Imagine you?re walking past two brand-new restaurants.

One has a line out the door. The other one is completely empty.

Which one do you want to try?

Probably the one with the line.

You don?t know if the food is better. You haven?t read the reviews. But all of those people standing outside are telling you something.

They know something you don?t know, and you want to be part of it.

That?s social proof. And the exact same thing happens in your paddle raise.

Your largest lead gift sends a signal

In the last post, I talked about working toward having up to 50% of your paddle raise goal committed before event night.

But there?s another number inside of that 50% that I pay really close attention to: your largest lead gift.

Clients ask me all the time, ?Okay, Dani, how big should that gift be??

And my answer is usually: as big as you can get it.

Obviously, ?big? is going to mean something different for every organization.

I work with a ton of organizations raising up to $200,000 at their galas. For one of those organizations, a $10,000 or $20,000 lead gift might feel really significant.

For another organization, it could be a completely different number.

The actual number isn?t the point.

What matters is what that gift signals to your room.

It changes the way people feel about giving

Think about what happens when someone raises their paddle for a really significant gift.

Immediately, everyone else in the room knows that someone is willing to trust this organization with that amount of money.

That matters.

It makes giving feel safe. It makes it feel normal. It makes it feel important.

And it starts to establish, ?Oh, this is what we do here.?

That?s your line out the door.

And once you?ve established that, it can change what everyone else is willing to do.

Maybe somebody came in planning to give $250.

Then they see someone else give $20,000. They see other paddles going up. They feel the momentum in the room.

Maybe now they give $500.

It doesn?t mean every single person is suddenly going to double their gift. But if enough people in the room are thinking a little bit bigger about their giving, collectively, that can make a huge difference.

And it doesn?t necessarily end that night

This is the part I think is really interesting.

Let?s say you attend the same gala every year.

One year, you?re in the room when someone gives $20,000. The paddle raise takes off. The organization raises a ton of money.

You leave thinking, ?Wow. We raised a lot of money tonight.?

But also: ?I?m part of that group.?

That starts to change what fundraising feels like at this event.

And by the time you come back the following year, maybe your own expectations have changed a little bit too.

Maybe you?re prepared to give more. Maybe you want to be one of the people who steps up. Maybe you simply walk into that room already knowing, ?This is a group that gives generously.?

That?s why I think your largest lead gift has the potential to elevate your fundraising year after year.

You?re not just raising the ceiling for one night.

You?re helping establish what generosity looks like in this community.

So what should your number be?

I don?t want you looking at another organization?s $20,000 gift and deciding you suddenly need a $20,000 lead gift.

Look at your own donors. Look at your own history. Look at what would be significant in your room.

And then ask: How large of an early commitment can we realistically work toward?

Because this is something you can influence. It comes from donor conversations, stewardship, and intentionally working toward that gift before the event.

Your paddle raise starts long before anyone picks up a paddle.

And your largest lead gift is one of the numbers I want you thinking about as you build that fundraising foundation. Because it doesn?t just add money to your total. It tells everyone else in the room what might be possible.

That?s the social proof.

That?s the line out the door.

And that?s why this is one of the Gala Performance Metrics I want you paying attention to.

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