Establishing strong connections with major gift prospects is a strategic process that unfolds over time, with a key component that should never be underestimated: timely and thorough follow-up. As a dedicated fundraiser, your biggest priority should be to ensure that every interaction and conversation with your prospects is followed by a prompt response, ideally within a 24-hour window. This commitment sends a resounding message to your prospects—namely, that you not only value the budding relationship but also consider them a top priority within your organization. After all, who doesn’t yearn to feel genuinely valued? Allow me to illustrate this point with a compelling example:
Imagine a fundraiser has recently engaged in a lunch meeting with a promising prospect. During this dialogue, they explored various topics of mutual interest, including:
- The impending retirement of the prospect’s beloved professor, Dr. Alfred Letz.
- Ongoing research in the field of 3D printing at Mumford, a subject of potential significance to the prospect’s company.
- Updates concerning the Women in Engineering Endowed scholarship, to which the prospect verbally committed an additional $10,000 during the meeting.
- The prospect’s daughter’s contemplation of enrolling at Mumford the following fall.
In this scenario, the follow-up email within 24 hours might look something like this:
Subject: Our Lunch Meeting Recap
Dear Leslie,
I trust this message finds you well. I wanted to express my sincere appreciation for the valuable time we shared over lunch yesterday; it was truly enriching to reconnect with you. I must start by extending our heartfelt gratitude for your generous commitment of an additional $10,000 to the Women in Engineering Endowed Scholarship. Your support means the world to our women engineers, and your generosity does not go unnoticed. Upon sharing this wonderful news with our club president, she and her fellow students expressed eagerness to set up a Zoom meeting to personally convey their gratitude and provide program updates. Please let me know your availability for the upcoming weeks so that we can schedule this special encounter.
I’m thrilled to update you on some of the topics we discussed during our meeting. We are in the process of planning a grand retirement celebration for Professor Letz this spring, and I’ll be sure to forward the details as soon as they become available. In the meantime, you might find this article about his retirement of interest: Link.
Regarding our conversation on 3D printing at Mumford and its potential alignment with your company’s interests, I wasted no time in reaching out to Dr. Ellen Hilimire (ehilimire@mumford.edu), the professor leading this research initiative. I apprised her of your potential interest and furnished her with an overview of your company.
Furthermore, I couldn’t be more thrilled about your daughter’s contemplation of attending Mumford next fall. Following in your footsteps would be a remarkable journey, and should she require additional information about the electrical engineering department or wish to embark on a department tour, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I’d be delighted to facilitate these arrangements.
Leslie, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude once more for your time, your insights, and our engaging conversation. It’s our hope to see you on the Mumford campus this spring for what promises to be a memorable event. Go Tigers!
Warm regards,
Mike Patterson
This concise yet comprehensive email underscores the essence of effective follow-up. In the world of non-profit fundraising, it’s essential to recognize that we may not always occupy the top slot on our prospect’s priority list. Swift follow-up, however, reaffirms our commitment, communicates our genuine appreciation, and establishes a bedrock of trust with our prospects—a foundation upon which major gifts are often built. It’s an opportunity to astonish and inspire. So, why wait? The clock is ticking, and every moment counts on the journey to securing that transformative philanthropic commitment.
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