She invites top annual fund donors living in Boston, Florida, and other areas with concentrations of alumni to cocktail gatherings and other regional events with the school head. Also consider inviting these donors to departmental events, lunchtime lectures, or special programs that highlight top faculty. Several years ago, when Internet technology was still new, Yersh projected arts, science, and cultural Web sites onto a screen at an art gallery to give donors a first-class tour of the World Wide Web, for example. Keep an ear to the ground to uncover unusual things that would interest them. Gift clubs .
Campuses often use gift clubs to maintain leadership-level giving and inspire new gifts.
But trying to find a role for gift clubs is more challenging these days, says Johns Hopkins' Schroeder. Originally, these may have been literally cigar-filled, elite gatherings of the closest institutional friends who had access to campus administrators and faculty. Today, however, a gift club is often just a name assigned to a level of giving and its associated benefits. But the IRS has yet to put a value on access. Let your top annual givers know they're in a special group that has the ear of the campus CEO and board.