CFRE cheat sheet

Capacity, affinity, and readiness (CAR) form a three-part qualification screen: ability to give, connection to mission, and timing or willingness.

Linkage-Ability-Interest (LIA) is the volunteer-based alternative: who knows the prospect, what the prospect can give, and how engaged the prospect already is.

Wealth screening appends estimated assets, real estate holdings, and stock ownership to existing records; outputs are estimates and require human verification before use.

Prospect ratings use a tiered scale (e.g., 1-5 or A-D), with each tier bound to a dollar range derived from the organization's gift range chart.

Predictive modeling ranks donors by likelihood to give, upgrade, or lapse using recency, frequency, monetary value, and engagement data.

Permissible research sources include property and SEC filings, Form 990-PF grant listings, news archives, and self-disclosed information; pretexting and misrepresentation are prohibited.

Prospect clearance assigns one solicitor per prospect at a time and prevents duplicate approaches across annual fund, major gifts, and planned giving.

Portfolio benchmark: a full-time major-gift officer carries roughly 100-150 qualified prospects, with 20-30 in active cultivation at any time.

Data minimization governs prospect research: collect only what serves the relationship, store securely, and honor opt-out and GDPR/CCPA requests.

Moves management sequence: identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, steward; every prospect has a written plan of dated moves.

Gift range chart heuristic: about ten gifts at the top level produce roughly 60% of goal, and the largest single gift is typically 10-20% of goal.

Prospect-to-gift ratio: plan roughly 3-5 qualified prospects for each gift required at a given level.

Annual fund ask heuristic: request 1.5-3 times the prior-year gift, or the next tier of the giving society.

Channel effect: personal, in-person solicitations produce higher close rates and higher average gift amounts than mail, phone, or email.

Split-interest vehicles: a charitable remainder trust pays income to donors first and charity later; a charitable lead trust pays charity first and donors or heirs later.

IRA qualified charitable distributions let owners aged 70½ or older move funds directly from an IRA to charity, excluded from gross income, up to an annually indexed cap.

Blended asks pair an outright current gift with a documented deferred commitment such as a bequest or beneficiary designation, raising total donor value.

Pledges are not counted as gifts until documented in writing with amount, payment schedule, and donor confirmation.

Retention rate = (repeat donors ÷ prior-year donors) × 100.

Average gift = total dollars raised ÷ number of gifts received in the same period.

Donor lifecycle: identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship; stewardship feeds directly into the next cultivation cycle.

Acknowledgment standard: receipt within 48 hours with tax language, gift designation, and a personal note at major-gift levels.

Stewardship contact mix: several non-solicitation touches (impact reports, site visits, program updates) between each ask.

Contact reports record date, participants, purpose, information learned, outcome, and next step, and are filed within days of the interaction.

Donor-centered messaging states beneficiary impact and outcomes; organization-centered messaging states institutional needs and budget gaps.

Lapsed donors with two or more prior gifts typically reactivate at higher rates than cold prospects, making them a priority recapture segment.

Common segmentation variables are giving level, recency, designation interest, and channel preference.

Volunteer roles are defined by written position descriptions stating duties, time commitment, reporting line, and expected outcomes.

Volunteer lifecycle: recruit, orient, train, engage, recognize, evaluate, renew; each stage has an assigned staff owner.

Solicitation team model: the trained volunteer makes the ask while staff prepares the case, schedules the meeting, and documents the outcome.

Board give/get policies set a minimum personal gift and/or fundraised amount; 100% board participation is a prerequisite for credible external asks.

Standing committees typically include governance/nominating, finance/audit, development, and program, each with a written charge.

Before deployment, volunteer solicitors are trained on the case for support, ask amounts, objection handling, and confidentiality.

Volunteer recognition is most effective when timely, specific, and matched to the individual's motivation for public, private, or peer recognition.

Volunteer program metrics: hours contributed, solicitations made, dollars influenced, and volunteer year-over-year retention.

Cost to raise a dollar = total fundraising expense ÷ total dollars raised.

Fundraising ROI = (dollars raised − fundraising cost) ÷ fundraising cost.

Board fiduciary duties: care (diligence), loyalty (organization's interest first), and obedience (mission and law).

SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound.

SWOT analysis maps internal strengths and weaknesses against external opportunities and threats.

Development budget lines: staff and benefits, direct response and digital, events, research and data, stewardship, and overhead.

Cost per dollar raised varies by channel: major gifts and planned giving are lowest; events and acquisition direct mail are highest.

Strategic plans run three to five years, supported by annual operating plans and quarterly review against metrics.

Donor Bill of Rights: donors are entitled to be informed, to know how funds are used, to ask questions, to privacy, and to expect professional conduct.

AFP Code of Ethical Standards prohibits percentage-based compensation for solicitation and payments contingent on gift size.

IRS written acknowledgment is required for any single contribution of $250 or more before the donor may claim a charitable deduction.

Quid pro quo disclosure is required when a payment over $75 includes goods or services; state fair market value and the deductible remainder.

Restricted funds must follow donor intent; altering a restriction requires donor consent or a legal cy pres or modification proceeding.

Gift acceptance policies define acceptable gift types, review of unusual assets, naming rights, and grounds for declining a gift.

Form 990 is publicly available; governance, compensation, and fundraising disclosures are common accountability tests.

Charitable solicitation registration is required in most states where the organization solicits, with annual renewals and multistate filings.

Conflicts of interest are disclosed in writing, and the interested board member recuses from both discussion and vote.