How to Find Major Gifts Late in the Fiscal Year

Are your fiscal year dollar goals looming large? If your numbers are not exactly where you hoped, it is time to act. Successful fiscal year end strategies identify donors actively considering gifts. These donors are quietly researching so they are further down the decision-making path and more likely to close this fiscal year.

But how do you find these crucial donors?

We have plenty of scores in advancement but which score tells you a major gift prospect is looking into a gift right now? For gift officers trying to close more gifts this fiscal year, knowing a highly rated prospect is researching a gift right now is far more impactful than knowing that a prospect has an 80% chance of making a gift in their lifetime. And you can get this information simply by monitoring your website visitors for high wealth rated prospects actively engaging the institution online.

For decades now, we’ve taught alumni to stay connected via the website. Where is this weekend’s game-watch party? Check the website. How did our entrepreneurship students finish in the recent competition? Go to the website. Read this article in the e-newsletter. Visit the website. How do I find out more about scholarship needs on campus? Website.

Scores of alumni, friends, parents, corporations and foundations visit your website every day. They visit on their own, or they are driven there by the regular emails and other communication your university regularly send out.

Marketing automation on your website allows you to know, by name, which major gift prospects remain connected and more importantly, which are looking into gifts right now. What do they keep coming back to? What are their particular areas of affinity?

The end result is a very narrowed list of alumni actively looking into gifts today.

  • John Donor graduated in 1970, has capacity of $100,000 and is looking into the building renovation project.
  • Susie Prospect graduated in 1981, has capacity of $250,000 and is looking into student scholarships.
  • Frank Franklin is a community member, wealth rated to $50,000 and is looking into the performing arts center.

Monitoring the website gives you the key insight — timing. Your team can now focus your remaining few months on alumni actively considering gifts.

This is the time of year you want to reach out to alumni already considering gifts — to boost those fiscal year numbers!

By Kevin Bauman, Director of Philanthropic Initiatives, Capture