A major gifts overhaul produced striking results.

01. Problem / Challenge

DePelchin Children’s Center stewarded major donors but had no structured program for them. Staff needed help putting the pieces together.

02. Solution

​Working with Veritus Group, DePelchin worked to establish, and then fine tune, the structure and systems for donor relations. This included creating caseload pools for major gift fundraisers, developing plans, and providing advice on mid-level caseload parameters for other staff.

03. Results

In the first year, the major gift caseload brought in 70% more donations, and donor attrition dropped by 1/3.

Creating a Structure that Worked

What the Organization Needed

When the Sr. VP was hired, she discovered the donor pipeline had not been fully constructed and there was no widespread acquisition. While staff put an emphasis on thanking donors quickly and personally to good results, the program lacked a consistent structure for building deeper relationships. There was also no established mid-level program.

Fundraising staff needed structure to their caseloads, and there hadn’t been a regular culture of asking for broader giving or transformational gifts.

After adopting Veritus Group’s recommendations, DePelchin implemented a whole new structure and approach to interacting with their donors and worked to help their internal leadership understand and embrace this new approach. Veritus has been there to help navigate the changes and the pandemic crisis. Veritus…

• Provided counsel on how to shift the structure, especially as staffing landscape shifted, and how to structure caseloads.
• Helped talk through strategic adjustments in solicitation plans, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Gave advice on communication strategies (both written and in person).
• Helped them focus on presenting the case, reporting back on impact.