Virtually all large non-profits and educational institutions with highly sophisticated development programs (and very large staffs), spend highly focused time and energy on developing long-term cultivation strategies for their very top prospects. Within the ranks of many colleges and universities, the top prospect level will often be prospects of $10 million or more. For many smaller non-profits, both the threshold and the pool of such prospects is lower and much smaller.

Roy Muir, a mentor and colleague who spent most of his career in campaign and major gift fundraising at The University of Michigan, often states that fundraising is “part art and part science”.

What best practices are at the heart of virtually all successful fundraising efforts? This question is examined through the eyes of a consultant who has first-hand experience working with and along-side the fundraising programs at more than 100 non-profits ranging from large universities (such as The University of Michigan and Yale) to small non-profits with no development staff.

A capital campaign is a major undertaking that requires significant advanced planning and engagement of people highly experienced in the campaign process. For this reason, a short-term consultation should not be viewed as adequate preparation for implementation of a capital campaign except, on occasion, when your organization already has on-staff people highly experienced in the campaign process.

Those working in small development shops are often intimidated by the technical language of planned giving and find themselves weighted down by the demands of meeting short-term financial goals that do not include planned gifts.

The purpose of this 1-2 day on-site consultation is to help a small to medium-size non-profit understand the principles of planned giving and lay the foundation for an on-going, and effective planned gift program.

In his book, The Spirituality of Fund-Raising, Henri Nouwen writes “…..fund-raising is as spiritual as giving a sermon, entering a time of prayer, visiting the sick, and feeding the hungry.”