Section I: Major Gifts and Planned Giving Programs
resources to teach and manage a church major gifts program
All resources on this page are available for download in PDF format (click the links).
Section I: Major Gifts Manual
(click here to download all of Section I)
For access to individual Resource Documents, click the links below.
Resource 1.1 – Fear Resistance and Hope Preparatory Exercise
This resource will give you and wonderful exercise to do with your stewardship or fundraising committee/leadership to help them connect with their own fears, and have compassion for those who fear making pledges.
Headline Exercise
This resource is an excellent exercise to inspire the work needed to be done by major gifts fundraisers. This exercise can be used with a leadership board, stewardship committee, or a special major gifts solicitation team.
The Why of Fearless Church Fundraising
This resource will provide the vision and background for this web based mission fearlesschurchfundraising.com and its associated books – all designedto place in the hands of every church, 24 hours a day, all the templates and resources needed to raise money in churches without the need to attend expensive seminars or hire expensive consultants who do not know your people or your community.
Resource 1.2 – Icon: Prophet John the Baptist – and Meditation Materials
This is resource is a beautiful icon and meditation page which you can use to prepare a group for the courage needed to raise money. The icons and the photos of them are a gift to the public domain made by the author and have no copyright restrictions. They may not be used in resale.
Resource 1.3 – Icon: Jesus kissing Mary Tenderly – and Meditation Materials
This resource is an icon which can be used with the related meditation to consider the vulnerability of those who raise money and those who give it and can be used as an opening meditation for stewardship leadership.
Resource 1.4 – Icon: Rich Young the Ruler – and Meditation Materials
This resource is an Icon which can be used with the related meditation materials to explore the spiritual underpinnings of major gifts fund raising. It makes for an great opening meditation for a meeting on financial development or major gifts.
Major Gift Introduction
This handout will describe the spirituality and praxis of raising major gifts.
Resource 1.5 – The Seven Essentials for “Major Gifts”
This set of essential major gift steps is a tremendous outline to use with the major gifts committee or with church leadership. This list is explained in other resources and has space so that learners may write their own notes as they consider these essential aspects of major gifts fundraising.
Resource 1.6 – Sample Moves Management Tracker
This resource is a sample of a “moves management” system which can be used in a tiny or massive church. This kind of moves tracking is essential to the cultivation of a major gift and is nothing more than curated engagement and involvement tracking and strategy. Many churches use this kind of tracking for their top 10-20% of donors who may be able to give major gifts one day. What gets measured gets done.
Resource 1.7 – Sample Parish Wish-List
This resource is a model wish list which any church should have developed, printed, set about the church, mailed to the congregation, and ready to give to any donor who is interested in making a major gift. This wish list is the foundation to donor-driven major gifts programming. Type up your wish list today and have it ready!
Resource 1.8 – Multi-Generational Parish Exercise
This resource is valuable exercise to help leadership to see that major gifts fund raising is about relationships and requires generational sensitivity.
Resource 1.9 – Case-for-Support Drafting Document Exercise
This resource is a valuable exercise to determine whether a church really deserves the money for which it is asking. If you can write this “case” and if you can see that the gift would change lives, then you have a “case-for-support” if you can then communicate it effectively.
Generating Giving Articles and Blogs List
This list of resources will help any committee to raise awareness about the importance of how different generations give differently.
Nurturing Versus Selling
This resource will help you to train church leaders as you wrestle with the differences between manipulation and invitation regarding major gift solicitation. Understanding this way of leadership is essential to being free to make asks of donors.
Resource 1.10 – The Eight Step Process to “Major Gifts”
This resource will walk you through the eight essential steps required in major gift work. Each step has space for the plan towards asking for a major gift. This kind of strategy is required for each major gift request.
Making The Ask
This resource will teach the introductory material needed to understand how to raise major gifts in any sized church. Use this as part of your training.
Resource 1.11 – Designing the Ask Visit – Exercise
This exercise can be used for training in the processes through which one were to be fully trained in the art and praxis of asking for a major gift. This resource can also be used to prepare for an individual major gift visit so print some out and use them each time you make a call.
Resource 1.12 – Talk 31 Tips for Success
These are the author’s top tips for people to keep in mind as you raise major gifts in churches. This is an excellent resource for training. A vestry, leadership group, or major gifts committee might consider using each one of these tips as a way to begin a meeting.
Resource 1.13 – Major Gifts Leader Job Description – Sample
This resource will provide the basic List of tasks required to lead in major gift solicitation work in a church of any size.
Resource 1.14 – Development Coordinator Job Description – Sample
This resource will provide the basic outline for a leader in church major gift solicitation management.
Resource 1.15 – Major Gifts Advisory Committee Job Description – Sample
This resource will define the tasks the committee advising on the requests of major donors.
Resource 1.16 – Capitol Campaign Readiness Test
This resource will allow you to determine your readiness for a capital campaign and will prevent you from hiring counsel too soon. It will also show leadership that this work requires long planning and short solicitation.
Resource 1.17 – Capital Campaign Planning Calendar
This resource will show you each step in the process towards planning and managing a Capital campaign.
Resource 1.18 – Capital Development Gift Chart
This resource we’ll provide a basic example of the flow of gifts for a small capital campaign or major gift progra.
Resource 1.19 – Six Things to Remember
This resource will remind leaders some of the basics in capital campaign management.
Resource 1.20 – Major Gifts Discussion
This resourcewill provide key questions for major gifts committee discussions or for leadership training. It is essential to train leaders in major gift solicitation and to discuss it freely and openly. This will help you.
Resource 1.21 – Icons as Teaching Tools
These two icons – Crucifixion and The Myrrh-Bearing Women – are valuable for the teaching and spiritual formation required to ask for planned and major gifts. In the one we wait patiently and in the other we approach death with our gifts and finds them re-directed by angel’s wings. Use these meditations and icons to support the spiritual life of your committee work.
Resource 1.22 – Icon: The Crucifixion
This icon and it’s related teaching materials will provide the formation needed to help leaders to remain kind and present as they raised major gifts.
Resource 1.23 – Icon: The Myrrh-Bearing Woman
This icon and it’s related teaching materials will be excellent formation material for the spirituality and sensitivity needed as leaders ask for plan gifts.