Frequently Asked Questions

What's in your all-inclusive In the BAG (Bigger Annual Gifts) Major Gift PackageSM?

For your $2500 investment,we:

What’s it cost?

If you can afford $2,500, you can afford MajorDonors.com. With performance-based pricing, everything you need is included with your $2,500 nonrefundable deposit. Our full fee is $15,000, including the deposit, but you don’t pay the full fee unless you raise at least $100,000 from the 6 “Asks.” If you don’t hit the $100,000 mark, there’s a sliding fee schedule. Just get in touch to learn more.

What kind of gifts can we realistically expect?

That depends on your donor base.  To give you some idea, we’re working in the space between $2,000 and $100,000.  We see lots of $10,000 and $25,000 gifts. One of our clients received a gift of $75,000 per year for three years for a total of $225,000.  If you follow the steps, our proven system really works!

How do we know if we’re too small?

You’re definitely too small if you don’t have donors. You may be too small if you don’t have several donors giving you at least $1,000 annually right now. That said, if you have lots of small donors and no idea how much they might be able to give, we can screen your donor base. Please get in touch.

What kind of staff and time commitment does it require?

We need a senior staff point person. This person will be spend 1-2 hours per week for the first four weeks supplying us with information and participating in and/or coordinating conversations during which we learn more about your organization and your donors. We’ll want to train the Executive Director/CEO, who may or may not be the point person. Assume six 90-minute sessions. Once you are trained, the biggest investment of time is the visits with your donors. Travel time will vary widely depending on whether or not you have a local or national donor base.

Where do I go for training?

To your computer. No travel required!  Our clients love this.

Why nine months?

It takes three months to get you ready to go.  After that, timing depends on how ready your donors are to be asked and scheduling.

What if we don’t have a Development Director?

No problem.  We can work with any willing member of the senior team, including the Executive Director/CEO.

What if we do have a Development Director?

Great. Most small shop Development Directors are buried with direct mail, events, grant-writing and day-to-day operations. Getting the board engaged may also be a challenge. Our goal is to make the Development Director look like a genius—investing so little money to produce so much more revenue!

What if we've been told we have to build our board?

Please get in touch and ask about our performance-based board-building program.  For $1,500 we guarantee at least two new board members who meet your needs.

We hate asking for money. Will you do it for us?

Nope. Donors need to meet with the people invested in your organization--not with consultants! We’ll give you everything you need to confidently put your organization’s best foot forward. You’ll find that anxieties diminish when you know what you’re doing. Plus, we’ll share a whole different spin on what asking for money is all about. how do we figure out whom to ask?

We will lead you through a process that will help you identify your donors who are ready to be asked for a major gift now.  If you don’t know your donors at all, we can do a “giving capacity” screening of your donor base. 

Why can’t we just send direct mail like we always do? (Ditto for events.)

If that strategy worked, you wouldn’t be reading this! The numbers don’t lie. People give major gifts to the organizations who ask them directly. Stop hiding behind appeal letters and start building the one-to-one relationships that lead to major gifts! It’s not nearly as difficult or scary as you think.

What’s the first step?

Just get in touch. We’ll set up a free initial consultation to learn more about your organization’s resources and goals. We’ll then send a proposal and go from there.

What if we're too small for the Major Gift Package--can you help us?

We'll help you build your board--the first step toward sustainability.  Our $1,500 performance-base board-building package is guaranteed to deliver two board members who will move your organization forward. We also offer 30-minute Make the Ask Coaching sessions for $99 and 60-minute sessions for $199.  We'll see where you are at and develop a path for success. Just get in touch.