Major Gifts and Capital Campaigns
Probably every nonprofit organization dreams of finding that rich benefactor who willingly donates millions of dollars to its cause. Or, if the One Big Gift seems too much to hope for, we would at least like to develop a large group of donors who will regularly give donations in the multi-thousand dollar range. Such people exist and their numbers will be growing as the many successful baby boomers start to retire. But getting them on your side takes time and assiduous effort. The sites below contain helpful advice on developing major gifts and bequests.
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Chapter 9 of this on-line booklet by noted Canadian fundraiser Ken Wyman provides a comprehensive overview of how to develop relationships that can lead to large donations of various kinds.Heritage Canada -
"Major Donor Campaigns: The Heart of Any Successful Fundraising Effort". This piece is from Zimmerman Lehman's book "Major Donors: The Key to Successful Fundraising".Zimmerman Lehman -
This is a site operated by a professional fundraising company in the U.S. (Capital Quest Inc.) It contaons a number of excellent articles on all the steps that need to be followed in seeking major gifts. Too bad site's background colour makes it difficult to read.Capital Quest Inc. -
To review the legalities surrounding planned giving visit this Canadian government information site.Canada Revenue Agency -
A big part of the effort to obtain major gifts these days lies in the area of bequests from donors who might not want to give a large amount now but are willing to consider leaving money to your organizations in their wills. A major initiative for encouraging this is the "Leave a legacy" movement which aims at informing Canadians of the advantages of this kind of giving and providing information on the details of how to go about it.The Canadian Association of Gift Planners