Building a Culture of Philanthropy Around Major Gifts
Scaling Major Gifts. Strategies, action steps, and ideas for scaling major gifts by Tammy Zonker, Major Gift Expert & Keynote Speaker.
How Do You Build a Culture of Philanthropy Around Major Gifts?
A culture of philanthropy is what happens when everyone in your organization, not just the people with "development" in their title, understands their part in building donor relationships and treats generosity as central to the mission. You build it by naming the small behaviors that show a culture is healthy, then modeling and repeating them in staff meetings, onboarding, and everyday conversations. If you've ever felt like you're the only one at your organization who cares whether donors feel valued, this is for you.
This is for major gift officers, development directors, and executive directors who are carrying the weight of donor relationships alone inside their own building. After reading this, you'll be able to describe what a culture of philanthropy looks like in practice, name everyday behaviors that build or erode it, and start one simple internal habit that spreads donor-centered thinking beyond the development office.
Let’s get into it
A development director I coach once told me about a donor who called her cell phone at 9 p.m. on a Sunday because he wanted to talk through a program idea. She answered every time, for almost two years, because he was her organization's largest funder and she was afraid that saying no would cost the mission a gift it needed.
I hear versions of this story constantly in 2026. Donors have more access to us than ever, through text, email, social media, and direct phone lines, and the informal, always-on culture of fundraising can quietly train both sides to expect that access at any hour. None of that makes a generous donor a bad person. It does mean that access without a boundary eventually costs someone something, usually you.
Here's what I want you to hold onto. A boundary isn't the opposite of gratitude. It's what makes a long, healthy partnership possible in the first place.
What a culture of philanthropy looks like in practice
In practical terms, a healthy culture of philanthropy shows up in ordinary moments, not grand gestures.
A program director mentions a donor's name with warmth in a staff meeting, the way she'd mention a colleague.
Board members know at least one donor story well enough to tell it themselves, without notes.
Leadership talks about philanthropy as part of the mission's engine, not a separate revenue function bolted onto the side.
New hires learn, during onboarding, that donor relationships are everyone's responsibility in some small way.
None of this requires every employee to become a fundraiser. It just means philanthropy stops living in a silo.
Everyday behaviors that normalize donor-centered thinking
The shift usually starts smaller than people expect. Ask program staff to share one story each month that a donor might connect with. Invite a board member to sit in on a donor visit, just to listen. Have your executive director send a short note to a mid-level donor after a program success, not tied to an ask. These are small acts. Repeated often enough, they become the culture.
Training and storytelling that spreads philanthropic fluency
You don't need a formal curriculum to build fluency across your team. In my experience, storytelling does more of the work than any slide deck.
Bring one donor story to every all-staff meeting, and keep it to about ninety seconds. Pair a new hire with a development team member during onboarding for a single conversation about why donors matter to the mission. Over time, staff start treating storytelling as part of their own work, not an extra task handed down from development.
Keeping philanthropy visible through everyday channels
Culture fades fast if it isn't visible somewhere staff already look. Add one donor impact line to your staff meeting agenda. Post a short donor thank-you or milestone on your intranet. If you use a dashboard, include one philanthropy metric alongside program numbers, so the two feel connected. None of this needs to be elaborate. It just needs to be consistent.
Try this next week
Ask three colleagues outside development how they'd describe your organization's relationship with donors. Their answers will tell you more than any survey.
Run a mini culture audit by asking yourself these questions: Do staff outside development know a donor's name? Does leadership talk about philanthropy as mission-critical? Would a new hire learn about donor relationships in their first month?
Launch one small internal campaign, like a "donor story of the month" shared at your next all-staff meeting, and see who responds.
Want to take a deeper dive?
On this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser Podcast, Culture as Your Ultimate Major Gifts Strategy, I walk through what separates a culture that lifts major gift work from one that quietly isolates it, and give you a starting point for shifting yours.
Listen to the full episode below.
I’d love to hear from you
Have you ever had to reset a boundary with a generous donor? Connect with me on LinkedIn and tell me what happened. I read every note, and your stories shape what I cover next.
Gratitude and boundaries can live in the same relationship. Pick one dynamic that's felt off lately, and take the smallest step this week toward naming it out loud, even if that's just to yourself first.
Keep scaling,
Tammy Zonker
Major Gift Expert + Keynote Speaker
Founder + President of Fundraising Transformed
President of Modern Institute for Charitable Giving
Subscribe to The Intentional Fundraiser Podcast
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Who is this approach best suited for?
Major gift officers, development directors, and executive directors who want fundraising to stop feeling like a solo job. It works best if you already have a handful of colleagues or board members willing to try something new.
Q2. How much time should I expect this to take each week?
Most fundraisers can start with 1 to 2 hours a week on small culture-building habits, like prepping a donor story for a staff meeting. Consistency matters more than volume here.
Q3. What if my organization is small and I wear multiple hats?
The principles still apply at a smaller scale. Start by sharing one donor story a month with your whole staff, and expand as you see people engage.
Q4. How do I know if it's working?
Watch for colleagues mentioning donors by name unprompted, a board member offering to share a story, or program staff asking how their work connects to fundraising. Over time, that shows up as stronger major gift results and less burnout for your team.
Q5. Where does AI fit into this, if at all?
AI reduces friction, it doesn't replace the human work of culture building. Use it to draft a short donor story or prep talking points for leadership, while the relationship-building and storytelling stay in human hands.