The Art of Securing Major Gifts
How to identify major-donor prospects, build lasting relationships, and attract gifts that can reshape your future.
May 27, 2026 | Read Time: 1 minute
Roughly 80 percent of charitable dollars now come from donors giving gifts of more than $5,000, according to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. With the bulk of charitable giving coming from wealthy people, the ability to build strong ties with major donors is now the most important skill a fundraiser can have.
Major-gift officers must be adept at identifying people with the potential to make a transformational gift — and then nurture those relationships with patience and authenticity. Most nonprofits don’t need thousands of new donors, says Brett Egan, president of the DeVos Institute of Arts and Nonprofit Management. They just need a few dozen big ones.
“The goal is to never stop,” Egan says. “You need a pipeline of conversations and relationships that can mature organically in their own time.”
We’ve gathered our best guidance on how to identify major-donor prospects, build lasting relationships, and convert those connections into gifts that can reshape your future.
Editor’s note: Chronicle playbooks are updated on an ongoing basis as new advice becomes available.
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