Stretch Giving for Capital Campaigns: Inspiring Donors to Give Bigger

Not long ago, during a training on the board’s role in a capital campaign, a Capital Campaign Pro client we’ll call Polly dropped a thoughtful, two-part question in the chat:

What exactly is a stretch gift and how can we help board members understand what constitutes one?

These are questions that many campaign leaders have wondered but don’t always know how to answer. After all, stretch gifts are at the heart of inspiring transformative generosity, but they look different for everyone. So today, Polly, this post is for you.

Stretch Giving: What Exactly is a Stretch Gift?

The phrase “stretch gift” comes up often during capital campaigns, but it’s not always clear what it really means. Some assume it’s a specific dollar amount, while others think it’s a particular threshold on a gift range chart.

In reality, a stretch gift looks different for every donor. For one person, it might be $5,000. For another, it could be $5 million. The amount of the gift isn’t what defines a stretch gift. What matters is that the donor gives more than they normally would, often by rethinking their giving priorities or spreading their gift over multiple years.

Why Do Stretch Gifts Matter?

Stretch gifts are a sign of belief. They show that a donor sees the campaign as something worth going above and beyond for. Campaigns depend on that kind of belief. Annual funds are essential, but they’re designed to sustain. On the other hand, campaigns are built to grow, and growth takes bold, extraordinary giving.

Stretch gifts are the secret sauce that make a gift range chart come alive. When donors lean just beyond their comfort zone (whether that means moving from $50,000 to $100,000, or from $500,000 to $1,500,000) they lift the entire campaign.

Think of it like climbing stairs: if everyone takes one or two steps higher than they thought possible, suddenly the whole group is standing on a new level. That’s how campaigns gain momentum. If every board member (and beyond) stretches up just one level, the chart fills in faster, the top gifts inspire confidence, and the whole campaign starts to hum.

What Motivates Stretch Giving in a Campaign?

People stretch when something matters deeply to them. A campaign to build a new facility, launch a transformative program, or expand community reach can offer just that kind of motivation. It’s not just about supporting the annual operations, it’s about helping the organization take a big step forward.

Donors stretch when they feel confident in the organization’s leadership, excited by the vision, and clear about the impact their gift will have. And they stretch when someone they trust (often a peer) invites them to consider what kind of role they want to play in making the campaign a success.

How Does Stretch Giving Differ from Regular Giving?

Here’s a breakdown of differences between regular gifts and stretch gifts:

How Can We Help Boards Understand What It Means to Stretch?

Now that we’ve established what a stretch gift is, let’s return to the second part of Polly’s question:

How can we help board members understand what constitutes a stretch gift?

I love this question because it gets at something subtle but incredibly important: stretch gifts don’t just happen. As campaign leaders, we must inspire people to make them. But how?

In Andrea Kihlstedt’s blog post, How to Train Your Board to Think Bigger About Campaign Gifts, she introduces a simple yet powerful exercise (called “How High Will You Go?”) to help board members reflect on the idea of stretch giving.

One of our advisors, Tammy, recently put this exercise into practice with spectacular results. Tammy explains:

“When I was invited to facilitate a board retreat for one of my campaign clients, I was told there was some trepidation about the campaign. Several board members were concerned about being asked to give beyond their annual gift and some even expressed reluctance.

Our Core Committee and I knew it would be important to first ground the group in the campaign’s ‘why’ and help everyone internalize the intended impact before introducing the idea of stretch gifts. At the end of a carefully designed day, I facilitated the How High Will You Go exercise, making it clear that the purpose of the exercise was not to secure commitments, but rather to help everyone understand what a stretch gift felt like and to get a ballpark value for a collective board giving goal. A collective stretch goal that the board would be proud to share during the campaign’s quiet phase and publicly announce during the community phase of the campaign.

The outcome was extraordinary: after a day immersed in the organization’s big vision and with the careful scaffolding and guidance of Andrea’s How High Will You Go exercise, we had a breakthrough. Even with four members absent, the board’s projected stretch goal reached twenty times higher than their most recent year of collective annual giving.”

Tammy’s story shows that with the right preparation and guidance, boards can move from hesitation to embracing bold, ambitious goals that drive campaign success.

How You Can Support Stretch Giving in Your Capital Campaign

To inspire stretch gifts for your campaign, consider doing the following:

• Share a bold, clear vision of the future
• Provide a compelling case for why the campaign matters
• Communicate exactly how larger gifts will make a difference
• Involve potential donors in the project and campaign before asking for support
• Offer personal solicitation conversations (no mass solicitations), and include peers who’ve already stretched for the campaign
• Share who else is stretching for the campaign (with their permission of course!)
• Embrace multi-year pledges

Remember, making a stretch gift isn’t about pressure or prestige. It’s about generosity, belief, and personal commitment. It’s about saying, “I want to be part of making this happen.”

Making Change Possible

In the context of a capital campaign, stretch gifts create momentum, build community, and make transformational change possible. And for the donors who give them, stretch gifts often become the most meaningful gifts they ever make. It’s not about equal giving it’s about equally thoughtful giving.

Everyone’s stretch looks different, and every stretch matters.