Kickstart your major gift fundraising in 2025 by reviewing last year’s performance, refreshing your prospect pipeline and using data for personalised donor engagement.
Successful major gift fundraising isn’t just about securing a donation. It’s about research, strategy and building strong relationships. These five steps will help set you up for fundraising success in 2025.
Review and reflect on 2024
Take some time to assess 2024. What went well and what could have gone better? Use your supporter database to examine metrics like donor retention, the number of new donors you acquired, and return on interest in fundraising campaigns and events. Figure out what you want to take into 2025 and what needs to be left behind.
Set goals for 2025
Talk to your team and trustees and decide what you want to achieve as an organisation in 2025. How will fundraising contribute to that?
Are you running a capital campaign with a defined fundraising target or is it business as usual? Either way, you’ll need to retain, acquire and cultivate a certain number of donors. If you’re running a capital campaign, a table of gifts can help you work out how many prospects you need to reach your target.
Refresh your prospect pipeline
The start of the year is the perfect time to give your prospect pipeline a refresh. Have any relationships stalled or advanced?
You can sort your existing prospects into the following categories:
- Cold prospects: They can afford to give, but you don’t know if they’re interested in giving.
- Cool prospects: They can afford to give and have given to your kind of cause in the past.
- Lukewarm prospects: They have the ability to give and are already in your database.
- Warm prospects: Given the right treatment, you think they will give.
- Hot prospects: You have met them, they are interested, and they can make a significant gift.
- Red hot prospects: Potential donors whose behaviour indicates a major gift is likely soon.
Decide which relationships you’ll focus on cultivating this year based on their ranking. If your pipeline has more cold and cool prospects than warm and hot ones, prospect research can help you find new prospects already connected to your cause.
Use data for a personalised engagement strategy
High-level donors expect you to have carried out research before you approach them. Prospect research can help you understand these donors’ motivations for giving, their interests and how they’re aligned with your cause. Use this data to develop a personalised engagement strategy for your major gift prospects.
What events might they be interested in that you can invite them to? And who is the best person in your organisation to make contact? These prospects have a lot of demands on their time so using existing connections, where you can, will help you stand out from the crowd.
Stay up-to-date
Staying up to date is a key part of successful major gift fundraising. Some fundraising trends we expect to see in 2025 include increased donor personalisation using data and AI for outreach, and generational shifts in major giving with millennials and Gen Z becoming more prominent donors who want to see the immediate impact of their giving over prestige-driven philanthropy.
As well as staying on top of fundraising trends, make sure you’re aware of what your major gift prospects are up to. Set up news alerts and use prospect research to refresh your pipeline every quarter. With high-level prospects, you only have one chance to make a first impression so make sure you’re reaching out at a time that’s right for them.
Will 2025 be the year you embrace research-based fundraising?
At Prospecting for Gold, we specialise in research, wealth screening, consultancy and regulatory compliance, making fundraising more effective and successful.
Get in touch to get started on your research-based fundraising journey.