For many organizations, building long-term sustainability includes increasing revenue from major gifts. This requires focusing less on transactional giving and more on building authentic partnership with donors that engage them in your organization’s vision and impact. Yet, for many organization’s this knowledge is more theoretical than what is actually put into practice. A strong major gift program includes attention to both culture and systems that are implemented intentionally and strategically. In this accelerator program we will discuss the core elements of a major gift program and actionable ways to implement them in your organization. These elements include the role of vision, engagement, and impact in building strong partnership, effective use of strategic questioning, developing individual major gift strategy, making the ask, and implementing high-level stewardship for retention and upgrades. Dates are not yet scheduled for 2026, if you are interested, please let us know by joining the waitlist. 

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will develop an understanding of the core elements of a strong major gift program.
• Participants will determine their current state as it relates to these core elements and identify growth opportunities both individually and organizationally.

Tuition

We offer an accessible sliding-scale tuition fee structure. For those who are able, the Community Builder fee helps cover the costs The People’s Nonprofit incurs to host and develop the training. If you are able to contribute more, please consider the Equity Builder fee, which will increase attendance accessibility to our programming. If you have questions about the sliding-scale, please contact courses@thepeoplesnonprofit.org.

Tuition levels are based on organizational budget size. Members also receive a $100 discount on any workshop. 

• Equity Builder: For organizations with annual budgets greater than $1,000,001. 
• Capacity Builder: For organizations with annual budget sizes between $500,001 and $1,000,000, and for individuals sponsoring themselves or unaffiliated with an organization.
• Solidarity Builder: For organizations with annual budgets under $500,000 and for individuals who are self-financing and identify as BIPOC, queer, low-income, with disabilities, and other marginalized identities.

About Presenter Laurel McCombs:

Laurel brings over 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector to her role as consultant and trainer with The Osborne Group. Laurel works with clients on topics including donor engagement, development operations, board development, and more. Current clients include the ACLU, Nonprofit Association of Oregon, and Girls Inc. In addition to well-received workshops for national organizations, universities, and more, Laurel has presented at the AFP International Conference, CASE-NAIS, and AFP Congress.