The Mid-Level Donor Strategy Nonprofits Keep Missing

Send us Fan MailMid-level donor strategy for nonprofits is no longer just a fundraising “nice to have.” It is becoming one of the most important business tools for building stronger major donor pipelines, improving donor retention, and making better decisions from the data already sitting inside your CRM.In this episode, Kirsten Wantland, Principal Industry Strategist at Bloomerang, joins Julia Patrick for a lively conversation about the “magic” of mid and major donors—and why that magic depends on structure, ownership, visibility, and disciplined relationship management.Kirsten points to a critical trend: nonprofits may be raising more overall, but more major gift revenue is coming from fewer donors. That means the pipeline is narrowing. As she explains, “It’s not that generosity is decreasing… they’re just coming from less donors.” For nonprofit leaders, fundraisers, CEOs, and board members, that raises a big operational question: are you actively building the next layer of donors, or simply hoping they appear?This discussion moves beyond the old idea that donor portfolios are based only on personal relationships. Kirsten challenges nonprofits to look at donor characteristics, giving patterns, generosity indicators, recurring giving behavior, and relationship touches that actually move someone from mid-level to major giving.She also addresses one of the quiet problems inside many organizations: unclear donor ownership. When relationship knowledge lives in someone’s head—or in a side spreadsheet—it creates risk, confusion, and missed opportunities. “The problem comes down to visibility,” Kirsten says. Your CRM should help your team see who owns the relationship, what has happened, what should happen next, and where the donor may be headed.This is a business conversation about fundraising discipline: analyze your data, define your donor levels based on real giving patterns, revisit your plans often, and shift from quantity-based activity to higher-quality donor cultivation!Key Takeaways:Major gift revenue is increasingly concentrated among fewer donors, making mid-level donor pipeline strategy more urgent.Donor portfolio ownership should be based on giving behavior, motivation, and capacity—not only personal relationships.CRM visibility helps prevent relationship confusion, staff transition risk, and hidden donor management gaps.Nonprofits should define mid-level and major donor thresholds using their own data, sector benchmarks, and realistic growth goals.Fundraising plans should be reviewed regularly so teams can adjust campaigns before revenue gaps become emergencies.Higher ROI comes from more intentional donor cultivation, not simply increasing the number of mailers, touches, or asks. 00:00:00 Welcome to The Nonprofit Show 00:01:55 Kirsten Wantland’s Role at Bloomerang 00:04:11 Why Fundraiser Experience Matters in Technology 00:05:22 Why Mid and Major Donors Matter Now 00:07:23 The Donor Relationship Ownership Problem 00:09:03 Portfolio Management Beyond Personal Relationships 00:12:34 Taking Ego Out of Donor Ownership 00:14:45 How to Define Mid-Level and Major Donors 00:18:23 Fundraising as Data, Psychology, and Relationship Strategy 00:21:38 Tracking Campaign Milestones Before It Is Too Late 00:23:27 Understanding Donor Catalysts and Moves Management 00:25:48 Quality Versus Quantity in Fundraising Activity 00:28:00 Cultivating Smaller Donor Segments More Intentionally 00:29:31 Final Thoughts with Kirsten Wantland #TheNonprofitShow #NonprofitFundraising #MajorGiftsFind us Live daily on YouTube!Find us  Live daily on LinkedIn!Find us Live daily on X: @Nonprofit_ShowOur national co-hosts and amazing guests discuss management, money and missions of nonprofits!  12:30pm ET   11:30am CT  10:30am MT  9:30am PTSend us your ideas for Show Guests or Topics: [email protected] us on the web:The Nonprofit Show