North America specifically has a strong culture of Philanthropy. However, the picture in the UK isn’t the same. Analysis from CAF shows that the top 1% of earners in the UK give less than their counterparts in comparable societies, such as New Zealand and Canada. If we were to give as much as these countries, it’s estimated that the UK would receive an additional £5 billion in donations each year.

When we look at the top 1% of earners in the UK, the percentage of those donating to charity is relatively low. A small core of philanthropists in the UK’s top 1% are responsible for nearly two-thirds (63%) of the total value of money donated. That’s less than 0.5% of the group—equivalent to just 1,700 individuals.

This begs the question of who that wider audience of the top 1% is, who aren’t currently giving, and how we can encourage them to give to charity.

Here are our five principles to help you unlock high-value donors.

Grow your pipeline of new donors

There is huge headroom for growth in the UK Market. Despite the wealth of the top 1% rising over the last decade, the UK market has seen a decline in median charitable donations from this group. Of the top 1% of earners in the UK, only a third give to charity. This has remained the case with little changes since 2011. Consequently, there is a huge untapped audience.

Can you offer a lower entry point product and then grow that value over time? It can be helpful to start establishing relationships with prospective major donors and growing them over time to higher-value donations.

Capital appeals are also extremely successful at providing very tangible solutions to galvanise support across different audiences. They are particularly powerful when engaging major donors, both new and existing. When thinking about existing audiences who might have already donated to a charity in the past, a capital appeal can be a powerful way to reinvigorate support.

A major giving proposition tailored to the audience

It’s important to tailor your propositions to your target audience and to understand their mindset and motivations.

A great example of this is Annie Lennox’s ‘The Circle,’ which is aimed at high-net-worth women. Not only is it about making an impact and driving change for women across the world, but it’s also about connecting those high-net-worth women with one another to help them drive change as a community. Thus, enabling them to connect, discuss, and collaborate on how they can unlock change for women in different ways.

Also worth noting that climate change is top of the agenda for many philanthropists. Beyond direct giving toward climate action charities, philanthropists are adding a climate lens to all giving without losing focus on their main issues.

Create solutions together

Reflecting on wider shifts in the charity sector, it’s critical that philanthropy becomes more inclusive and addresses power and diversity imbalances by co-creating solutions with communities themselves.

There’s growing discussion about how to “decolonise” philanthropy by ensuring affected communities are involved in the creation of solutions. Funders, partners, and communities are working together to shift the mindset from a “colonial” approach—that decides from the outside what ought to be done—to an approach that involves affected communities and experts in the creation of programmes.

Invest in creative storytelling that captures hearts

We can sometimes think of major donors as highly rational and strategic individuals. This is, of course, true but they are also people. This means investing in ideas that not only capture their intent and attention, but also those that really connect with them emotionally, inspiring them to consider giving to a cause.

It’s not enough to have a compelling and clear value proposition. We need to think about how we bring that to life creatively to connect with them and to encourage them to give.

Our work ‘Forever Forward’ with London Business School is a five-year fundraising campaign platform aiming to raise £200m. We spent a lot of time speaking to the alumni and students at the school to inform and inspire the creative work. We found that everyone at the school had belief in the power of the school to drive real change in business and, ultimately, the world. So, we spoke to that restless spirit and that optimism within the campaign itself.

Think holistically about what individuals can offer

It’s important not to forget about two areas when thinking holistically about high-value donors.

Corporate partnerships: don’t forget the crossover between major givers and corporate partnerships. The best strategies look at cross-sell opportunities.

Look beyond giving – there is a trend toward greater involvement by philanthropists. Beyond grant money, people are offering their expertise, connections, and advocacy.

Give prospects more relevant ways to give

As wealth management changes, today’s major donors have different preferred methods of giving. Charities need to consider and present themselves as part of a coherent financial ecosystem. Fundraisers need to be aware of the distribution channels major donors will use to manage their impact.

Some alternative channels to consider:

DAFs as alternatives to setting up a charitable foundation

Blended giving models

Investment models (i.e. Social Impact Bonds)