Major Donor Fundamentals

Two-hour interactive workshop on the fundamentals of major donor fundraising for non-profits and fundraising professionals

Class outline

Major donor fundraising is the cornerstone of sustainable philanthropy, offering transformative opportunities for organisations to achieve their mission.

Engaging major donors is not only about managing expectations, but also about cultivating meaningful, values-driven partnerships. Meaningful partnerships require strong cases for support, credible impact measurement, thoughtful stewardship, and ethics. Fundraisers’ job is not easy, as they need to be confident and able to navigate complex human dynamics with authenticity.

In this masterclass, we will dive into the art and science of major donor fundraising and explore approaches and practices that will help you achieve your goals. Participants will gain practical insight into strengthening donor relationships and building the confidence required to engage philanthropists effectively and authentically.

The session is designed for fundraisers, senior leaders, and Board members who seek to deepen their understanding of major donor engagement and improve results.

In this session, we will dive into:

• Understanding major donor motivations: The motivations, expectations, and decision-making processes of donors.
• Exploring the 5 steps of the donor cycle: identifying, qualifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major donors for long-term engagement.
• Overcoming common challenges: Address obstacles such as donor reluctance, Internal misalignment, and sustaining donor interest.

Key Learning outcomes

By the end of this masterclass, participants will leave with:

• A deeper understanding of major donor motivations and how to align them with organisational goals.
• Successful techniques and key processes in major donor fundraising.
• Practical tools that can be applied in their major donor fundraising practice today.
• Guidance to navigate challenges and foster long-term donor relationships.

Aimed at

This workshop is for fundraisers working at small, medium and large (I)NGO's with major donor programmes. You will need basic knowledge of 1:1 fundraising and basic knowledge of the steps to take in major donor fundraising with philantropists. You can work alone or as part of a team, that does not matter at all.

About the course leader

This course is led by Konstantina Papadimitriou, Founder of Inuksuk Consulting. Konstantina is a passionate strategist, fundraising consultant, international speaker and mentor working with organisations who seek to achieve impact. She has 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector, helping teams to establish effective fundraising operations, build meaningful donor relations and grow their income. Konstantina has been leading fundraising programs in international non-profit organisations, such as Greenpeace and ActionAid, and she currently supports numerous organisations globally to develop their fundraising capacity and donor network, to fulfil their mission. There is more about Konstantina here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/konstantina-papadimitriou.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this workshop, send an email to james@resource-alliance.org.