# Foundation produces major donor fundraising toolkit

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/12/06/foundation-produces-major-donor-fundraising-toolkit/
- Published: 2018-12-06T13:10:58+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland (CFNI) has produced a toolkit to
promote the practice of major donor fundraising in Northern Ireland.**

‘Major Donor Giving in Northern Ireland’ was developed in response to a range of
research which showed that major donor giving was not as advanced in Northern Ireland
as in other countries.

‘Blockers’ identified to growing philanthropic income locally include the view that
there are not enough wealthy people giving to charity, or many who do give do not
do so in a strategic way and, while many charities in Northern Ireland have a strong
community fundraising, base they neglect or ignore the potential of major donors.

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This toolkit outlines the generally accepted principles and main elements of major
donor fundraising and then reflects the experience of this project which worked 
with charities who wanted to take part in a major donor campaign.

Some of the experience of the project showed that:

• Donor motivation in Northern Ireland was similar to other countries but religious
giving was more prominent

• Local donors placed great importance on the strength of the case for support and
were generally positive about partnership funding

• It can be more difficult to locate major donors locally because of a legacy of
secrecy and a reluctance to tell others about philanthropic giving

• Major donor campaigns can make progress outside the convention of forming development
boards

• A successful ask can happen more quickly in Northern Ireland than standard practice

• Donor stewardship can be neglected or regarded as an afterthought in local campaigns

The project concludes that local charities can be more successful if they undertake
major donor campaigns using standard practice along while taking note of some local
differences.

The 20-page report can be downloaded from [CFNI](http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/1557ab_59b604923e4e48f2b886e0fecc008ad3.pdf)’
s website.

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