The Art of Major Gifts: Strategies to Find and Cultivate New Prospects

Identifying major donors goes beyond simply considering their financial capacity.

 Just as you wouldn’t propose marriage on a first date, a successful major gift solicitation requires time, effort, and careful nurturing. Rushing into it without proper cultivation can lead to long-term or even permanent damage.

Our latest resource, The Art of Major Gifts: Strategies to Find and Cultivate New Prospects, is full of tools to identify and qualify the major donors already in your database. You’ll learn real-world strategies to treat them like investors who, in return, will invest in your vision.  

⇣ Click below to get the guide ⇣

What are the key strategies for boosting major giving?

The Winkler Group has helped countless academic institutions, healthcare organizations, and nonprofits transform their major gifts programs. The Art of Major Gifts is a quick read filled with strategies you can implement today to boost your major giving. In ten minutes—the time it will take you to read this resource—you will find tools to:

  • mine your annual fund for major gift prospects.
  • determine whether your major gift qualifications are appropriate.
  • qualify the mid-level donors most likely to become major donors.
  • implement effective moves management strategies.
  • use volunteers for your major gift team.
  • maximize investment among mid-level donors.
  • know when your donors are ready to be solicited.
  • identify the cultivation strategies with the biggest ROI.
  • right-size your major gift portfolios.

True major gift fundraising is deliberate. It takes time, but the reward is worth the effort. Major donors are those donors who will be there in a crisis. They are your campaign’s lead donors. They are your advocates and your ambassadors. Treat them like investors, and they will be by your side through the highs and the lows.

We’ve helped thousands of fundraising professionals become major giving experts. All our strategies and best practices are here in this resource.

The Art of Major Gifts: Strategies to Find and Cultivate New Prospects is part of the Winkler Group’s series of resources designed to help nonprofit institutions and organizations fuel their vision. More fundraising resources are available here.

Latest Resources & Events

Two small children, both wearing masks, receiving and admiring a gift from a charity toy drive. Header for "How Giving Tuesday Can Impact Nonprofit Branding."

How GivingTuesday Can Impact Nonprofit Branding

November 22, 2023

This guest post by Rayssa Jillian underscores the crucial role of branding in nonprofit success and explores how participation in GivingTuesday can boost visibility, trustworthiness, and community engagement. While the global event offers opportunities, it brings challenges like the potential dilution of a nonprofit's identity amid increased marketing activities.

Header image for "AI Donor Communications: The Good, the Bad, and What Can’t Be Left to the Robots." Depicts human hand and robot hand extending towards eachother to touch their pointer fingers together.

AI Donor Communications: The Good, the Bad, and What Can’t Be Left to the Robots

November 02, 2023

The rise of technology and artificial intelligence has completely changed how nonprofit organizations are able to fundraise and communicate with donors. If you’re overwhelmed—and maybe even a bit scared—of the many possibilities of AI, keep reading.

Ready to launch a capital campaign?

What can we help you find?