Major gifts fundraising is one of the most powerful ways nonprofits grow sustainable revenue. Yet for many organizations, it also feels confusing, intimidating, or overly complicated.

This guide breaks major giving down into plain language. You’ll learn what major gifts are, why they matter, and how to build a major gifts program that actually fits your organization, whether you’re just getting started or refining an existing effort.

What is Major Gifts Fundraising?

Major gifts fundraising focuses on building relationships with individual donors who have the capacity and interest to make significant contributions to your organization.

Unlike annual giving, which relies on volume and scale, major giving is about depth. It centers on personalized outreach, one-to-one conversations, and aligning a donor’s passions with your mission’s most meaningful opportunities.

A major gift is typically a larger-than-average contribution for your organization. The exact dollar amount varies widely and depends on your nonprofit’s size, budget, and donor base.

Why Major Gifts Matter for Nonprofits

Major gifts play an outsized role in nonprofit fundraising.

In many organizations, a small percentage of donors contributes a large percentage of total revenue. This makes major giving one of the most efficient ways to increase fundraising results without constantly expanding your donor list.

Major gifts also tend to be more stable. When donors feel deeply connected to your mission and see the impact of their support, they are more likely to give again, increase their giving over time, and become advocates for your organization.

How Major Gifts Differ From Annual Giving

Annual giving focuses on broad outreach. It includes email appeals, events, direct mail, and digital campaigns designed to engage many donors at once.

Major gifts fundraising is different in both strategy and execution.

Instead of mass messaging, major giving relies on:

• Personalized communication

• Relationship building over time

• Tailored proposals based on donor interests

• Fewer donors with higher engagement

Both approaches are essential. Strong annual giving often feeds major giving by identifying donors who show increased interest, loyalty, or capacity.

What Qualifies as a Major Gift?

There is no universal dollar amount that defines a major gift.

For some organizations, a major gift might be $1,000. For others, it could be $25,000 or more. The most common way to define a major gift is relative to your donor file and fundraising goals.

Many nonprofits set their major gift threshold based on:

• The top 5 to 10 percent of individual gifts

• A multiple of the average annual gift

• The level at which gifts require personalized stewardship

The key is consistency. Once you define your threshold, align your strategy, tracking, and stewardship around it.

How to Build a Major Gifts Program

A successful major gifts program is built on systems and process, not just personality or intuition.

1. Identify Potential Major Donors

Major gift prospects are often hiding in plain sight within your existing donor base.

Look for supporters who demonstrate:

• Consistent giving over time

• Increasing gift amounts

• Engagement with events, volunteering, or advocacy

• Interest in specific programs or outcomes

Data from your CRM should help surface these patterns, making prospect identification more strategic and less guesswork.

2. Qualify and Prioritize Prospects

Not every loyal donor is ready for a major gift conversation.

Qualification helps determine whether a donor has the capacity, interest, and timing to engage in deeper giving. This step allows fundraisers to focus energy where it will have the greatest impact.

Prioritization ensures your team is spending time on the right relationships rather than trying to manage everyone at once.

3. Build Relationships, Not Just Asks

Major gifts are built through trust and shared purpose.

This phase often includes:

• One-to-one conversations

• Listening more than talking

• Learning what motivates the donor

• Sharing impact stories tied to donor interests

Asking comes later. Relationship building is where major gifts are earned.

4. Present a Thoughtful Gift Opportunity

A major gift ask should feel like an invitation, not a transaction.

Effective proposals clearly connect the donor’s values to a specific outcome. They outline how the gift will be used and what impact it will have.

Clarity and relevance matter more than polish.

5. Steward the Gift and Continue the Relationship

The gift is not the end of the journey.

Strong stewardship includes timely acknowledgment, meaningful impact reporting, and ongoing communication. This is what turns a first major gift into a long-term partnership.

Major Donors and Major Gifts

Major donors are individuals who have both the capacity and inclination to give at higher levels.

While major gifts refer to the contribution itself, major donors refer to the people behind those gifts. Understanding donor behavior, preferences, and engagement history is essential to long-term success.

If you want deeper guidance, many nonprofits create a dedicated major donor strategy that complements their overall major gifts program.

How Recurring Donors and Major Gifts Work Together

Major gifts don’t exist in a vacuum. They work best when paired with other reliable forms of support, especially recurring giving.

A balanced fundraising strategy leans on both major gifts and recurring donations to keep revenue predictable and mission-forward. Major gifts can unlock transformational opportunities, while recurring gifts provide the steady baseline your nonprofit can plan around.

Why recurring donors matter
Recurring donors are often the backbone of a nonprofit’s financial health. Because their gifts are automated and ongoing, these supporters boost retention, reduce revenue volatility, and deepen engagement over time. Recurring donors tend to give more consistently than one-time donors, and because their support is reliable, you can forecast income with greater confidence.

How the two complement each other
While a few major gifts can dramatically accelerate a campaign or fund a new initiative, recurring gifts smooth out the peaks and valleys of annual fundraising cycles. Organizations that invest in both avenues are better positioned to weather economic uncertainty and sustain programs year-round.

Use your CRM to bridge both strategies
When donor data is centralized, it becomes easier to spot recurring donors who may be ready for deeper engagement.

Your CRM should help you segment donors not just by gift size, but by behavior and giving patterns. For example:

• Identify recurring donors with high retention and engagement to nurture for future major gifts.

• Track major gift prospects through personalized stages of cultivation and stewardship.

• Use recurring giving data to spot upgrade opportunities or flag lapses early.

By treating major gifts and recurring donations as complementary parts of your overall donor strategy, you create a stronger, more resilient fundraising engine that supports both long-term stability and transformational impact. 

Tools that Support Major Gift Fundraising

Managing major gifts effectively requires more than spreadsheets and notes.

Modern major gifts programs rely on tools that help teams:

• Track donor relationships and interactions

• Identify giving trends and capacity signals

• Coordinate outreach across staff

• Measure progress and pipeline health

An integrated nonprofit CRM makes it easier to connect donor data, fundraising activity, and relationship history in one place, so nothing falls through the cracks.

This is where platforms like CharityEngine support major gifts teams by unifying donor data, engagement history, and reporting across the entire organization.

Let's take a look at some fundraising tools in our all-in-one system:

Advocacy
Mobilize supporters to take action, contact legislators, and engage with your mission beyond giving, all while tracking activity in the same donor record.

Auctions
Run silent and live auctions that integrate directly with donor profiles, payments, and event data, eliminating post-event cleanup.

Case Management
Track services, interactions, and outcomes for constituents alongside donor data, giving teams a complete picture of impact and engagement.

Chapter Management
Manage chapters or affiliates with shared data, local autonomy, and centralized reporting so headquarters and chapters stay aligned.

CMS & Website Hosting
Build and manage your nonprofit website with integrated forms, content, and donor data, without relying on disconnected tools.

CRM
A centralized system of record for donors, members, volunteers, and constituents, connecting all engagement and giving in one place.

Direct Mail
Coordinate direct mail campaigns with digital fundraising and donor data, making it easier to track response and ROI.

Donation Forms
Create branded, mobile-optimized donation forms that capture rich donor data and support one-time and recurring gifts.

Email Marketing
Send targeted, behavior-based email campaigns using real-time donor and engagement data for more relevant outreach.

Events
Manage registrations, ticketing, check-in, and fundraising events while automatically updating donor records.

Major Gifts
Track prospects, manage moves, and monitor pipelines so major gift fundraising is strategic, visible, and measurable.

Memberships
Automate dues, renewals, member levels, and benefits while keeping membership activity tied to the full supporter record.

Payment Processing
Accept and manage payments securely across giving, events, memberships, and e-commerce without third-party reconciliation.

Peer-to-Peer
Empower supporters to fundraise on your behalf with personal pages and social sharing, all connected to your CRM.

Reporting & Analytics
Access real-time dashboards and customizable reports to understand fundraising performance, retention, and donor behavior.

Shopping Cart
Sell merchandise, tickets, and other items online with integrated payments and supporter tracking.

Sustainers
Build and manage recurring giving programs with automated billing, retention insights, and upgrade opportunities.

Text-to-Give
Let donors give quickly via text message while capturing full donor data and payment details.

Volunteers
Track volunteer activity, hours, and engagement in the same system as donors and members for a complete supporter view.

Frequently Asked Questions About Major Gifts

Here are some common questions we get about major gifts.

What’s the difference between major giving and individual giving?

Individual giving is a broad category that includes all gifts from individuals, including annual and major gifts. Major giving is a subset of individual giving that focuses on larger, more personalized contributions.

What’s the difference between major gifts and principal gifts?

Principal gifts are typically the largest contributions an organization receives, often tied to transformational initiatives or capital projects. Major gifts are significant contributions but usually smaller than principal gifts.

What’s the difference between major gifts and planned giving?

Major gifts are typically given outright or over a short period of time. Planned gifts are future-oriented and often include bequests, trusts, or other estate planning vehicles.

What qualifies as a major gift?

A major gift is defined relative to an organization’s size and donor base. There is no fixed dollar amount. Many nonprofits define major gifts as those in the top tier of individual contributions.

What’s the difference between major gifts and capital campaign gifts?

Capital campaign gifts are usually restricted to a specific, time-bound project like a building or expansion. Major gifts can be unrestricted or restricted and are often part of ongoing fundraising efforts.

How long does it take to close a major gift?

Major gifts often take months, and sometimes years, to close. The timeline depends on donor readiness, relationship depth, and the complexity of the gift opportunity.

What tools help manage a major gifts program?

The most effective tools include a nonprofit CRM, donor analytics, relationship tracking, and reporting systems that give fundraisers a complete view of donor engagement and history.

Making Major Gifts Work for Your Nonprofit

Major gifts fundraising doesn’t have to be mysterious or overwhelming. At its core, it’s about understanding your donors, building genuine relationships, and having the right systems in place to support that work over time. When your data, outreach, and reporting live in one connected platform, major giving becomes less about juggling tools and more about focusing on the people who care most about your mission.

With a clear strategy and the right foundation, major gifts can become a steady, confidence-building part of your fundraising mix rather than a constant source of stress.