---
title: 7 Reasons to Not Mix Mid-Level Donors With Your Major Donor Program · DickersonBakker
description: "Although Mid-Level Donors resemble Major Donors in motivators and giving capacity, the programs need to separate plans and implementation. Problems of combining Mid-Level Donors into a Major Donor program include: Lists become too big. Major donor reps don’t have enough … read more"
---

[DickersonBakker Blog](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com)

# [7 Reasons to Not Mix Mid-Level Donors With Your Major Donor Program · DickersonBakker](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/7-reasons-to-not-mix-mid-level-donors-with-your-major-donor-program)

 Written by [Paul Martin](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/author/paul-martin) | Aug 31, 2020 4:00:00 AM

Although Mid-Level Donors resemble Major Donors in motivators and giving capacity, the programs need to separate plans and implementation.

Problems of combining Mid-Level Donors into a Major Donor program include:

1. **Lists become too big.** Major donor reps don’t have enough time to build relationships with the largest capacity donors if they have too many donors to serve.
2. **Larger donors are a higher priority.** Major donor reps have so many donors to serve, they neglect Mid-Level donors to compensate.
3. **Major Donor Program becomes too expensive.** The Service Cost Per Donor is much higher for a Major Donor program because the giving levels are higher. It makes sense. Unfortunately, when you load Mid-Level Donors into a major donor portfolio, you can see Service Cost Per Donor skyrocket needlessly.
4. **Too infrequent contact.** Mid-Level Donors typically give several times per year while Major Donors may give fewer times per year. As a result, major donor representatives may not call Mid-Level Donors often enough to lift giving.
5. **Better in-person.** Many major gift representatives become their best when they can see a donor and their surroundings. Mid-Level Donor cultivation occurs principally by telephone and requires a different set of relationship skills.
6. **Dropped coverage.**  Many programs suppress Mid-Level Donors from Mass mailings but do not have a substantial communications plan for Major Donors that can fill the void between visits. Make sure Mid-Level Donors and Major Donors have fluid, personalized communications programs.
7. **Opportunity Costs.** When a Major Gift Officer focuses time on Mid-Level Donors, she can lose the larger gift in winning a mid-level gift.

A high-performing Mid-Level Donor Cultivation Program helps grow new major donors. Does your organization need help in creating an on-ramp for major gift stewardship? [Contact us today to learn how we can help.](https://dickersonbakker.com/contact/)

[View full post](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/7-reasons-to-not-mix-mid-level-donors-with-your-major-donor-program)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Paul Martin"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2023-07-19T19:16:47.075Z",
  "datePublished" : "2020-08-31T04:00:00Z",
  "headline" : "7 Reasons to Not Mix Mid-Level Donors With Your Major Donor Program",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 394,
    "url" : "https://5823897.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/5823897/Imported_Blog_Media/7-Reasons-to-Not-Mix-Mid-Level-Donors-With-Your-Major-Donor-Program.jpg",
    "width" : 700
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/7-reasons-to-not-mix-mid-level-donors-with-your-major-donor-program",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60,
      "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
      "width" : 60
    },
    "name" : "DickersonBakker Blog"
  }
}
```