Major Gift Fundraising

We provide support in every step you take towards your major gift being received and are there for you until you need us.

What is major gift fundraising?

Major gift fundraising is a critical strategy for organisations to secure substantial financial support for their cause. By soliciting significant donations from individual donors, major gift fundraising enables organisations to make a significant impact. These donations, often of substantial size, play a crucial role in advancing the organisation's mission and initiatives.

Major gift fundraising involves targeting individuals with the capacity and inclination to make substantial contributions, employing personalised cultivation and stewardship approaches. These major gifts can be one-time contributions or ongoing commitments, serving as vital resources for organisations to achieve their goals and create a lasting difference.

How does it work

Major gift fundraising will have a huge impact on your organisation’s bottom line but it is not a quick fix. Establishing a major gift fundraising programme takes research, careful planning, focus on donor priorities, relationship building and patience.

A little bit of luck is always helpful, but here at Orchard Fundraising, we like to be truthful and give you a clear view. It is likely to take a minimum of six months before any significant gift is achieved and 12-18 months is a much more realistic timeframe to expect results.

This is due to the time it takes to research prospects, submit proposals and then the wait for the processing time of third-party organisations. However, although a major gift may take a while to come through and it can seem like a long wait to get to the end result, it is certainly one of the most cost-effective ways of raising money, with return on investment usually coming in, between £6 and £10 for every £1 spent.

How can we help you?

Whether your organisation chooses to focus on Trusts and Foundations, philanthropic individuals or a combination of both,

Orchard Fundraising consultants have years of experience to help you plan and achieve success in this increasingly competitive area of fundraising.

What is it that we will do to help you

1. Develop a Case for Support

The basis of any fundraising and in this case major gift fundraising is your Case for Support - What you aim to achieve, the needs you will address and how this will improve lives. We are expert at helping you articulate your case and drawing together all the required supporting evidence and documents.

2. Major Donor, Trust and Foundation Prospect Research

We will help you identify your key priorities and match these with potential major donors through research and professional knowledge. Once we’ve drawn up a target list of prospects, either your own staff can make approaches or our experienced team can do this for you.

3. Bid Writing

Every funding bid and approach is different and Orchard Fundraising has many years experience tailoring a Case for Support to suit an individual or Trust’s priorities and criteria. We can prepare answers to follow-up questions and support you during any assessment visits which may be arranged whilst going through the process.

4. Training

You may wish to encourage and develop your staff to participate in specialist fundraising functions. Our fundraising training and mentoring support will enable staff to ‘have a go’, knowing that they can draw on expert knowledge to check if their focus is ‘spot on’. This is an effective way of building capacity for the long-term, allowing your organisation to scale-up activity, develop future sustainability and ensuring organisational passion shines through every application.