The Overlooked Advantage

If the fourth quarter feels like the busiest time for fundraising, it’s time to reassess how you plan your year.

By the time many nonprofits get serious about asking for gifts, many of their donors have already made decisions. For most donors, giving isn’t a last-minute act of generosity. It’s an intentional allocation. Those conversations often happen at the end of the previous year: how much to give, where it will go, and what matters most. When summer approaches, many already have their answers.

The first two quarters of the year aren’t a warm-up. That’s where you win or lose the year.

Prioritizing Your Quarters

In 1982, Harvard Business Review published a framework for annual planning that still holds up. Divide your donors into four tiers and your year into four quarters. Then be intentional with each one.

The goal is simple: focus your time where and when it’ll be the most effective.

In Q1, you visit your A tier –– the donors with the greatest capacity and inclination to give –– and ask for a commitment for a gift between now and December 31. In Q2, you reinforce that visit up with a follow-up letter. In Q3, you call to check in: How is that commitment looking? If they confirm, you send a letter of acknowledgement. If not, you revisit the conversation to clarify.

By the end of the year, you’ve done this with everyone. Same steps, different timing.

We’ve all heard that 90% of gifts come from the top 10% of donors. I’d argue that, in recent years, those numbers have become much more concentrated. A small group of people drives most of the outcome. So, if you’re not meeting with that group early, before they’ve finalized their giving, you’re competing for what’s left over.

By the end of July, your top 50% of donors should have already been personally solicited. And if that work is done well, you should have a clear sense of what the rest of your year is going to look like.

Very few organizations can say that.

Two Buckets

Most donors think about their giving in two categories.

The first contains the money they already intend to give to the organizations they know they will support. This is where the majority of their charitable dollars go. The second bucket holds the “flex” dollars for additional requests or new relationships. Organizations that don’t solicit early end up competing for what’s left in this much smaller bucket.

Understanding a donor’s approach to giving allows you to help them accomplish what they already want to do.

If your goal is to simply “get on the list,” you’re depriving your organization of gifts and the donor of opportunities. Understanding a donor’s approach to giving allows you to help them accomplish what they already want to do. And that just may mean giving from both buckets.

People want to be part of something meaningful. When you engage early, you not only secure the commitments they’ve already considered, you give them the chance to expand them.

Planning the Visit

Once you’ve grouped your donors and mapped out the year, the next step is planning your visits.

Preparation is the pitfall of too many fundraising professionals. As pilots say, if you fly by the seat of your pants, you’re probably going to hit a mountain.

Start by deciding what kind of visit this will be: cultivation, stewardship, or solicitation. There can be overlap, but naming the main purpose ahead of time clarifies your approach. Too often, organizations default to cultivation and/or stewardship because they feel safer. But once a relationship is established, there must be a point where you ask for a gift.

Stewardship looks back. It expresses gratitude and demonstrates impact. Come prepared with specifics: what the donor has given over time, how those gifts have been used, and what they’ve made possible. Pay attention to what they’ve shown interest in before.

Cultivation looks forward. It builds a case for future involvement. Share what’s ahead, where the organization is going, and how their interests align with that direction. Ask questions. Listen carefully.

Solicitation is where the relationship moves toward a decision. It shouldn’t feel abrupt or uncomfortable. If you’ve done the work of stewardship and cultivation, the ask is simply the natural next step.

After each meeting, you should be able to answer a few questions: What did I learn about this donor? What do they care about? What motivates them?

If you can’t answer those, you probably did too much talking.

One of the most common mistakes is walking into a meeting with a fixed agenda, the exact gift you want the donor to make, and sticking to it no matter what. Meanwhile, the donor is trying to have a totally different conversation. It happens all the time. A donor is ready to make a significant gift, and the organization keeps steering them back to a project they’re not interested in. And all the time, opportunities are missed.

The more significant a gift, the more likely it is to be restrictive. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. If you were giving at that level, you’d want a say, too.

Like my dad always said, God gave you two eyes, two ears, and one mouth. Use them accordingly.

Take a Step Back

If you reach the end of the second quarter and things aren’t going well, the issue is likely the activity: not enough visits, not enough preparation, or the wrong group of donors.

At that point, it’s difficult to pivot. The biggest opportunities sit with your top donors, and if those conversations didn’t happen early, you don’t get that time back.

In fundraising, starting early isn’t just a nice idea; it’s everything.

But it’s not time for year-end appeals. It’s time to plan.

If you have the opportunity to connect with lower-tier donors, take it. But the greater priority is preparing for the year ahead. Identify the right donors and set up the first two quarters for success so that you don’t run into the same pitfalls again.

In fundraising, starting early isn’t just a nice idea; it’s everything.

©2026, Eddie Thompson, Ed.D., FCEP
Founder and CEO, Thompson & Associates

“If we merely aim for the industry standard, then our goal is mediocrity. Emulating the average nonprofit, we are destined to live with all the problems the average nonprofit faces. So, we suggest you aim to be exceptional in your approach to fund development.”