How to Start 2026 Strong: A Strategic Guide for Nonprofits
As we enter 2026, nonprofit leaders face a crucial question: How do we build on last year’s momentum while positioning our organization for sustainable growth? The answer lies in a dual-focused strategy: strengthen relationships with your current donors while strategically expanding your major gift pipeline.
Two Goals That Drive Success
Goal #1: Deepen Relationships with Current Donors
Your current donors already believe in your mission. The work now is to retain them, cultivate deeper engagement, and invite them to increase their investment.
A comprehensive “ways to give” approach ensures every supporter — whether contributing $1 or making a transformational gift — has a meaningful path to support your mission at a level that aligns with their capacity and interests.
Goal #2: Identify and Qualify New Major Gift Prospects
Here’s a reality check for nonprofit leaders:
Major gifts typically comprise 80–90% of your annual revenue.
Yet many organizations lack a systematic method to identify and qualify high-capacity prospects. Building a robust major gift pipeline is not optional — it is essential to your organization’s sustainability.
This requires a moves management system that guides both current and prospective major donors through distinct stages of cultivation and solicitation. With a clear framework, you can see exactly where each prospect stands and what needs to happen next to move them toward solicitation and stewardship.
Four Strategic Tools to Achieve Both Goals
1. Create a Compelling Impact Report — Your Most Versatile Tool
Your impact report is the most versatile tool in your fundraising toolkit. A well-crafted report serves both retention and acquisition goals all year long.
For Current Donors:
Use your impact report to steward and thank existing supporters. It’s the perfect leave-behind at meetings, an attachment to mid-year thank-you notes, or a follow-up after a gift. It reinforces why their support matters and keeps your work top of mind.
For Prospective Donors:
This same report becomes your introduction to new major gift prospects. It answers the question every prospect asks:
“What will my gift actually accomplish?”
An effective impact report should include:
Tangible outcomes achieved
Program highlights with metrics and stories
Goals accomplished — and how donor support made them possible
High-level financial summary showing how funds were used
Donor spotlights and stories
Recognition at all levels — annual, mid-level, major, legacy
What’s next — upcoming priorities, goals, and opportunities to invest
Emotional connection through narrative and gratitude
Think of your impact report as a thank-you letter, a case for support, and an invitation to deepen engagement — all in one.
Better yet, think of it as a tool you will use dozens of times throughout 2026. It is one of the highest-return investments you can make this year.
2. Develop a Stewardship & Communications Plan That Runs on Autopilot
Ad hoc communication does not build lasting relationships — and it consumes time you should be spending cultivating major gifts.
Here’s the game-changer:
Map out your communications plan for the next 6–12 months with draft deadlines, themes, and deployment dates.
The magic is in the structure + flexibility.
You set the cadence now, then adjust throughout the year to highlight major gifts, announce partnerships, or showcase new programs. Your messaging stays relevant, while the framework ensures consistency.
Your plan should include:
Personal acknowledgment letters
Segmented email updates
Touchpoints beyond asks — phone calls, stories, invitations, gratitude
A calendar that prevents over- or under-communication
Why this matters:
Once communications are systematized, you can focus on what moves the needle — major gift cultivation.
Automated emails and scheduled letters keep your broad donor base engaged while you are making calls, hosting tours, and meeting prospects.
This is especially powerful for small teams. When you’re wearing multiple hats, you can’t choose between stewardship and major gifts — you need both. A system makes it possible.
Your broad communications keep your full donor base connected.
Your moves management system tracks major gift cultivation.
Your time goes where it generates the greatest return: advancing major gift conversations toward solicitation.
3. Build or Strengthen Your Prospect Pipeline with Strategic Moves Management
A moves management system is your roadmap for major gift cultivation. It should:
Track where each prospect sits in the cycle
Define clear next steps
Assign relationship responsibility
Set timelines and milestones
Document interactions and insights
Start 2026 with a pipeline audit.
Gather your team and review your prospect list:
Move completed gifts off the active pipeline
Add back donors who are ready for another ask in 2026
A donor who gave a major gift last year is not “done.” They are a proven investor who may be ready to do more.
Without a system, opportunities are lost.
With one, you create a predictable, scalable model for major gift success.
4. Conduct Wealth Screening for Strategic Prospects
Data-driven prospect identification dramatically improves efficiency.
Consider screening:
All new donors from 2025
Anyone who gave $1,000+ in 2025
Lapsed donors who once gave significantly
Wealth screening reveals capacity indicators you might otherwise miss, helping you focus cultivation where it is most likely to yield transformational gifts.
Moving from Planning to Action
Organizations that start 2026 strong don’t just set goals — they build systems that produce results.
By combining donor-centered stewardship with strategic prospect development, you create a fundraising operation that is both sustainable and scalable.
The question is not whether you can afford to invest in these tools and strategies.
The real question is whether you can afford not to.