Major Giving Support
Major gifts (defined as $25,000+) are highly curated and a result of long-term, positive relationship building between donors and gift officers, with help from faculty, volunteers, and others. Advancement has a team of gift officers that drive efforts in this area. They are charged with finding and secure funding for identified priorities by qualifying potential donors with the capacity to give. The officers work to determine the specifics of a prospect's interests, their capacity and inclination to give, the relationship to the Colleges, how they would like to be involved with our community, and their overall philanthropic goals. As such, each act as a liaison between Advancement and the campuses. Major gift officers develop and document strategies that engage donors and prospects through purposeful, personalized steps that can lead to an ask for support. These strategies, meant to advance a relationship, rely on information from faculty, academic leadership, and volunteers.
Contact Whitney Keyes, North Major Giving Liaison
Contact Alli Riese, Central Major Giving Liaison
Contact Traci Russell, South Major Giving Liaison
You can help in the following ways:
- Keep Advancement informed of department news and updates on initiatives from your unit so that they can speak to your current work, impact, and funding priorities.
- You can do this via email, meetings or by submitting a major giving fundraising idea via this form. Note that submitting this form does not guarantee funding or that a donor will be found for your project.
- Be available to provide information or meet with donors as needed.
- Document and share conversations your unit has with alumni, donors, prospects or friends through events, in-person meetings, and electronic communication, and share that information with your major gift officer.
Educate yourself on what it takes to be a major gift fundraiser, and apply best practices to your own conversations with donors or prospective donors. For more information on enhanced fundraising efforts, view the resource document Fundraising Fundamentals (coming soon).