Carolyn's Nonprofit Blog

When I have been hired to develop and run a major gift campaign, I often find that when enough funding has been secured, the executive director and staff frequently want to put fundraising to rest. “We’re done.”

A lot of energy goes into establishing organizational credibility, building community support, creating a compelling case and strategy, requesting donations, and stewarding those donations. Then all at once, the campaign comes to an end. “Thank you very much, we are now back to programming.”

But once you have worked so hard to develop a successful major gift campaign (staff often find this process exhausting), you have harnessed the attention and good will of your philanthropists. You could attract the attention of even more. Why not keep going? Why turn off the machine that yielded so many extraordinary financial results?

But the truth is, most nonprofits I know do just that. Why not take the long view?

Seasoned fundraisers know that once your major gift campaign succeeds and you get into the habitat of asking for larger donations, it is possible to keep going. There are always needs for equipment, furnishings and programs. One of my favorite ideas: why not create an endowment to keep your mission alive and well long into the future.

An endowment fund is an investment portfolio with the initial capital deriving from donations. Endowment funds are established to fund charitable and nonprofit institutions such as churches, hospitals, and universities. Donations to endowment funds are tax-deductible. 

CFI: Corporate Finance Institute

I frequently try to engage the banking and investment community in my major gift campaigns, and from the start. Some have ties to donor advised funds and they understand the latest trends in investing. Should the situation arise that a donor wishes to contribute stock, cryptocurrencies or other non-cash assets, they can step in to assist. And of course, they understand the importance of investments for long term stability of your nonprofit organization. Your organization might consider engaging the finance community from the start, too.

A related issue I find with nonprofits when it comes to major gift campaigns is letting your campaign staff go after the campaign is done. Keep in mind, those staff members have become well known to your donors, and they may want to seek them out for information and support after the campaign concludes.

For one successful prior campaign I developed and managed, the nonprofit completely turned off its fundraising apparatus. “We’ll return to fundraising later on. We have all the money we need.” Knowing the lead donor well, I actually kept going as an upaid employee on my own time for a year, responding to requests from donors, and reporting back regarding the construction work underway.

If you are a campaign manager, knowing the reality of misguided nonprofit leadership when it comes to major gift fundraising, I urge you to document your work in detail and in writing, and save it to the cloud.

In one instance, I actually set up an archive at a local library where much of my campaign documentation is (hopefully) still housed. A year after the campaign above had concluded, for example, I returned to the organization to meet with the executive director. Somehow he could not find my documentation. “We put that computer in the closet.” So, I asked them to open the closet, we turned on the computer, and there it was, safe and sound but hidden from view. No member of the staff had ever bothered to review it – and the information found therein was probably worth another $10 million.

Lessons learned! So please, take the long view. Keep doing good long after your major gift campaign draws to a close by keeping your fundraising going.

You might enjoy reading a prior post that is one of my most-read, “Building Relationships with Professional Advisors.”