CFRE Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: A

Measure net revenue plus engagement results, such as new prospects and attendees' later giving: Correct. Events in an engagement strategy should be judged against their stated objectives, financial and relational, using evidence such as prospects identified and subsequent giving (TCO 3.5).

Judge it on gross revenue, because the ticket and sponsorship totals show the community's support for it: Gross revenue ignores the event's costs and says nothing about relationships built.

Cancel it, because its net return per dollar spent is lower than the return on direct mail: Tempting, but comparing only financial return ignores the engagement role the gala may play; the decision needs both measures.

Continue it without review, because board members value hosting their guests at the event: Board enjoyment is not evidence of relationship-building; the claim should be tested against results.

Evaluate events against their objectives: net revenue plus measurable engagement outcomes.

Answer: A

Ask her for informed, written consent covering the story, channels and duration, including anonymity: Correct. Consent for a story must be informed, specific to its use and documented, and it remains the beneficiary's choice; respect and dignity come before the organisation's need for content (TCO 3.3; International Statement: respect).

Ask the caseworker to confirm by phone that she is still happy for the story and photo to run: Checking again is better than relying on memory, but a relayed verbal "yes" is still not informed, specific, documented consent covering channels, duration and anonymity.

Rely on the caseworker's recollection, since she already agreed and asking again could re-open painful memories: An informal, undocumented "yes" months ago is not informed consent to specific channels such as social media.

Ask the shelter's executive director to approve the story on her behalf to protect her from further contact: Leadership cannot consent for an adult beneficiary; this is paternalistic and bypasses her right to decide.

Beneficiary stories require informed, specific, documented consent, with an option to withdraw or be anonymised, before publication.

Answer: A

Brief all donors promptly and honestly, coordinated with leadership and counsel: Correct. Prompt, transparent communication coordinated with leadership protects trust better than silence or spin (TCO 3.2; International Statement: transparency).

Brief major donors and the board now, and tell other donors only after the story runs: Personal calls to key supporters are right, but leaving other donors to learn from the press undermines trust.

Issue a statement that stresses the organisation's long record of trusted service: Focusing on reputation instead of the facts reads as spin.

Prepare a holding statement and reply only to donors who contact the office: A holding statement helps, but a purely reactive approach leaves most donors to hear the news from the media first.

In a crisis, communicate early, honestly and consistently with all donors, in coordination with leadership.

Answer: D

Move them to a lower-cost mailing track, since their annual gifts are small: Cutting contact to save money treats the most loyal donors as low value and risks the retention that makes them valuable.

Ask each of them to upgrade to 250 to reach the mid-level giving threshold: An upgrade invitation can suit some, but a uniform jump of more than double ignores each donor's pattern and is not stewardship.

Add all 600 to the mid-level program for regular calls from gift officers: Personal calls are welcome, but gift-officer time for 600 modest donors is costly and the plan ignores their strongest potential, legacy giving.

Recognise their loyalty personally, show their impact, and explore legacy gifts: Correct. Long-term consecutive donors are highly retained and are among the strongest planned-gift prospects; thanking them for loyalty, showing impact and opening a legacy conversation protects and grows their value (TCO 3.1).

Loyalty, not gift size, marks some of the best long-term and legacy prospects: steward consecutive-year donors personally and explore planned giving.

Answer: C

Suggest a smaller amount she could commit to on her own today: Lowering the ask treats a request for consultation as a refusal.

Leave a pledge form and ask her to return it when they have decided: This is passive and leaves no agreed next step or chance to answer the husband's questions.

Acknowledge it, offer to meet them both, and agree a follow-up date: Correct. The objection is about a joint decision, not refusal; including the spouse and agreeing a next step keeps the ask alive respectfully (TCO 2.5).

Offer to spread the 50,000 over five years so it feels more manageable: A pledge schedule can help later, but it answers a cost objection she has not raised and sidesteps the joint decision.

Listen to what an objection is really about, answer that, and always agree a next step.

Answer: D

1. 1. Add the gifts needed in the top three levels: 1 + 2 + 4 = 7 gifts.
2. 2. Apply the stated ratio of 4 prospects per gift: 7 × 4 = 28 prospects.
3. 3. Check: these three levels cover 1,200,000, or 60% of the goal, which is why they need named prospects early.

7: This is the number of gifts needed, not prospects; the 4:1 ratio has not been applied.

12: This multiplies the three levels by 4, counting one gift per level instead of the gifts needed.

21: This uses a 3:1 ratio; the plan states 4 prospects per gift.

28: Correct. Gifts needed: 1 + 2 + 4 = 7; prospects needed: 7 × 4 = 28 (TCO 2.3).

A gift range chart sets the number of gifts at each level; the prospect ratio turns gifts into the prospects you must identify.

Answer: C

1. 1. Direct mail: net = 60,000; ROI = 60,000 ÷ 40,000 = 1.5; cost per dollar = 40,000 ÷ 100,000 = 0.40.
2. 2. Events: net = 60,000; ROI = 60,000 ÷ 60,000 = 1.0; cost per dollar = 60,000 ÷ 120,000 = 0.50.
3. 3. Major gifts: net = 350,000; ROI = 350,000 ÷ 50,000 = 7.0; cost per dollar = 50,000 ÷ 400,000 = 0.125.
4. 4. Major gifts have the highest ROI; events, not mail, have the highest cost per dollar raised.

Events produce the highest net revenue of the three channels, so their budget should grow: Events net 60,000, the same as direct mail and far below major gifts (350,000).

Direct mail and events have the same ROI, because each produces 60,000 in net revenue: Equal net revenue does not mean equal ROI: direct mail is 1.5 and events 1.0 because their costs differ.

Major gifts have the highest ROI (7.0), though mail may still be needed for donor acquisition: Correct. Major gifts ROI = 350,000 ÷ 50,000 = 7.0 (mail 1.5, events 1.0). Channel decisions should also weigh roles such as acquisition, which feeds the major gift pipeline.

Direct mail has the highest cost per dollar raised, so it is the first channel to cut: Direct mail costs 0.40 per dollar raised and events 0.50, so the premise is wrong.

Compare channels on ROI and cost per dollar raised, then weigh each channel's role in the whole programme.

Answer: B

Agree, and reduce next year's fundraising budget in steps until the ratio reaches about 0.15: Cutting to match one peer's ratio ignores why costs differ and can shrink future net revenue.

Explain how channel mix and maturity drive costs; compare by channel and with its own past trend: Correct. Cost ratios vary with channel mix, programme maturity and investment in acquisition; benchmarks are meaningful only when compared like for like and alongside the organisation's own trend.

Reclassify some fundraising staff costs as programme costs so that the ratio falls: Misreporting costs to improve a ratio breaches accurate accounting and erodes trust.

Stop donor acquisition mailings at once, because acquisition is the costliest channel: Acquisition is costly by design; stopping it improves the ratio now but shrinks the future donor base.

Use cost benchmarks with care: compare by channel and against your own trend, not a single headline ratio.

Answer: B

Accept the gift and launch the programme, since donor interest is a strong sign of community need: Lets a donor's interest set programme priorities and leaves the clinic with unfunded ongoing costs (mission drift).

Explore how her interest links to plan priorities, and have leadership assess the full costs and mission fit: Correct. Fundraising serves organisational priorities; leadership should assess mission fit and the full, long-term cost before a gift that creates new obligations is accepted.

Decline at once and explain that the clinic funds only projects already in its strategic plan: Too rigid as a first step; the donor's interests may connect to a plan priority, and leadership has not assessed it.

Accept the gift as a one-year pilot and decide later whether the programme should continue: Defers the real question; a pilot still commits the clinic to staff and patients it may not be able to sustain.

Gifts should advance the strategic plan; explore donor interests and assess full costs before accepting a gift that creates new programmes.

Answer: B

Capacity of 2 million; no gifts to date; met the executive director once at a gala: High ability, but with weak linkage and unknown interest this prospect needs cultivation before any ask.

Capacity of 300,000; gives every year; has toured the site twice and asked about the project: Correct. Strong linkage, shown interest in the project and adequate ability make this the prospect most ready to be asked now (TCO 1.4).

Capacity of 750,000; a former board member who resigned after a dispute last year: Linkage is strong but strained; repairing the relationship must come before an ask.

Capacity of 1 million; gives large gifts to other shelters; no contact with Fernhill: Interest in the cause is clear, but with no linkage this prospect is not ready to be asked.

Solicitation priority goes to the prospect strongest across linkage, ability and interest, not the one with the largest capacity.

Answer: B

1. 1. Prior-year donors (the base) = 1,200.
2. 2. Donors retained = those 1,200 who gave again = 780. The 300 new donors are not part of retention.
3. 3. Retention rate = 780 ÷ 1,200 = 0.65 = 65%.

35%: 420 ÷ 1,200 is the share of last year's donors who did not give again: the attrition rate, not retention.

65%: Correct. 780 retained donors ÷ 1,200 prior-year donors = 65% (TCO 1.3).

72%: This divides by this year's donors (780 + 300 = 1,080), the wrong denominator.

90%: This adds the 300 new donors to the numerator; new donors are acquired, not retained.

Retention is measured against last period's donors; new donors count toward acquisition, not retention.

Answer: A

Disclose promptly what happened, the steps taken and how gifts are now protected: Correct. Prompt, accurate disclosure with concrete corrective action (investigation, new controls, restitution) is the strongest response for preserving trust (International Statement: transparency, honesty).

Say nothing in public until the investigation ends, to avoid prejudicing its outcome: Tempting, but silence after a public report looks like concealment; the trust can disclose facts and actions without prejudging findings.

State publicly that no donor funds were affected while the investigation is still running: Making a claim before the facts are known risks a second breach of trust if it proves untrue.

Brief major donors privately and make no public statement about the matter: Two-tier disclosure leaves most donors and the public uninformed.

After a breach, disclose promptly and accurately, and show the corrective steps taken.

Answer: D

Move the funds to general operations, since the restricted purpose no longer exists: Redirecting a restricted gift without the donor's consent breaches the restriction.

Hold the funds unspent until a similar job-training programme can be restarted in future: Leaves the gift idle indefinitely and leaves the donor uninformed.

Use the funds for a similar employment programme and tell the donor at year end: The new use may be close to the donor's intent, but consent must come before the change, not after.

Explain to the donor, propose uses close to her intent and get her written consent: Correct. Restricted gifts must be used as the donor specified; any change needs the donor's informed consent (or, where the donor cannot consent, the legal process for varying a restriction), and returning the gift should be offered if preferred (Donor Bill of Rights: gifts used for the purposes given).

Redirecting a restricted gift requires the donor's prior consent, or the applicable legal process where consent is impossible.