Unexpected Gifts: Best Practices for Managing the Aftermath

Craft your appeals and renewals to address the:

• impact of their first gift;
• continuing demand for the work;
• potential for their giving and involvement to continue making an impact, and personally connect them with the mission

Special year-end and renewal appeals should have special messaging — acknowledge the extraordinary circumstances that motivated the gift, and explain how the organization addressed the challenge.

Create a special major-donor plan. Make sure to ask the following questions:

• How will first-time major donors be handled differently?
• What short-term prospect research tools and consultants can you add to uncover the major-donor prospects?
• Who will be responsible?

Then, assign donors and prospects to a portfolio; continuously add qualified individuals to the prospect “pipeline”; and determine how to use resources most judiciously.

Identify what motivates high net-worth households to give, and tailor your stewardship of the newest donors accordingly.

Keep in mind that challenges and strains resulting from an unexpected influx of gifts often indicate areas for improvement relating to internal systems. Prepare your organization for the unexpected by conducting regular infrastructure audits to identify potential roadblocks and take corrective action. Despite the challenges, it is important to remember that, as with all things worthwhile, short-term pain often leads to long-term gain.

Brian Nevins is a senior vice president and managing director with the development and management consulting firm CCS. Sevil Miyhandar currently serves as a regional vice president with the firm. Brian and Sevil presented on unexpected gifts at the 2009 AFP Conference in New Orleans in March.