9 Fundraising Myths Shattered

Fundraising Myth No. 1: Small Nonprofits Don’t Need a Major Gifts Strategy

It’s a common misconception that small or new nonprofits can’t go after major gifts. But this myth is easily busted if we just rethink what “major gift” means.

Sure, for a large organization a major gift might be a six-figure number. But for a small, up-and-coming nonprofit, a major gift could be drastically different. And that’s OK!

Because small organizations often don’t have the capacity to go after those six-digit donations, they tend to think that any kind of major gift is out of their reach. But if your small nonprofit wants to break into the major gift fundraising game, you’ll just need to establish what a major gift is for your organization.

Look at your past donations and highlight the largest contributions.

Then, follow these steps to determine what your major gift goals should be:

1. Identify the five to 10 supporters who have given the largest donations.
2. Take a look at the range of those contributions and eliminate any outliers that deviate from the norm.
3. With the remaining donation amounts, estimate a number that is a suitable middle ground (i.e., if your range is $5,000 to $10,000, you could reasonably choose $7,500 as your estimate).
4. Keep that number as your target and adjust it as your nonprofit grows.

Don’t assume that your small nonprofit can’t obtain major gifts! You just have to rethink your strategy.

The Truth: Nonprofits of any size can go after major gifts. But each organization, big or small, must first establish what a major gift is for them.