The Case for Major Gift Fundraising in Today’s Nonprofit Landscape
By Lisa Scott
This is a challenging moment for nonprofit leaders.
Across the sector, fundraising has once again become the number one concern, overtaking staffing challenges for the first time in several years.
According to Salesforce’s 2025 Nonprofit Trends Report, which surveyed 1,229 nonprofits of all sizes, more than a third now say raising sufficient funds is their greatest challenge. And this is at the very moment that demand for services continues to rise faster than organizational capacity.
Overreliance on government funding.
One of the key reasons fundraising is challenging is cutbacks in government funding. According to the 2025 Urban Institute Research Report, one third of nonprofits experienced one or more disruptions—a loss of funding; delays, pauses, or freezes in funding; and/or a stop work order.
Teams are being asked to do more with less.
Those funding cuts have led to significant impacts, including slowed hiring or staff layoffs and programming changes.Unsurprisingly, burnout and workload strain are widespread, with organizations struggling to hire, retain, and support their people.
At the same time, donor expectations are increasing.
Funders want greater transparency, clearer proof of impact, and more personalized engagement—all within a rapidly evolving, increasingly digital fundraising landscape. In response, the vast majority of nonprofits have already begun changing how they fundraise, investing more heavily in fundraising, marketing, and communications and expanding their digital strategies.
So what can you do in response?
Based on 25+ years of experience with our nonprofit clients, we at TGP advocate that the best—if not the only—way to reverse declining, stagnant, or incremental-at-best revenue is to invest in major and transformational gift fundraising, defined here as five-, six-, and seven-figure giving.
Let’s get into why.
The Mandate to Invest in Major Gift Fundraising
If you want to grow revenue in today’s funding environment, you must understand where dollars are actually coming from.
In 2024, Americans gave an estimated $592.5 billion to U.S. charities—the highest total on record in current dollars. This is a 3.3 % increase after adjusting for inflation, and it marked the first time in several years that charitable giving outpaced inflation.
Individuals continue to be the backbone of that generosity. In 2024, individual donors accounted for approximately 66% of all charitable giving, contributing roughly $392 billion overall—even as participation among smaller donors remains a long-term concern given economic conditions.
This data reinforces a simple truth: individuals and the networks connected to them remain the most critical source of philanthropic support. If your organization isn’t actively engaging and cultivating individual donors—especially at higher giving levels—you are overlooking the largest segment of philanthropic dollars available.
For nonprofit leaders who depend on charitable donations to fuel mission, it is a literal business imperative to know where wealth is and to have strategies and processes that focus time and effort on that wealth.
Focusing on major and transformational gift prospects offers a significantly greater yield than longer-cycle, less sustainable fundraising approaches.
7 Key Commitments for Transformational Gift Fundraising Success
Investing in major and transformational gift fundraising requires several key commitments if you want to be successful and as efficient as possible.
1. Hire and Support a Strong Development Director
CEOs cannot do everything themselves. Major and transformational gift donors expect a two-way relationship, and those relationships require time and attention. Research shows it takes an average of four years for Development Directors to mature into their roles and begin driving significant increases in average dollars raised. (That’s according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy).
2. Engage the Board in Fundraising
Boards can and should help. Even board members who are not major donors themselves can assist with introductions, meetings, storytelling, and advocacy. For board members recruited because of their wealth or connections to wealth, the expectation should be clear: give or get.
3. Adopt a Relationship-Based Fundraising Model
Transactional fundraising does not work for five-, six-, and seven-figure gifts; major gift fundraising is relationship-based and it requires both an art and a science. The art involves listening, questioning, and understanding donor motivations,aspirations, interests, and impressions. The science involves disciplined business processes across every stage of the donor relationship cycle—from identification through stewardship.
4. Build a Sustainable Major Gift Pipeline
It is a mistake to rely on the same donors year after year. New prospects must be continually added through research, referrals, and relationship-building to ensure long-term growth. And multi-year gifts are critical to establishing predictable revenue that makes fundraising planning easier.
5. Tell Transformational Stories
The word philanthropists most used to describe the best fundraisers was enthusiasm. Fundraisers who can clearly articulate why they are passionate about the mission and convey concrete examples how the organization creates meaningful, measurable impact are the ones who don’t just inspire donors but inspire donors, but drive them to take action.
6. Create Community Among Donors
Major and transformational donors want to be part of something special. Giving societies and tiered engagement opportunities are powerful tools for deepening connection, building community, and increasing long-term commitment.
7. Collaborate Across Sites and Systems
Federated organizations that collaborate across sites and headquarters tend to grow the whole pie rather than compete for slices. For donors who want to make an impact at regional, national, or even global scale, collaborating across geographic boundaries is critical.
Common Myths About Major Gift Fundraising
You might already be going over a few of these in your head, but don’t let popular misconceptions get in the way of you taking steps to raise major gifts. Let’s look at a few of these myths and the truths behind them.
Myth: Major gift fundraising only works in wealthy cities.
Reality: Every site can attain five-, six-, and seven-figure gifts. High-net-worth individuals and corporations exist in every state.
Myth: You have to be an extrovert to succeed.
Reality: You do not. Major gift fundraising is teachable and works across personality types.
Myth: The CEO must ask for every major gift.
Reality: The CEO is indeed the chief fundraiser for your organization, but over-reliance on CEOs creates bottlenecks and limits scale. Your CEO on the most transformational asks and share solicitation responsibility with the CDO, Development Directors, and Major Gift Officers to capitalize quickly on all giving opportunities.
A note on diversity, equity, inclusion, and fundraising strategy
I recognize that allocating significant time, dollars, and energy to major and transformational gift fundraising—where the donor population is disproportionately wealthy and white—runs counter to the values of many organizations that remain focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
This is reality.
It’s also why a well-rounded grassroots fundraising strategy should remain in place. Investing in major and transformational giving is not an either/or proposition. It is both/and—but with the bulk of time and energy directed toward the highest-value opportunities where the theoretical yield is the greatest.
Ready to Strengthen Your Major Gift Strategy?
Every component of successful major and transformational gift fundraising is learnable and achievable—with the right leadership commitment and support.
The Transformational Giving Playbook™ is here to guide you through every step of the way to raising major and transformational gifts and changing your organization’s reality.
Our programs can be delivered one-on-one or, soon, through our new On-Demand Essentials(TM) format. Reach out to explore which option is the best fit for your organization!