The major gift donor relationship: An analysis of donors and contributions

Securing major gifts for nonprofit organizations can involve considerable cost. This study examines the relationship developed between 233 major gift donors and the development office at Northwestern University over a five-year period. The results show that the cultivation and solicitation process is usually long, measured in years rather than months, and the extent of the effort varies by type of donor and category of gift. Vignettes describing one of the relationships from each of the five most important categories are presented.