Not every prospect will give or give at the amount you
requested. For this reason, the total potential gifts on
your prospect list should exceed the amount you need
to raise. Professional fundraisers generally estimate
that the potential gifts from your “prospect pipeline”
should total at least three times the amount you need to
raise. In this case, the Women’s Self-Help Association
needs to raise $31,300 to meet its organizational
budget. Following the rule of thumb, Women’s SelfHelp Association should identify at least $93,900 of
potential gifts (3 x $31,300 = $93,900). In the chart
above, the organization has identified only $52,350
in potential gifts. This means the Women’s Self-Help
Association should continue researching prospects to
find an additional $40,000 of potential gifts for the
organization. You can find the Women’s Self-Help
Association’s full organizational budget in Chapter 5
on page 25 and can also find a list showing their other
funders and the total funds they have already raised on
page 26.
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