[MUSIC] Hello and welcome to our module today on Cultivating and Soliciting Major Donors. This is part of our Foundations of Fundraising and Development course being offered through UC Davis. My name is Paul Prokop, I am associate vice chancellor for School and Unit Programs at UC Davis. This module is going to provide you with an overview of the major gift process, including identifying, cultivating, and soliciting engaged donors. I hope that the information provided to you today will be helpful. And will provide practical guidance that you can use in your own professional practice, and will also prompt you to do more research on the topic. So today we're going to provide an overview of the process of cultivating and soliciting engaged donors. And this information will hopefully be helpful to you as you are learning more about development. And you can begin to incorporate some of these techniques in your professional practice. And also hopefully this will prompt you to do more research on your own and to delve deeper into the topic. And so why don't we begin by asking the question, what is a major gift? So a major gift can be defined as a nonrecurring contribution at a dollar level that is significant to the organization. This is typically large enough to fulfill a need in its own right. For example, to let's say, fund a scholarship. I work in higher education at UC Davis, as I mentioned. And $25.000 is a minimum level that is often considered a major gift at many institutions of higher education across the country. However, as I said, this really relates to what is the organizational need. For example, it could be $5,000 if you're in a nonprofit. If this is something that's significant and fulfills a need for your organization or institution. A point that I want to make is that major gifts do not occur in a vacuum. You may realize a one-off major gift. For example, as a result of a donor volunteering to make a gift. But what we're talking about today is a purposeful effort and strategies to really build a major gifts program. And these require a number of organizational factors to be in place to really have what we'll call a culture of philanthropy. Elements of a successful major gifts program. Number one, you really need support from institutional leadership and a willingness on their part to invest the time in relationship development. It's often said that fundraising is about relationship development, and this is true in the case of major gifts. This is critical to inspiring confidence In your larger donors, that they're hearing from the institutional leaders and are sharing in their vision. Related to this is the engagement of deans, directors, faculty, and other key partners in the development process. Because these individuals are often the most powerful advocates for the cause. They're the subject matter experts who can convey the case for support in the most compelling way. It's also important to have tracking systems for your development activity. And this is essential for a coordinated, organized, and strategic approach to prospect relationship management. This could be as simple as a manual method of tracking prospect interactions on paper. On up to the very large and sophisticated software systems that have been developed for our use in the major institutions in higher education. Annual giving, lets talk about this for a moment, because it is often a precursor to major support from donors. So loyalty as an annual donor is often an indicator of greater philanthropic potential. And this is something that may sometimes go overlooked. When you are reviewing your list of potential prospects, you definitely want to hone in on those individuals who have been loyal donors for a long period of time. Even if they haven't necessarily made very large gifts, because again, it's an indication of loyalty to your cause. A compelling case for support will inspire donors with a powerful vision, and clearly show where philanthropy can make an impact in your institution or cause. Engagement of volunteer leaders, this is also a very large topic in its own right. But volunteers can add great value in being instrumental in opening doors to new donors and supporting you on all aspects of the major gift process. A robust pool of prospective donors, right, something we fundraisers all dream about is primarily derived from sets of individuals who have a natural affinity for your institution. And these could include alumni, parents, grateful clients if you're a medical center, those who've received benefit from your organization or institution. Some prospect research capacity to generate biographic and financial data in support of prospect identification is also important. There's actually a lot that you can do right at your desktop now with the online resources that are available. Simply Googling can provide a lot of information that's now in the public domain. However, our sophisticated research organizations that are part of our development teams also subscribe to many subscription services that can provide also much more in-depth information. And there are also vendors available who can screen databases and provide prospect information. So let's shift a little bit now to talk about the motivating factors around major giving. There's a popular belief held by many that it's public recognition that really motivates major giving. Things such as naming opportunities, someone seeing their name in lights on a building. Actually, research has shown that research has shown that there are other factors that are equally important or more so. Number one is belief in the institutional mission, and personal identification with that mission or cause. To the extent that your donor relates to what your institution does and believes that they're supporting that mission and cause, that makes them more likely to be supportive at the major gift level. The impact that the institution or organization has on a cause or issue deeply valued by the donor is really what's important. Also, as we've said earlier, confidence in institutional leadership, particularly those who are visible to the public. The ability of us in development, as well as other institutional representatives to articulate a compelling case for support. The excellence of the institution, it's a simple fact that people want to support a winner. As well as the influence of peers and volunteer leaders, that's also a major factor. Now let's take a few minutes and talk about the major gift process. Here is a classic illustration of the major gift cycle. We talk about identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major gift prospects. The major gift process is sometimes referred to as moves management. And this is a phrase coined by David Dunlop of Cornell who was a legendary major gift fundraiser there. So this refers to the deliberate engagement of prospective donors in a series of purposeful interactions or moves that are over time designed to bring the prospect to a gift decision. These orchestrated moves collectively become the major gift strategy for the prospect. The most effective major gift officers are those who are proactively managing their prospect portfolios. They are continuously developing and implementing strategies to proactively engage their prospective donors in meaningful interactions with the institution that will deepen their engagement and build their awareness of philanthropy. A consultative approach is essential, learning about the interests and values of the prospect and matching these with institutional priorities. So it's a process of beginning a dialogue. An honest exchange with a prospective donor to understand what they value, their experiences, and how those might relate to supporting the priorities of your institution. Much like an educational curriculum, the prospect interactions are designed to accomplish a specific purpose at different stages in the process. So as I mentioned, the first stage in the major gift process is actually identification of the prospective donor. So once an assessment has been made after a review of biographical and financial research, that an individual likely has sufficient resources to make a major gift, there are two core questions that need to be answered to determine if the individual is an actual prospective donor. The first question is, are they philanthropic? Are they supporting your institution or other causes? The second question is, are they interested in my cause? Is Bill Gates a prospect for my program? Likely not, so let's not waste time on nonproductive conjecture, and instead find the real prospects who could support my cause. Development officers waste a lot of time sitting around thinking about prospects who are never going to support their program. Just because people potentially are wealth holders does not mean they have an interest in my particular cause. Here are some other possible sources of prospects for my program. Now I'm speaking here primarily from the perspective of an educational institution. And so these would include alumni, parents of our students, friends, including grateful clients, past donors, these are often the best prospects for future gifts. Donors to similar causes, as well as wealth holders in the community who may have benefited from the outcomes of our programs, or see this as a community asset. For example, individuals who see the university as a driver of economic development may want to support our programs. As mentioned earlier, we need to learn as much as possible about the prospect's financial resources. Including issues that might impact the timing of their gift, such as the sale of a company and other factors.
