How to Create a Gift Range Table
- Michelle Crim, CFRE
- Jun 10, 2024
- 2 min read
Planning for a campaign or even a robust annual fund? A gift range table is one of the most useful tools a fundraiser can have. This is a great way to share with your board, development committee, and co-workers what is needed to raise the funds for the annual operating budget, the goal for an event, or a capital campaign.
Creating a gift range table will help you define your total dollar goal and timeline. As the gifts are raised, the table will also help track your successes and challenges by adding a “Gifts Received” column.
You can create a simple table on an excel spreadsheet using basic formulas to calculate how many gifts you need at each level. Once your formulas are in place you can plug in different numbers to create different scenarios based on the giving history and capacity of your donor pool. Notice that the fewer gifts you have in the top tier, the more you will need in the lower tiers.
Rule of Thirds
The Rule of Thirds is a strategic concept used for capital campaigns, but it can be used for any type of campaign, appeal, or event. Notice that the single largest gift at the top of the chart equals ten percent of your goal. This is significant because it sets the tone and possibly even determines the success of the overall campaign.
Another significant factor in a gift range table is the number of prospects needed to identify the number of required donors. Again, relating to the Rule of Thirds, the ratio is three to one, three prospects for every one donor. The table will clearly show you if your goal is realistic based on the giving history and capacity of your donor pool.
Do you have three prospects with the capacity, affinity, and propensity to make a $100,000 gift to your organization? Do you have over 5,000 donors who can and will donate gifts ranging from $50,000 to 50? A gift range table will help you answer those questions.
1st third: 10 donors give 33.3% of goal
2nd third: 100 donors give 33.3% of goal
3rd third: 1,650 donors (or however many it takes) give 33.3% of goal
A Million Dollar Gift Table
Goal: $1,000,000
Prospects Needed | Gifts Needed | Gift Amount | Sub Total | Cumulative Amount | Percent |
3 to 5 | 1 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $100,00 | 10% |
6 to 10 | 2 | $50,000 | $100,00 | $200,000 | 20% |
21 to 35 | 7 | $20,000 | $140,000 | $340,000 | 34% |
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30 to 50 | 10 | $10,000 | $100,000 | $440,000 | 44% |
75 to 125 | 25 | $5,000 | $125,000 | $565,000 | 56% |
195 to 325 | 65 | $2,000 | $130,000 | $695,000 | 70% |
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300 to 500 | 100 | $1000 | $100,000 | $795,000 | 79% |
450 to 750 | 150 | $500 | $75,000 | $870,000 | 87% |
600 to 1000 | 200 | $250 | $50,000 | $920,000 | 92% |
1200 to 2000 | 400 | $100 | $40,000 | $960,000 | 96% |
2400 to 3200 | 800 | $50 | $40,000 | $1,000,000 | 100% |
Michelle Crim, CFRE
Dynamic Development Strategies can help. We offer coaching, grant writing, and fundraising services for our nonprofit clients. We specialize in small to mid-size organizations because we understand your challenges. Please contact us for more information.