Building and Cultivating Major Donors for Small- to Mid-Size Nonprofits Series

Description

This event is offered by our partner in another state. Please double-check times and time zones prior to registering. 

Many nonprofit leaders know they need to diversify funding, but major donor fundraising can feel out of reach, especially in small- to mid-size nonprofits without large development teams. The good news is that your next major donor is likely already connected to your organization or within your existing network. The key is knowing where to look, how to build the relationship, and how to confidently invite deeper investment in your mission.

In this 3-session virtual series, we will help you build the confidence, clarity, and practical systems needed to identify, cultivate, and engage major donors in ways that feel genuine, strategic, and aligned with your mission.

Across three live online sessions, we will reframe fundraising as relationship-building, map the people already surrounding your mission, prioritize the right donor prospects, and strengthen your ability to lead donor conversations with greater clarity and confidence. Through practical tools, guided exercises, and real-time application, this series is designed to help you move from uncertainty and overwhelm to a more focused, strategic, and repeatable approach to major donor fundraising.

You will leave with practical frameworks and tools you can use immediately to strengthen donor relationships, build a more intentional donor portfolio, and create momentum toward long-term fundraising sustainability. Past participants have shared that this course increased their confidence, strengthened their donor conversations, and gave them practical tools they could apply right away.

By the end of this 3-session series, you will be able to: 

• Reframe major donor fundraising as an opportunity to build meaningful donor partnerships rather than simply ask for money. 
• Identify potential major donors, connectors, and advisors already within your organization’s existing network. 
• Prioritize the right donor prospects based on alignment, engagement, readiness, and funding goals. 
• Develop tailored engagement strategies that deepen trust and move donor relationships forward. 
• Lead donor conversations with greater clarity, confidence, and purpose. 
• Use practical tools and frameworks to build a more structured, strategic, and repeatable major donor process that supports more diversified funding.

What You Will Walk Away With:

By the end of the series, you will leave with more than notes. You will leave with a practical fundraising engine built for immediate execution and long-term sustainability, including: 

• The Cultivate Map: a strategic visualization of 30–50 relationship pathways and connectors within your existing network 
• The Power 10 Portfolio: a prioritized list of qualified donors connected to real funding goals and revenue needs 
• Custom Engagement Designs: tailored plans for moving top prospects from contact to committed investor 
• The Ask Framework: a structured, confidence-building guide for donor conversations 
• A 90-Day Activation Plan: a sequenced rhythm for outreach, follow-up, and stewardship that helps maintain momentum long after the first gift is made 

This event is a series with three dates and three optional Implementation Labs. The series registration price includes all six sessions.

Series Sessions:

• September 15 from 9:30am – 11:00am CT 
• September 29 from 9:30am – 11:00am CT
• October 13 from 9:30am – 11:00am CT

Optional Implementation Labs:

• September 22 from 9:30am – 10:30am CT 
• October 6 from 9:30am – 10:30am CT 
• October 20 from 9:30am – 10:30am CT

This virtual event will take place on the Zoom platform. Your access link will be emailed to you the day before the event after 12 p.m.

This sessions will be recorded available to registrants after the live event.

Captioning is provided automatically through Zoom. For information on requesting CART, ASL, or another accommodation, please visit our Registration Policies page.

To learn more about events, registration, and payment, visit our Event & Registration FAQ page. 

We offer partial scholarships for all of our educational workshops. Visit our Scholarships page for more information.

Speaker Information:

Ellen Christine is a nonprofit strategist and fundraising strategist who helps small to mid-size nonprofits diversify funding, build meaningful donor partnerships, and create stronger, more sustainable fundraising systems. With more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit leadership and fundraising, she has helped organizations raise over $1 billion to expand mission impact. 

Her work began on the ground in South Africa, where she founded a grassroots nonprofit that served 15,000 students and mobilized hundreds of volunteers. That experience shaped her practical, relationship-centered approach to fundraising, leadership, and organizational growth. None of it started with theory. It started in the trenches. 

Today, Ellen is known for making major donor fundraising feel more human, strategic, and accessible to leaders who may not have large development teams or formal fundraising training. She believes that for nonprofits to truly thrive, their leaders must thrive too, and she brings both strategy and heart to helping leaders build joy-filled, sustainable approaches to fundraising and growth.