53.37% of nonprofits agree that it’s vital to acquire multiple major gifts. Yet, 58.87% of organizations lack a major gift strategy, and 75.32% attribute this to a lack of investment on their part.
This staggering contradiction underscores the need to emphasize major gift fundraising. While technology-driven engagement tactics and personalized outreach can grab prospects’ attention, achieving success with major donors is about more than simply asking for funds. It’s about strategically positioning your organization as a trustworthy and effective partner by clearly demonstrating the measurable return on investment (ROI) their gifts generate.
Impact data turns your major gift fundraising appeals from transactional requests into proposals for strategic, long-term partnerships. With an effective impact reporting process in place, your nonprofit can establish deeper trust with donors and cultivate stronger relationships that lead to major gifts.
Let’s unpack the role of impact reporting in cultivating major gifts.
Vague appeals about “doing good” are no longer sufficient to secure a significant commitment; donors demand transparency. A high-quality impact report provides the verifiable evidence needed to build confidence with major donors and secure their continued support.
This “verifiable evidence” varies depending on the metrics your nonprofit tracks and the data most relevant to your report. However, there are two primary types of impact data your prospective major donors will look for:
Major donors are primarily interested in the outcomes, as this data represents the true return on their investment. The best way to emphasize outcomes in your impact report is by acknowledging your nonprofit’s social impact, which includes all the effects (positive, negative, direct, indirect, intentional, and unintentional) you’ve had on the community.
Within outcomes, sharing a mix of quantitative and qualitative data will help you make the most compelling case.
Your impact report can support several of the phases in your major gift cycle. Let’s talk about how.
Cultivation is the pinnacle of the major gift cycle, as this is the turning point during which your impact data becomes more constituent-facing. During this phase, you’ll share relevant impact data with potential major donors, garnering their interest in your work.
Cultivation practices often involve personalizing your outreach to recognize your prospects as individuals. Here are a few ways to use your impact data to customize prospect communications:
Over time, your impact report will feel less like a list of numbers and more like a story of what you and your major donors can accomplish together.
Solicitation is the process of formally requesting a contribution from prospective major donors. Impact data enables you to create highly specific appeals that demonstrate the direct, measurable change a particular donation amount will fund.
Finally, the stewardship phase is an ongoing effort to show your appreciation for major donors and share the impact of their contributions. Here, impact reporting serves as the ultimate "thank you" by directly linking major donors’ contributions to concrete achievements. It can also reignite a lapsed donor’s passion for your cause and help you earn a second chance at their support.
Donor retention rates increase with repeated giving, highlighting the critical nature of ongoing stewardship even after a donor makes a major gift. Impact reporting is one of the most powerful stewardship tools because it constantly reinforces the return on a donor's investment, rebuilding trust and re-earning their support.
To ensure consistency in your major donor stewardship, establish a strategic foundation for your impact reporting practices. According to UpMetrics, an Impact Framework is a strategic resource that defines how you’ll measure, manage, and communicate your organization’s impact. It standardizes the impact measurement process, making it easier to share your organization’s work with all stakeholders, including major donors.
Here’s how you can create (and use) an Impact Framework:
An Impact Framework empowers you to constantly measure and improve your nonprofit’s social impact, preparing you to follow up with major donors at all times.
True financial resilience is built not only on securing large gifts but on the transparent measurement that earns them. When you share the tangible outcomes that your nonprofit has accomplished, you remind major donors that they are a vital part of your story. Review your current impact measurement practices and identify new ways to integrate data into your major gift cultivation strategies.