# Why do we miss the next big thing when it's already happening?

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/07/24/why-do-we-miss-next-big-thing-when-it039s-already-happening/
- Published: 2008-07-24T15:45:36+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

How many years have we been talking about major donor fundraising being the next
big thing? How many seminars have we attended? And yet for many it has seemed like
an unattainable Holy Grail.

Recently, I was going through the latest Fundratios Report – something all good 
fundraisers should subscribe to – and I came across a really amazing statistic. 
Of the 28 charities who took part (isn’t it pathetic that only 28 charities care
enough about their performance to participate?), the average growth in major donor
income OVER THE LAST YEAR ALONE was 79%, with the upper quartile reporting growth
of 232%. Over the last three years major donor income has grown by 322%. Just run
that by me again: 322%. Wow!

No other source of income comes close to those figures. Major donor fundraising 
has come of age, and suddenly we hear very little about it – as if everything that
there is to be said on the subject has been said. And yet I see many organisations
undertaking major gift work in a poor, if not amateurish, way.

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Let’s not do what we’ve done with every other big thing and kill it almost before
we’ve found it. We need high quality training and support to ensure that this fundraising
bubble doesn’t burst but becomes a key mainstay of income generation for the foreseeable
future.

So what are the key things to get right?

1. Have a great visionary transformational programme that inspires and is absolutely
central to the mission of the organisation. Work it through properly and thoroughly.

2. Research your donors and cultivate them carefully. Don’t waste their time.

3. If you decide to set up a Fundraising Board or Leadership Forum, make sure it’s
absolutely clear what you want from them (e.g. we want each member to pledge to 
raise £1m over the next three years, either by personal gift, raising the money 
from contacts or running high profile events). Don’t invite anyone to join who isn’t
committed to that goal. Make sure your Chair is up for the job.

4. Treat every major donor (prospect and donor) as an individual and give them the
care and support they deserve.

5. Don’t do it on the cheap. Allocate enough resources so that your major donors
will want to come back for more and love you for it.

Easy really! But let’s get it right. In these recessionary times, major donors will
become more important rather than less. Let’s make sure we make that happen.

 * **[Iceberg Philanthropy: Unlocking Extraordinary Gifts from Ordinary Donors](https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/09/09/amazon-236/)**(
   9 September 2008)
 * **[Africare Major Donor Trip 08 – sneak preview](https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/09/19/africare-major-donor-trip-08-sneak-preview/)**(
   19 September 2008)
 * **[The credit crunch and major donors](https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/09/26/credit-crunch-and-major-donors/)**(
   26 September 2008)