Resources

Welcome to my Resources page! Below is a list of documents, which I have found useful in helping clients with their fundraising needs. Please click on any of the links to download the respective documents. I hope you find them helpful!

VIDEO

What is a Major Gift?

DOCUMENTS

SAMPLE Job Description – Board Director – 2024.0503

Sample Charter for a Development Committee – 20230307

Coins for Conservation – Description – This is a new and creative way to attract small donations from travelers. From Mississippi Valley Conservancy.

Phone Script for Contacting Lapsed Members and Donors – This is a script for use when coaching board members or other volunteers contacting lapsed members and donors about their renewal.

Getting Started with Major Gift Fundraising – This paper provides a description of how to get started with Major Gift Fundraising. It gives a step-by-step approach for executive directors, staff, and board members to follow in maximizing fundraising for your organization.

Kim Klein 53 Ways to Raise 1000 – This article by Kim Klein lists 53 creative ways for board members to raise $1000 for their organizations. While some of the ideas may be familiar, you are bound to find at least a few that are new to you, and worth a try!

Board Campaign Mechanics – 20140122 – This is a practical guide to Board Campaigns and Evaluations that will help Boards and Staff understand how to plan a board campaign.

Donor Screening – 20140324 – This guide to Donor Screening will help you learn how to identify new potential major gift prospects, as well as update major gift prospect information about current members.

Thank You Letters – This is an archive of Thank you Letters that I ran across about five years ago. Most are from alumni associations and like organizations, and most are mediocre. Several are brilliant. Stuck on what to write? Maybe something here will give you some ideas.

Sample Appeal Letter – ALNC 2016 – These two files are fundraising letters that satisfy most of the rules described in the blog posts. They are intended for audiences of individual donors who either are not currently donating or are being asked to make a “second” or appeal gift.

Sample Appeal Letter – IATA 2015

Questions for Donor Cultivation Planning – 20170123 – This is a series of questions designed to help plan cultivation steps for the development of major gift prospects.