Capital Campaign Gift Range Chart Calculator

How it works

Lead gift = goal × 10–20%; each level halves the gift size and roughly doubles the number of gifts until the cumulative total reaches the goal; prospects = gifts × 3–4

Campaign consultants have used the gift range chart since the 1950s because it turns an abstract goal into a concrete test: can we name the specific people capable of the top gifts? The classic structure starts with a lead gift of 10–20% of the goal and halves the gift size at each step while roughly doubling the count, which produces the familiar pyramid in which ten to twenty donors supply most of the money. Multiplying each level by three or four gives the prospects that must be identified and cultivated, since most asks are declined or reduced. The chart also sets the campaign's sequence — quiet phase for the top of the pyramid, public phase for the base — and the feasibility study asks whether the top levels are realistically fillable before the goal is announced.

Worked example

A $5M campaign with a 15% lead gift needs one gift of $750,000, two of $375,000, four of $190,000, eight of $94,000 and so on — about 110 gifts over seven levels, with the top ten gifts providing roughly half of the goal and some 440 qualified prospects required at 4:1. The lead donor should have about $15M or more in assets.

Frequently asked questions