Episode 134: The Keys to Major Donor Cultivation

When you want the best information available, your best bet is to gather expert advice across a broad spectrum of professionals in the field you’re interested in. And that’s just what today’s guest has done. 

Martin Leifeld, CEO of Martin Leifeld LLC, is the author of Five Minutes for Fundraising: A Collection of Expert Advice from Gifted Fundraisers, which shares tips from a wide range of social good professionals. Listen in to hear Martin’s discussion with host Steve MacLaughlin, which focused on building relationships with major donors and maintaining involvement and engagement with those donors over a period of years. 

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Key pieces of wisdom for fundraising professionals who are just starting their journey into major gifts
• Building and nurturing long-term relationships with major donors
• Managing expectations within your organization about major donors 
• The 80/20 rule for donor relationships
• Strategies for attracting and engaging with different types of donors

Resources:

Martin Leifeld

Five Minutes for Fundraising video series

Supporters in Sight: A Look at Affluent Donor Personas

Top Event Strategies for Major Donor Cultivation

Using Nonprofit Data to Find Your Next Major Donor

 Quotes: 

“The book overall really focuses on major gift engagement – major gift engagement for professionals and volunteers.”

“You have to educate your executives, you need to educate your board, you yourself perhaps as an executive director or significant volunteer or having the fundraising responsibility – you have to be educated.” 

“It’s very rare that there’s some kind of shortcut where a gift mystically magically appears at our doorstep that can change the course of our organization.”