Getting Face-to-Face with Prospective Donors: The Art of Listening
Product This webinar helps participants sharpen their listening skills, which play a large role in understanding donors' interests, motivations and values. Participants assess their listening skills and learn about different listening styles. This multimedia file is a recording of a webinar presented Feb. 7, 2013.

Accelerating Your Major Gift Program
Product This webinar focuses on techniques that major gift programs can use to ensure a successful, effective program. Speakers emphasize the need for thoughtful and innovative cultivation, consistent stewardship and a strategic approach. This multimedia file is a recording of a CASE webinar originally presented Sept. 20, 2012.

Ins and Outs
CURRENTS Article When managed effectively, a change in leadership can enhance rather than hurt an institution's fundraising efforts. A successful leadership transition requires, among other things, constant, honest communication with key donors.

Out of Focus
CURRENTS Article For years, development officers have cultivated prospective donors by listening to their deepest desires. Now, development officers' work increasingly involves devising a strategy for aligning the donor's desires with the mission, goals, and needs of their institution.

True Confessions
CURRENTS Article Examining fundraising best practices is a great way to improve a development program, but looking at worse practices can also be enlightening. In this story, fundraisers reveal embarrassing blunders that subsequently may prove instructive.

Building Better Donors
CURRENTS Article This article encourages institutions to engage donors by offering them donor education programs. The author describes three types of programs: those that teach basic how-to information about donating, those that empower donors to think of themselves as philanthropists, and those that use faculty experts to provide subject-specific knowledge about topics of interest to the donors, such as the environment.

An Inspiring Life's Work
CURRENTS Article One of the pioneers of educational fundraising, David Dunlop discusses ultimate gifts and the personal qualities of successful development officers in this interview. He shares similar insights annually as a faculty member of the Inspiring the Largest Gifts of a Lifetime conference.

PSAs and Commercial Spots: Indiana University Foundation - Silver Medal
Best Practice The Indiana University Foundation Marketing Group initiated a collaborative effort to communicate with donors, prospective donors, and grateful patients in four primary media markets across Indiana. The group produced a series of four TV ads focused on advances in medicine that were partially underwritten by private philanthropic support and that have improved quality of life in Indiana and the world. In creating the campaign, staff hoped to demonstrate the significance of medical research at IU and its partner hospitals, and the importance of private gifts to the University.

A Match Made in Heaven
CURRENTS Article Many prospects acquire their wealth through their entrepreneurial ventures. Development officers can tap into this potential through the concept of angel investing--the opportunity for donors to start a new business, champion a cause, and be directly involved.

The Pluto Principles
CURRENTS Article The quest for the planet Pluto teaches the need for persistence, research, strategic planning, and thinking out of the box--and why it's smart to sweat the small stuff. Astronomers discovered Pluto's existence by noticing wobbles in nearby planets. So if something in your development programs appears a bit off, it bears looking into. The discovery will be donors who want to make larger and more meaningful gifts.

Do Unto Others
CURRENTS Article This article describes the DISC method of categorizing personality types according to: dominance, influence, steadiness, or compliance. Once you know yours and someone else’s personality type, the author argues, you can use the platinum rule in dealing with them: Treat others as they would like to be treated, rather than the Golden Rule (treat people as you would like to be treated).

Weighing Dollars with Sense
CURRENTS Article The central purpose of development offices is to raise money. But to measure their effectiveness based solely on rigid dollar figures would be shortsighted, say many chief development officers. Some of these forward-thinking managers now assess the effectiveness of their operations by how well their efforts support the institution’s mission and goals, develop new and long-term relationships with potential donors, and move prospects and donors toward greater participation in the institution.

Means, Motive, & Opportunity
CURRENTS Article Development officers at DePauw University use structured, face-to-face interviews with prospective major gift donors to determine their potential for giving as well as their attitudes toward campus programs and institutional messages. The interview takes about 75 minutes and includes 50 carefully considered, standard questions. Questions cover the prospect's experience with and interest in the institution.

AdvanceWork: Dollars from Diplomas
CURRENTS Article AdvanceWork: Dollars from Diplomas

The Young and the Restless
CURRENTS Article Two trends are increasing the number of young major gift prospects: the intergenerational transfer of wealth to the baby boomers from their parents, and the increase of young stars in high-paying fields. As a group, young donors often face financial insecurity, have a desire to give back to the community, are focused on the bottom line, and may be seeking status. To cultivate young major-gift prospects, consider approaching them through other young alumni or older major givers; try a challenge; keep an eye on the annual fund for prospects; and let them start small. A sidebar profiles two top young women philanthropists.

You're Not Welcome
CURRENTS Article When a major supporter suddenly breaks off connections for no apparent reason, the problem may be burnout.

In Advance: Stop Looking for Bill Gates
CURRENTS Article Joseph M. Zanetta, vice president for advancement at Whittier College, recomends that campuses looking for major donors prospects look at their previous donors for large gifts, rather than at those who are rich and trying to find a connection to their campus.