How to use the Top Segment Gift Size Distribution Analysis (Annual) analysis
This analysis provides a detailed, year-by-year view of giving patterns among your top donors over the past 15 completed fiscal years, utilizing your organization's Gift, Thresholds, and Constituent data. It calculates, for each fiscal year, which donors reached or surpassed your defined top annual giving threshold and then examines the full range of their gifts for that year.
You can use this to see not only how many donors qualified as Top each year, but also the exact distribution of gift sizes within that segment, including the total given by the group, the 25th, 50th (median), and 75th percentile gift values, and the single largest gift. These metrics enable you to identify shifts in giving patterns, such as whether your top donors are becoming increasingly concentrated among a few very large gifts or whether the group is broadening, and to measure the impact of stewardship efforts or major campaigns.
You should review this analysis at least annually-ideally as part of your Constituent Intelligence routines-but consider more frequent reviews if you are planning a campaign or reassessing major gift strategies. Development directors, prospect managers, and annual fund leaders should use the insights to tailor stewardship and solicitation strategies and identify opportunities for personal outreach. For instance, a sudden jump in the 75th percentile gift might signal a few donors increasing their support, warranting personalized recognition or cultivation. If the number of top donors is declining, you should investigate retention and engagement tactics.
Apply the findings by adjusting your stewardship plans for top donors, targeting those who are near the threshold for upgrade opportunities, and ensuring that your segmentation accurately reflects current donor behavior. Measure success by tracking increases in top-segment retention, total dollars raised from this group, and movement of donors into higher giving brackets year over year. This analysis empowers you to deploy resources more effectively and strengthen your most valuable donor relationships.