Why Every Nonprofit Should Create an Onboarding Binder for New Major Gift Fundraisers

Bringing on a new major gift fundraiser is both exciting and critical for the growth of your organization. But here’s the truth: if they don’t learn to do the job in a way that works best for your organization, they’ll end up being ineffective — and you will have wasted valuable time and resources.

One of the best ways to set a new major gift officer up for success is by creating a comprehensive onboarding binder. This resource isn’t just about policies and procedures — it’s about ensuring they know how to build relationships, represent your mission authentically, and drive philanthropy in a way that aligns with your team’s culture and strategy.

Why an Onboarding Binder Matters

Every nonprofit has its own processes, expectations, and relationship-building style. New fundraisers often come from organizations with different approaches. Your on-boarding binder becomes their roadmap for learning your organization’s approach and maintaining consistency across the donor experience.

By giving new fundraisers a clear structure from day one, they gain confidence, clarity, and direction — and ultimately, they’ll close gifts faster and cultivate donors more effectively. The binder also serves as an ongoing resource they can rely on throughout their entire tenure. Whenever a question arises or clarity is needed, they can easily reference it to ensure they’re aligned with your organization’s expectations and best practices.

What to Include in Your Major Gift Fundraiser Onboarding Binder

A great binder goes beyond policies. It should teach strategy, set expectations, and provide practical tools for every stage of the donor pipeline. Here are important topics to include in the binder.

1. Team Priorities
Clearly define your team’s priorities — doing so will help shape and reinforce the culture you want to build. For example, three key priorities might be: fostering strong internal relationships, maintaining a donor-first focus, and committing to continuous learning through professional development.

2. Metrics
Outline what success looks like: how many visits, proposals, and closures fundraisers should aim for — and how you measure progress. Be sure to emphasize the importance of entering information into your CRM in a timely manner. For instance, visit contact reports should be entered within 24 hours of the visit.

3. Visits
Explain what qualifies as a visit and the correct format for entering visit contact reports into your CRM.

4. Proposals
Show how proposals are created, reviewed, tracked, and presented, including templates and examples.

5. Giving Societies
Provide an overview of your giving societies, the benefits they offer, and how fundraisers can use them to engage donors.

6. Fund Documentation
Include templates and examples of fund agreements and ensure they meet internal guidelines.

7. Naming Guidelines
Explain what gift amounts trigger naming opportunities and outline the process for securing naming approvals.

8. Meetings/Appraisals
Outline team meeting schedules, performance check-ins, and how fundraisers will receive coaching and feedback. Emphasize the importance of strategy sessions — dedicated meetings where fundraisers can present challenging prospects and collaborate with the team to brainstorm creative next steps for moving those prospects toward making a gift.

9. Travel
Communicate clear travel expectations, policies, and reimbursement guidelines, along with best practices for planning effective donor visits. Set expectations around visit volume — for example, how many donor meetings a fundraiser should aim for each day while traveling.

10. Using AI for Efficiency
Share practical examples of how fundraisers can leverage AI tools like ChatGPT to streamline their work. From drafting donor communications to brainstorming cultivation strategies, AI can help make their daily tasks faster, more creative, and more effective.

11. Internal Relationships
Introduce key internal partners — including advancement services, communications, and academic leadership — and outline how to collaborate effectively with each. Include guidance on building strong internal relationships, fostering trust, and working together to advance shared goals.

12. Follow-Up
Provide templates and best practices for timely follow-up after visits and meetings. Stress that follow-up should happen within 24 hours of the visit.

13. Qualifications
Clarify the prospect qualification process at your organization so your team understands each step. Share best practices for identifying new leads and effectively reaching out to potential donors.

14. Outreach Emails
Outline the types of communications and email strategies that are most effective at your organization to help ensure stronger engagement and higher response rates. Sample emails:

• Career Self-Interest Email: Templates for prospects who care about career outcomes.
• Target Self-Interest Email: Templates for donors interested in specific strategic initiatives.
• Parent Self-Interest Email: Templates for parents motivated by their child’s experience.

15. Preparing for the Visit
Provide step-by-step guidance on how to research donors and build an effective visit plan.

16. During the Visit
Outline best practices for building rapport, asking the right questions, and reading body language.

17. Visit Follow-Up
Include detailed instructions for writing follow-up emails, updating CRM systems, and communicating with team members. Reinforce that follow-up should happen within 24 hours of each visit.

18. Cultivation
Share strategies for deepening donor engagement between visits and keeping relationships warm. Highlight the most effective ways to involve prospects with your organization, such as serving on advisory boards, mentoring students, volunteering at events, hosting gatherings, and other meaningful touch points that strengthen their connection.

19. Solicitation
Provide a clear breakdown of the entire solicitation strategy and timing.

20. Priming the Ask
Offer guidance on how to prepare donors for the ask through intentional conversations and subtle cues.

21. The Real Ask
Include scripts, language suggestions, and confidence-building techniques for making the ask directly and effectively.

22. The Response
Train fundraisers on how to handle responses — whether it’s “yes,” “no,” or “not now” — with professionalism and thoughtful rebuttals.

23. Closing
Provide clear instructions for formalizing gifts, completing documentation, and effective strategies for securing signed gift commitments. Every organization has best practices for closing gifts — make sure to outline what works best within your institution’s unique framework.

24. Stewardship
Share best practices for keeping donors informed, engaged, and feeling valued long after their gift has been made.

---

A major gift fundraiser onboarding binder isn’t just a document — it’s a playbook. It’s the difference between someone who’s “learning as they go” and someone who hits the ground running, fundraising with confidence and integrity.

Set your team up for long-term success by giving them this tool. Your donors — and your mission — will thank you.

Interested in having us create a custom onboarding binder for your team? Simply fill out the form below, and we’ll reach out to get started.