Major Gifts and Spike Up Gifts

DonorDock includes financial settings that help your team identify gifts that may deserve additional attention. These settings are managed in Organization Settings and are used to identify Major Gifts and Spike Up Gifts.

When a gift meets the configured criteria, DonorDock can surface an ActionBoard nudge to the contact's Owner, helping your team quickly follow up on significant changes in a donor's giving.

Major Gifts

A Major Gift is a gift that exceeds the Major Gift threshold configured for your organization.

By default, the Major Gift threshold is $1,000, but administrators can customize this amount based on what your organization considers a significant contribution.

When a gift exceeds the Major Gift threshold:

• The gift is automatically assigned the Major Gift Gift Tag.

• The contact owner receives an ActionBoard nudge suggesting follow-up with the donor.

For example:

💡 Your organization's Major Gift threshold is set to $1,000. A donor makes a $5,000 donation through a DonorDock Online Giving Page. When the gift is created, DonorDock automatically adds the Major Gift Gift Tag and creates an ActionBoard nudge for the contact's Owner.

This allows your organization to consistently identify significant gifts without relying on team members to manually review each new transaction.

Spike Up Gifts

A Spike Up Gift identifies a meaningful increase in a donor's giving compared with their previous giving behavior.

DonorDock compares the new gift amount with the donor's average gift amount. If the new gift is at least the configured Spike Up amount above the donor's average, the gift is considered a Spike Up Gift.

The default Spike Up amount is $100, but administrators can customize this amount in Organization Settings.

For example:

💡 A donor has an average gift amount of $20 and your organization's Spike Up amount is set to $100. If the donor's next gift is $120 or more, DonorDock considers the donation a Spike Up Gift.

A Spike Up Gift may indicate that a donor is becoming more engaged or increasing their level of support. The resulting ActionBoard nudge gives the contact's Owner an opportunity to acknowledge the increased gift and continue cultivating the relationship.

Major Gifts vs. Spike Up Gifts

Major Gift and Spike Up Gift settings identify significant gifts differently.

Because the criteria are different, a gift may qualify as a Major Gift, a Spike Up Gift, both, or neither.

For example, if your Major Gift threshold is $1,000 and your Spike Up amount is $100:

• A donor who normally gives $20 and then gives $150 may have a Spike Up Gift, but not a Major Gift.

• A donor who regularly gives $2,000 and then gives $2,050 may have a Major Gift, but not a Spike Up Gift.

• A donor who normally gives $100 and then gives $2,000 may meet the criteria for both.

Update Your Financial Settings

Organization administrators can adjust these thresholds based on your organization's fundraising needs.

1. Open the Settings Menu in the top right of DonorDock.

2. Select Organization Settings.

3. Navigate to your organization's Financial Settings.

4. Update the applicable Major Gift or Spike Up Gift amount.

5. Click Save.

Choose thresholds that reflect what is meaningful for your organization. A Major Gift for one nonprofit may be very different from a Major Gift for another, while the Spike Up setting can help identify meaningful changes in giving regardless of the donor's typical gift size.

Using Major Gifts with Automations and Journeys

An Automation in DonorDock is a custom workflow that starts when a specific Trigger occurs, such as a new gift being created. Once triggered, DonorDock can carry out a series of configured steps, such as sending a communication, adding a contact to a list, or creating a follow-up task for a team member.

For example, your organization might use Major Gift criteria to:

• Trigger a custom Automation after a significant gift is received

• Add personalized follow-up tasks for the contact owner

• Route major donors into a more intentional stewardship process

• Support a Major Donor Journey designed for higher-level cultivation

DonorDock includes a pre-configured Major Donor Journey as one of its strategic donor engagement templates. You can customize journeys with your own emails, timing, tasks, and follow-up steps before you start them.