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La Salle University's VEO Uncovers Major Gift Capacity with a $100,000 Planned Gift
"The $100,000 gift from John's portfolio wasn't something we saw coming. This is a huge milestone for La Salle and speaks to how Autonomous Fundraising can truly expand capacity for advancement teams." - Graham Smialowski, Assistant Vice President, Development
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The Story Behind Success
La Salle University faces the same structural challenge as advancement teams nationwide: too many donors and not enough frontline fundraisers. The cost of that capacity gap isn't just lapsed donors, but all the unmanaged donors with major gift capacity. They are in the database, but have never given at a level that triggered a rating or flagged their interest in major giving. They're present but invisible without personal cultivation.
The Challenge
With a team of under five frontline fundraisers, La Salle couldn't build the sustained, attentive relationships needed to engage donors at a meaningful level that drives revenue. This was critical as they prepared for their next campaign.
The Solution
La Salle's leadership saw an opportunity for Autonomous Fundraising to engage an additional 1,000 donors with a Virtual Engagement Officer (VEO). When designing the portfolio for VEO John, they focused on LYBUNT donors with a goal to recapture lapsed donors, upgrade loyal donors, and cultivate the pipeline.
The Results
John surfaced a $100,000 planned gift, a direct result of the year-round personal cultivation the portfolio receives. On La Salle's Giving Day, John’s portfolio contributed $31,685, and $18,000 has come specifically from lapsed and upgraded donors, who came back into the fold through John's sustained re-engagement.
Impact By The Numbers
$100K
500+
Planned Gift
Gifts
$18K
Upgrades and Lapsed Recaptures
$31.6K
Raised by VEO on Giving Day
The Moment that Changed the Conversation
Among the donors in John's portfolio was an alumnus who had lapsed in the past two years, who had been screened as having capacity, but had never been actively managed.
Like any frontline fundraiser beginning a new portfolio, John introduced himself, shared relevant news and updates from La Salle, responded to questions, and built trust over a series of meaningful touchpoints.
And then, this donor made a $100,000 planned gift — the largest single gift to date from a VEO portfolio. This gift didn't surface because someone already knew it was coming. It surfaced because a relationship was built where one never existed before.