In an age where million dollar campaigns are old news, development communications officials have to up the ante to hit the $1 billion mark.

By courting the media and understanding strategic planning, your development communications staff could achieve larger and larger gifts, according to John J. Greenhoe, director of foundation relations and development communications at Western Michigan University (WMU), who spoke at the recent Association of Fundraising Professionals in San Diego, Calif. Here are

Development Communications
Increase your communication with the largest donors, suggested Greenhoe, who has 10 years each in private college public relations and major gifts. Greenhoe spent more than six years with WMU's major gifts, during which he sent out informative donor stories or inspirational, educational news items.

Make Your Case
Use media resources and graphical charts to get your donor's attention. Glean information from the media that will strengthen your fundraising case. Show how efficient your organization is with graphs comparing to other institutions or to show growth during the past few years. Don't just make general comparisons. Make your graphs and information have some impact.

Recognize Major Gifts
In WMU's capital campaign, the top 780 gifts - less than two percent of the total number of gifts - brought in 91.6 percent, or $149.2 million. These monumental contributions made up most of the campaign and deserved recognition, according to Greenhoe. See if there is a human interest part of the donation that will maximize gift publicity and time it so it's front page news.

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