In the beginning of any campaign, there are many important decisions to make, but none is more important than who is asked first, and for how much money.

By: David G. Phillips

In the beginning of any campaign, there are many important decisions to make, but none is more important than who is asked first, and for how much money. Those of you involved in classic major gifts fundraising know that it is crucial to start with the largest gifts first, before moving gradually through medium sized gifts, and finishing the campaign with smaller gifts. It is also vitally important to build a strong campaign leadership team during the early going. Thus, to build the fundraising nucleus, we are seeking leadership in giving and community stature.

Why are the first gifts so important? They set the tone for everything that follows. Large gifts raise people’s sights and encourage people to consider much more generous giving. If we get several impressive gifts from leading citizens in the community, it sends strong signals that the campaign is going to be a big success. Increased excitement and enthusiasm makes it easier to attract top leaders and donors. “Success begets success.”

Many people make the fallacious assumption that the decision we make as to the size of the request is most closely related to the wealth of the prospect. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, some of these unrealistic expectations can really irritate the potential donor, so much so that they choose not to participate in the campaign. If the prospect feels your request is simply based upon the fact that they have lots of money, and you feel they ought to give that much money, you will be less than completely successful. You do not want to leave them with the feeling that this is an assessment or their obligation or fair share.

What you want to create is the image that we have this enormous challenge, and to make it manageable we need to ask them to consider helping us with this particular portion. We need to show them the great opportunity they have to make a significant difference in the lives of so many people. And, we need to ask them to help in some specific way or ways.

Here is where it becomes unclear for many people who are trying to plan their campaigns. How much should we ask each person to consider giving? We cannot ask everyone for equal gifts, or we will not be successful in raising enough money. We have to ask for equal sacrifice and generous giving from each prospect and their family.

In my experience, the amount of the request is best framed in view of the following three questions:

1. How much do we need from this prospect to succeed in reaching our goal? We should inspect our table of giving and see where they would fit. We should look at the commemorative giving opportunities we have developed, relative to this table of giving. And, lastly, we should consider what amount is going to send the right signal into the community to ensure our success.
   
   
2. How strong are the prospects’ ties or history with the organization and/or the person making the request? Did they attend this school? Are they a grateful past patient? Are they a board member of this museum? Do they love, honor, respect, admire, and covet the friendship of the solicitor/s?
   
   
3. How much money does the prospect have at their disposal? Are they notoriously wealthy and on the Forbes 400 list? Are they thought to be worth tens of millions? Are they thought to be worth several million? Are they thought to be upper middle class, or middle class?
   
   

Contrary to what many people believe, question number 3 plays a lesser role in the determining of the amount of our request than do the other two questions. Assume we are having a campaign to build a new wing for the local hospital. We want to raise $5 million to complete the project in a timely manner. What is going to make the most difference in the amount we ask someone to give? First, and most importantly, will be their relationship to the hospital, followed by the amount we need them to give to ensure our success. Only then do we consider their actual resources in framing the request.

The fact that someone is chairman of the board of the hospital (an honorary leadership post assumed voluntarily), that his parents died there and his children were born there, is much more important than how much money he has. We look at his strong relationship with the hospital and we look at this pressing need of $5 million and we ask this family to consider a gift of $500,000 to commemorate the new wing. We do this first in view of his interest, second in view of our need and, then lastly, in view of his family’s ability to give.

The best prospect research comes from speaking to many people involved with the organization for which you are campaigning. This process usually begins with a carefully crafted feasibility and campaign planning study designed to help you identify and test the viability of your leadership team and major contributors.

You learn much more from carefully speaking with people face-to-face and holding informal prospect rating and screening meetings, than you will spending thousand of dollars on expensive prospect research. The most helpful and informative records are not open to the general public, but anyone can open a conversation and listen and learn. Besides, nothing will antagonize your prospects faster than to have them find out you have retained some supersleuth to snoop around the courthouse and the online databases to determine their actual net worth.

David G. Phillips is president of Custom Development Solutions, Inc. (CDS). CDS has become one of North America's best and most sought after fundraising consulting firms specializing in the strategic planning and tactical execution of capital campaigns for non-profits throughout the United States and Canada. More information on CDS can be found on the web at www.cdsfunds.com. If you have a fundraising question for David, please call 800-761-3833 or send an email to dgp@cdsfunds.com.