Charitable Donors Give More When Asked Personally

Significant Gifts is believed to be the first nationally representative study of donors’ largest gifts, helping nonprofits to better understand the factors that impact where donors choose to direct their most significant contributions.

“A typical household’s largest gift constituted approximately 65 percent of the household’s total giving in 2006,” said Patrick M. Rooney, executive director of the Center on Philanthropy. “If nonprofits hope to receive donors’ most significant gifts, they must build strong personal relationships, acknowledge gifts in accordance with the donor’s wishes, and communicate in ways that build long-term donor loyalty.”