4 Strategies for Finding Hidden Major Giving Prospects

by Chris Hammond, CEO, CGC

According to the 80/20 rule (also known as the Pareto Principle), roughly 80% of a nonprofit’s funding comes from the top 20% of its donors. Therefore, major giving makes up the majority of individual donor fundraising revenue, meaning soliciting and managing these contributions well is critical to your organization’s financial stability.

Despite these gifts’ importance, many organizations struggle to identify prospective major donors hidden within their existing networks.

The first step to successfully identify prospective major donors is to consult your own database. Sometimes, existing donors have the means and willingness to give more, but they need a push from your team to commit to a major gift.

This article explores four actionable strategies to assess and expand your major gift prospect lists within your existing donor base. A proactive, transparent approach to major donor acquisition helps your organization successfully increase your baseline of revenue, foster long-lasting donor relationships, and create a strong baseline of financial trust.

1. Leverage AI in your prospecting process

AI and other automated technologies are useful tools for sorting large data sets, like databases full of donor profiles. You can use AI to uncover patterns that may indicate a willingness to give beyond traditional wealth indicators, such as an increase in volunteer hours or a high level of engagement with your organization’s communications.

AI’s predictive analytics can help your team identify behavior patterns that may indicate a desire to give. If an individual shifts from annual to monthly giving or starts attending events more frequently, AI will flag the behavior so your team can follow up. An automated eye on your donors’ engagement and fundraising behavior lets your team proactively reach out to individuals who might be on the precipice of a significant contribution.

You can also use generative AI to more efficiently craft and send your donor outreach messages. AI-powered donor segments can help you group your supporters by their current giving level or frequency, interests, and past support for initiatives. Then, you can use AI to create personalized newsletters, impact updates, and other outreach campaigns based on each audience’s demographics. Some AI tools can even automatically send your messages, significantly reducing the administrative burden on your team.

When using AI intelligence in your fundraising systems, DonorSearch by EverTrue recommends using a blend of generative AI and predictive analytics to create tailored outreach. Make sure that your AI system aligns with your broader organizational data governance policy to make sure your donors’ data remains secure.

2. Look beyond basic wealth indicators

There is a difference between prospect research and basic wealth screening, although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. While financial information does play a role in identifying potential donors and their capacity to give, a holistic wealth and philanthropic screening approach gives your organization a clearer view of donors’ willingness to give.

When conducting prospect research, look for these key indicators that someone might be willing to give:

Philanthropic leanings: If a prospect has a history of giving substantially to other nonprofit missions similar to your cause, they may be willing to donate to your organization. You may also look for board affiliations and overall dedication to the nonprofit sector to better understand your donors’ philanthropic leanings.
Affinity: Dedication to your cause doesn’t always manifest itself in the form of past major gifts. Long-time volunteers, repeat event attendees, advocacy campaign participants, and donors who give consistently across multiple years all demonstrate a strong affinity for your cause that might indicate a willingness to give more.
Capacity: It’s still important to understand your donors’ capacity when asking for a major gift, even though wealth isn’t everything. Do they own property? Do they work for a corporation that offers sponsorships, or have they recently gained a business affiliation? Do they make political donations? All of these metrics give your team insight into how much your donors are willing and able to give to your organization, and can help you ground future financial asks.

Another useful tool to learn more about your donors is psychometrics. An understanding of your donors’ motivations to give, or which emotional triggers spark high-frequency giving periods (such as the holiday season), can help your team tailor their requests to increase their emotional resonance.

3. Evaluate your planned giving supporters

Legacy givers already share a deep connection with your mission, and often possess the financial capacity to make a significant gift during their lifetime. Asking for a major gift gives your planned giving beneficiaries the chance to see their legacy in action.

A good way to initiate major gift conversations with legacy donors is through blended gifts. Before asking for a gift, FreeWill recommends reviewing each donor’s existing financial commitment to assess their capacity to make a donation now, along with other prospecting data. Then, when you approach your next conversation about their planned gift, you may suggest pairing their legacy gift with a major donation to increase their influence within your organization and community.

4. Cultivate relationships with mid-level donors

Mid-level donors are an often-overlooked yet highly influential segment of your donor base. They’ve often demonstrated consistent support and trust in your organization, but can slip through the cracks without careful stewardship.

Use these steps to strengthen your relationship with your mid-level giving segment:

When evaluating your donor base, examine long-term giving totals and recurring donations rather than focusing on single, large transaction amounts.
Create a donor communication plan featuring events, programs, and ways to connect that align with their demonstrated interests. Say a donor to your local museum always attends your monthly piano concert series. You could send a personalized invitation to speak with next month’s performer after the show, or offer a reduced ticket price.
Assign dedicated relationship managers to increase stewardship efforts for your mid-level donors. Sometimes, a personal connection to your fundraising team is enough to motivate an increase in giving.
Host specialized gatherings or exclusive, insider-access events to show your appreciation for their long-standing contributions and deepen their emotional investment in your organization.

When building relationships with your donors, you should always try to move them up the giving pyramid. Careful stewardship and a genuine appreciation for your mid-level donors’ long-term commitment to your cause can help you smoothly transition them to major gift givers. Even if a mid-level donor isn’t ready or able to commit to a major gift immediately, showing that you value their contributions to your organization helps to build loyal support.

Rather than only searching for major donors outside of your organization, you may discover a surprising number of major giving prospects within your own donor base. Upgrading donors from within your community saves your team the time and money required to find and steward new major donors. The best part? If you upgrade your dedicated supporters, they already have a strong trust in your cause and community, creating a firm foundation for long-term loyalty.