Most fundraising shortfalls don’t happen because people don’t work hard enough.
They happen because one basic reality isn’t in place.
If you’re responsible for raising funds, you’ve probably felt this already.
I call it “Half from 12.”
This isn’t about raising the bar.
It’s about knowing where to aim.
Before you plan a single tactic for your next campaign, keep this in mind:
In campaign after campaign, success comes down to the same reality – about half of the total needs to come from twelve donors or fewer.
Half the money comes from a handful of people. Almost always.
This pattern shows up across causes, sizes, and communities.
The context changes. The pattern doesn’t.
Campaigns aren’t won by how many people give at the bottom.
They’re decided by a small group willing to lead at the top.
Medium and small donations matter.
But they follow. They don’t lead.
So yes – this applies to you.
If half the goal comes from twelve people or fewer, you don’t need a complicated plan.
You don’t need dozens of tactics.
You need clarity on which twelve – and a thoughtful way to engage them.
That usually means starting with a wider circle and letting leadership emerge.
If your challenge is an $800,000 shortfall, about $400,000 needs to come from twelve donors or fewer.
If you’re running an $8 million capital campaign, the math is the same –
roughly $4 million needs to come from leadership donors.
By “major,” I don’t necessarily mean your twelve biggest donors today.
I mean people with the capacity and the relationship to lead at a meaningful level – often people who become major by stepping forward during the campaign.
Once those twelve names are in place and willing to lead, you can open the campaign to a broader audience and trust that medium and smaller gifts will bring you home.
This isn’t optimism.
When the first half isn’t secured through leadership gifts, reaching the full goal becomes dramatically harder – and sometimes impossible.
And the bigger the campaign, the more true this becomes.
Large goals don’t change the rule. They make it more important.
Here’s why this works.
When donors hear the overall goal, they usually know where they fit.
Those who are meant to lead sense it.
And when leadership doesn’t step forward, smaller donors rarely make up the difference.
At this point, many leaders think:
“I can’t ask anyone for that much.”
That reaction makes sense.
Asking at that level can feel risky –
worrying about hearing no, overreaching, or straining important relationships.
“Half from 12” often requires asks that feel uncomfortable –
even with your strongest supporters.
But ask yourself honestly:
Do you have another option?
If you want your campaign to succeed, this approach isn’t aggressive.
It’s responsible.
And it’s far better to make respectful, confident asks early than to scramble later trying to fill painful gaps.
And one more thing.
This cause –
the one you pour your energy, sweat, tears, sleep (or lack thereof), and tefillos into every day –
because you believe Klal Yisroel needs it,
because you believe it’s ratzon Hashem.
This is why leadership gifts matter.
This is why clarity matters.
Is it worth that kind of money?
I thought so.
Remember that.
Be confident.
Hatzlacha Raba.
Avraham
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