by guest writer Greg Ritter of The Ritter Group

As an organization moves into major gift fundraising a common problem is determining who belongs on the prospect list. We may think first about contacting the people with the most wealth. But writing a letter to Bill and Melinda Gates or to Warren Buffet will probably lead to disappointment. Organizations usually imagine a large gift "coming out of the blue," when it's most likely going to come from someone they already know.

In development practice ability is only one of the three ingredients that will most often result in a major gift. Linkage to our organization or to one like ours is just as important. Lack of linkage will most likely shoot down our letters to Bill, Melinda and Warren. These first two ingredients, ability and linkage, are almost givens in major gift fundraising.

Prospects either have the ability, or they don't. They are either linked to us, or they aren't.

When these two ingredients are both present, we can supply the third one, interest. By making a strong case for giving, we complete the recipe for a major gift.

Asking for Major Gifts is a workshop that will show how to spot prospects in your data base and how to use helpful resources as close as your public library, the web, and CD ROMs to spend the most time with prospects who can really make it happen.

Click here for more information on this course and for a registration form.