I Got a Major Gift! Now What Do I Do? NYSAIS Conference 2017 Presented by Barbara Drayer

What Exactly is a Major Gift? Annual Fund Capital Campaign Endowment Planned Giving

Building the Pipeline Take a LOT of Work... ...but it’s worth it!

Who Should I Include in My Pipeline? Anyone you consider to be a major gift prospect The pipeline is a “living” ever-changing tool.

Start with what you already know. Trustees, current parents, grandparents and alumni - This should include donors and non donors who have capacity. Other constituents giving at a leadership level - Alumni parents and alumni grandparents

Then add what you think you know. New parents and grandparents - include any for whom you have done basic research which indicates they have capacity (home address, job, wedding announcements indicating family wealth, vacation homes, society pages, etc.) VIPs - long tenured faculty members who might be PG prospects

The Most Important Part… Ranking Them Print the list and rank according to giving history, perceived capacity and commitment, other research Set meetings with Head of School, Development Committee members, Annual Fund Director/Associate DoDs/Other Staff New families should be screened by the entire BoT Rank them with four levels – Immediate, Tier One, Tier Two and Tier Three (using proposal tab in RE)

Tier Three New to the School and seems like they might…. Not new, but have never given or attended any events Distant constituencies like AGP or AP who has been out of the school for a long time but have capacity A friend of the school, but not closely tied Might often end up an AF donor and not make a MG (and that’s OK)

Tier Two NPs with capacity CPs, GPs and A who give low leadership levels

Tier One NPs with glaringly obvious capacity CPs, GPs and A who have been giving in middle and high Annual Fund giving levels Anyone you hope to solicit within the next 12 months Anyone who you would like to get to know more about by inviting to cultivation events

Immediate Given at least one leadership gift Attended events and shown interest Had multiple positive contacts with the Head, a trustee, or the Director of Development Has self-identified as interested in your strategic plan or campaign goals

Tier Fluidity Constantly changing depending on many factors Need strategic attention – assigning trustees/staff to meet people at events and report back Need to be updated by individuals as things change (after an event) Need to be reviewed by staff quarterly

Information and data are critical! The Technical Stuff Information and data are critical!

Putting it All Together Proposals, Actions, Events, oh my!

Stewardship Schedule Figure out what dollar amount makes sense for your school (above $100,000 gets quarterly touches and less than $100,000 is bi-annually?) Create a query for each and do a “global add” using “Quarterly Stewardship” as a placeholder Assign appropriate solicitors and reminders Assign strategic dates with four-week window

Cultivation Schedule Stewardship is for keeping donors “in the know” Cultivation is for getting them to want to become donors Each group needs and deserves attention and this system allows you to do both in the same place

The Fade Away… Sometimes relationships end 😔 There’s only so much time… Constant review of data and pipeline is crucial for a successful program

Thank You! Barbara Drayer, Founder Drayer Scott Consulting, LLC Box 111 Greenwich, CT 06830 (203) 424-1458