What a gift range chart is for

A gift range chart (also called a gift table or gift pyramid) is the reality test behind every capital campaign. It converts a big round goal into a concrete claim: “we need one gift of this size, two of that size, four of the next…” If your organization cannot name plausible prospects for the top three rows, the chart is telling you the goal — not the donors — is the problem.

The standard model anchors the chart with a lead gift of 15–25% of goal, then roughly halves the gift size and increases the number of gifts at each step. The top ten or so gifts typically account for half to two-thirds of the entire campaign — which is why campaigns run a “quiet phase” securing those gifts before any public announcement.

Using the chart in practice

• Write names in the rows. The chart becomes a working document when each top-level row lists actual prospects and who will ask them.
• Announce at 50–65% raised. Go public only after the quiet phase fills the top of the chart; the public phase fills the bottom.
• Test against your donor file. Your biggest campaign gift is usually 5–20× a donor’s largest annual gift — if nobody gives $10,000 annually, a $500,000 lead gift is a stretch.
• For annual campaigns, the flatter model in our fundraising goal calculator is the better fit.

Gift charts are planning conventions, not physics — feasibility studies and your own giving history should calibrate the final version.