Campaign Components

Donor Evaluation

Think for a moment of one of your good dining experiences. It probably involved a capable and engaging server, bringing the appropriate entrees to the right people at your table.

Donor evaluation is similar to the dining analogy. It is an exercise in answering the three W's: Who is the appropriate contact person (server)? What is the right request (entrée)? Who receives the right message (dinner guest)? The Steier Group suggests that all constituents in your database be evaluated on these questions. The goal is to match someone's willingness with their ability to support the project(s) that most interest them.

Typically, in a capital effort, prospective donors are divided into two categories—major gifts and public phase prospects. When conducting donor evaluation, it is important to determine a gift request amount that will challenge someone to make a sacrificial gift, without embarrassing them, and to determine the appropriate person(s) to conduct the solicitation visit.

When determining major gift prospects, it is critical to determine who the prospective lead gift donors are. Typically, the top 10 to 25 donors will give one-half of the total dollar amount raised in the campaign. To maximize the giving potential of the lead gift prospects, develop naming opportunities and challenge gift opportunities. A naming opportunity is recognition or an acknowledgement of the gift. It can take the form of naming a building after the donor or putting the donor's name on a brick. A challenge gift is a vehicle to motivate other donor prospects to consider matching lead gifts or significant naming opportunities.

The Steier Group recommends that the total amount of the gift requests is two to three times higher than the campaign goal. By setting aggressive request amounts, the organization will have a more realistic opportunity to reach the campaign goal.

Conducting Donor Evaluation

• Develop an Excel worksheet of your database that lists every prospect, including giving history, in high to low giving order.

• Use financial data, such as prospective donors' responses to the feasibility study surveys and their giving history, and record initial request amounts.

• Review the initial evaluation amounts, focusing first on major gift prospects, among the organization's leadership.

• Add or delete prospective major donors. Begin determining contact person for each lead gift prospect.

• Discuss among the organization's leadership the lead gift, challenge gift and naming opportunities.

• Host a confidential meeting with the campaign leadership to finalize request amounts and determine contact person.

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