources/speaking/ Major gift philanthropy plays a highly significant role in the nonprofit sector worldwide. But what are the indicators small shops should focus on for the long-term health of their major gifts program? In this session, we will dive into the groundbreaking research on major gift fundraising conducted by Adrian Sargeant PhD – Professor of Fundraising and Director at the Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy Plymouth Business School – and leading fundraising expert Amy Eisenstein, ACFRE. This research contains survey data collected from hundreds of nonprofits, and illuminates their experience with major gifts. No matter the size of your organization, you will come away with additional insights. Learning Outcomes: Discover how your major gift efforts compare with other nonprofits Learn the critical success factors that lead to major gift success Uncover 10 key recommendations for how revenue from major gift donors might best be developed

1. Major Gift Fundraising
For Small Shops

2. Your presenter »
@StevenShattuck
Jay Love
@JayBarclayLove
Chief Relationship Officer,
Bloomerang
• 37 Years of Technology Leadership
• Over 20,000 Database Installations
• Former Founder & CEO of eTapestry
• Former AFP Interantional Board Member
• Former Senior VP of Blackbaud
• Conner Prairie Museum Board Member
• AFP Ethics Committee Chairman
• Rogare Research Institute Board Member
• Innovation Fund at Butler University
• Co-Chair of Indianapolis YMCA Capital Campaign

3. Can small and mid-sized
nonprofits really raise
major gifts?

4. Three Experts Wanted An Answer »

5. MasteringMajorGifts.com/Report
The Result »

6. Lead Sponsors »

7. Study Participants »
662 nonprofits
w/ operating
budgets of $10M
or less

8. Respondents By Budget Size »

9. Respondents By Category »

10. Findings

11. Mean Contribution By Channel »

12. “Major Gift” Defined »
Mean: $24,555
Median: $5,000
Mode: $1,000

13. Number Of Fundraisers Engaged
To Work On Major Gifts »
Mean Mean Total FTEs
$5m - $10m 3.2 0.9
$1m - $4.9m 2.5 0.5
Under $1m 2.1 0.3

14. Number Of Volunteers Engaged
To Work On Major Gifts »

15. Major Gift Fundraising Performance »

16. Major Gift Pipeline »

17. Correlations »
• Focusing on first-time gifts negatively
impacts performance

18. Correlations »
• Focusing on first-time gifts negatively
impacts performance
• Suggestions:
• 5+ years of giving
• 12-18 touches to build relationship

19. Correlations »
• Few organizations track drivers of
long-term value such as donor
satisfaction or commitment

20. Correlations »
• Few organizations track drivers of long-
term value such as donor satisfaction or
commitment
• Suggestions:
• new donor survey within 3 months
• donor survey after 2-3 years
• telephone survey after 3-5 years
• “would you recommend this charity?”

21. Correlations »
• Strong correlation between training
and fundraising performance (each
additional form of training is
associated with a $37k increase in
revenue)

22. Correlations »
• The quality of IT systems in place is
key to driving the number of major
gifts received

23. Correlations »
• The quality of IT systems in place is
key to driving the number of major
gifts received
• Organizations whose boards and
volunteers play an active role are
more successful in major gift
fundraising

24. Correlations »
• The quality of IT systems in place is key
to driving the number of major gifts
received
• Organizations whose boards and
volunteers play an active role are more
successful in major gift fundraising
• Individuals with longer tenure tend to be
more successful in major gift fundraising

25. 10 Recommendations

26. 1. Donor Retention »
https://bloomerang.co/retention

27. Donor Attrition Over Five Years
# of
Donors
Attrition
Rate
Donors
Remaining
After 1
Year
Donors
Remaining
After 2
Years
Donors
Remaining
After 3
Years
Donors
Remaining
After 4
Years
Donors
Remaining
After 5
Years
1,000 20% 800 640 512 410 328
1,000 40% 600 360 216 130 78
1,000 60% 400 160 64 26 10
So what?
https://bloomerang.co/resources/downloadables/donor-retention-math-made-simple

28. Calculating Your Retention Rate »
# of Donors in Current 12 Months
(from the previous years pool)
divided by
# of Donors in Previous 12 Months

29. https://bloomerang.co/retention

30. Who to focus on »

31. Acknowledgement segmenting »

32. 5 Acknowledgment Principles
(Drastically Improve First Year Donor Retention)
• 48 Hour Rule
• Be Different Than the Rest
• Handwritten Rule Written Communications
• State Exactly What the Monies will Fund
• Call or See in Person as Often as Possible

33. 2. Prospect Research »

34. 5 best indicators »

35. 5 best indicators »
1. Previous Giving To Your
Nonprofit
https://bloomerang.co/blog/5-indicators-for-identifying-the-best-potential-donors

36. 5 best indicators »
1. Previous Giving To Your
Nonprofit
2. Giving to Other Nonprofits
https://bloomerang.co/blog/5-indicators-for-identifying-the-best-potential-donors

37. 5 best indicators »
1. Previous Giving To Your
Nonprofit
2. Giving to Other Nonprofits
3. Participation as a
Foundation Trustee
https://bloomerang.co/blog/5-indicators-for-identifying-the-best-potential-donors

38. 5 best indicators »
1. Previous Giving To Your
Nonprofit
2. Giving to Other Nonprofits
3. Participation as a
Foundation Trustee
4. Federal Political Giving
https://bloomerang.co/blog/5-indicators-for-identifying-the-best-potential-donors

39. 5 best indicators »
1. Previous Giving To Your
Nonprofit
2. Giving to Other Nonprofits
3. Participation as a
Foundation Trustee
4. Federal Political Giving
5. Real Estate Ownership
https://bloomerang.co/blog/5-indicators-for-identifying-the-best-potential-donors

40. 3. Donor communications
“Successful donor
communications are
quite simple.
At heart, they are love
letters to donors &
prospects, woven
through with clear cries
for help.”
- Tom Ahern,
Bloomerang Donor
Communications Head Coach
http://aherncomm.com

43. 4. Training »
Development Activity
Percent
Online training tools/webinars 56.4
Ad hoc or occasional training 54.5
Mentoring by a member of your organization’s team 25.3
Mentoring by an external consultant or fundraiser 22.4
https://bloomerang.co/resources/webinars
What has your experience been?

44. 5. Education »

45. 6. Donor-Centered Culture »
https://bloomerang.co/blog/5-ways-organizational-culture-impacts-fundraising

46. Developmental Team Meetings »
• What did we do this week to raise
more major gifts?
• What will we do next week to raise
more major gifts?

47. 7. IT Systems »

48. Data Management »
Can you have too many names in your database?

49. 0 / 10 / 90 Rule »
• 0% of your funding
• 10% of your funding
• 90% of your funding

50. 0 / 10 / 90 Rule »
• 0% of your funding
• 10% of your funding
• 90% of your funding
What should you do with each segment?

51. 0 / 10 / 90 Rule »
• 0% of your funding
• remove all but:
• previous above-average donors
• previous board members
• previous top volunteers
• alumni
• positive replies to surveys
• 10% of your funding
• handle in an automatic manner, but research
• 90% of your funding
• focus the majority of your efforts here

52. 8. Volunteer Engagement »
https://bloomerang.co/blog/category/volunteerism
How does your organization engage volunteers?

53. 9. Board Engagement »
https://bloomerang.co/blog/infographic-the-2014-nonprofit-board-survey/
Do your board members actively fundraise for your organization?
•Yes (all) 4%
•Yes (most) 26%
•Yes (a few) 52%
•No: 18%
https://bloomerang.co/blog/category/nonprofit-boards/

54. 10. Metrics »
• New gifts over $$
• Legacy related gifts
• Solicitations made
• Success rate in solicitations
• Meetings attended w/ prospects
• Donor satisfaction
• Personalized gift proposals made

55. Can small and mid-sized
nonprofits really raise
major gifts?

56. Can small and mid-sized
nonprofits really raise
major gifts?
YES!

57. MasteringMajorGifts.com/Report
Executive Summary And Full Report »

58. Free Educational Resources »
https://bloomerang.co/resources
•Daily blog post
•Weekly webinar
•Downloadables
•Nonprofit Wrap-Up
•Bloomerang TV
•Bloomies

59. Questions?
jay.love@bloomerang.co
@JayBarclayLove
Free Book »
https://bloomerang.co/staytogether/