How to Teach Your Major Gifts Officers to Close

I love coaching sports. I have coached boys’ youth baseball for decades. Nonprofit executives could use similar coaching techniques for their major gifts officers. 

The Major Gift Fundraising Cycle

Hiring major gifts officers is only the first step in their educational and mastery of the fundraising art process. Like youth baseball players learning theory and practice, major gifts officers need to fully understand “the major gift fundraising cycle.”

The general cycle for a major gifts officer is identification of a prospect, cultivation of the prospect, solicitation of the prospect and stewardship of the donor. Every major gifts officer is different, and the nonprofit executive needs to completely understand their major gifts officer’s personality, ability and willingness to succeed at the highest level of raising funds. If you do not teach how to raise funds, you will be deeply disappointed with your teams’ results. 

I was a vice president of development and foundation president at a large hospital system where I managed a team of major gifts officers. I quickly learned that each major gifts officer had a different understanding of the fundraising cycle. Individuals had difficulty prospecting and identifying new prospects. Others could identify prospects and were wonderful at cultivating and building relationships with prospects.

They mastered the art of asking for large gifts, increasing the size of ask for individual donors each year and stewarding. Only a few major gifts officers under my watch failed to master the art of effective solicitation. They did not possess the intangible ability to ask for large asks. It was not in their DNA to understand and become motivated to ask for major gifts. Not every major gift fundraiser was successful at closing gifts. Thus, they left the nonprofit sector. 

Major Gifts Officer Abilities

Before you can teach your major gifts officers, evaluate what makes successful major gifts officers. The nine attributes major gifts officers must have to be successful include the ability to:

• Think like businesspeople, not fundraisers.
• Develop a strategy for approaching each prospect and donor in their portfolio.
• Focus on long-term relationships.
• Be persistent and outcome-based in all relationships.
• Keep their eyes on the prize by concentrating on laser-focused fundraising goals.
• Be confident in making adjustments in the ways they ask for revenue.
• Delegate tasks in order to focus for maximum success.
• Develop the ability to have high emotional intelligence with your prospects and donors.
• Do not be afraid to take calculated risks.

Strive to teach a combination of skills, traits and behaviors needed to help your major gifts officers achieve fundraising goals. 

Before you can effectively teach an major gifts officer to improve their abilities, recognize key attributes in your staff members, such as having the right people skills, a full commitment to the cause, determination, perseverance, integrity, adaptability, storytelling abilities, research skills, motivation and creativity. 

Closing a Major Gift

When I teach major gifts officers to more effectively close gifts, I evaluate their performance history. I want to ensure they understand and employ the fundraising cycle, know how to successfully build large donor relationships, be able to research for the purpose of asking for gifts and master the process of asking for gifts. 

To effectively close a major gift, major gifts officers must be mentally and physically prepared for the ask process. Instill confidence and encourage them to rehearse what they will say to a prospect. They should think about ways to make the ask process a win-win for the organization and recipient of the ask. Experience will make this process easier.

Major gifts officers should arrive at the visit prepared with materials to use during the presentation and leave behind. Think of a bell-shaped curve. The first small percentage of the curve is the opening. The second largest percentage of the curve involves stories of impact, need and explanation of the project. The final, smallest percentage of the curve is the actual ask (or the close).The strategy should include:

• Organization representatives. Who will tell the nonprofit’s story and who will make the ask? Also, be sure to ask the right questions and listen to the prospect’s passions and cues.
• Time and location. Where will the ask take place? How long is the appointment?
• Prospects/donors in attendance. If a spouse or other family members are present, who is the decision-maker?
• Donor giving history. If this is a prior donor, thank them for giving, review the impact of their last gift and imply what future gifts can do to make dreams a reality. 

Case Study: A Major Gift Ask

While working for a hospital system, my solicitation team had a visit at the home of prospective donors. We rehearsed who would say to the couple prior to the one-hour visit. I opened the visit by telling the couple why we were there and thanked them for their past gifts. The emergency department chair then talked about the needs and impact of the department. Finally, the board chair asked for a $10 million gift. 

It was a great meeting. We left without an answer, but eventually, the couple agreed to a multimillion-dollar gift that led to a naming opportunity. My solicitation team closed strong, managed objections and immediately critiqued the ask. I was thrilled and excited to lead the implementation of a solicitation strategy that day.

Teach your major gifts officers to close by getting them excited about the process. Cite your historical examples (both positive and negative) and take them on solicitation calls with you. Over time, let the major gifts officers take the solicitation lead. 

As major gifts officers, we are visual learners. Instructing themis like teaching 5-year-olds how to play baseball for the first time. Fundraising is a team sport, and ultimate fundraising success relies on your ability to educate others. Continually teaching your major gifts officers to close will make you a better fundraising professional.

The preceding post was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.