15 Things You Absolutely Must Know About Major Gifts

Every nonprofit organization is always seeking that next major gift — or at least cultivating major-giving prospects. Major gifts can be a huge boon to the fundraising department and provide invaluable resources to help achieve the mission.

At the Association of Fundraising Professionals' Fundraising Day in New York earlier this month, Nina Diefenbach, vice president of development and membership at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Alesia Soltanpanah, vice president of development at the Ms. Foundation for Women; and Richard Brown, visiting clinical professor at New York University's George H. Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising, shared "15 Things You Absolutely Must Know About Major Gifts."

It's all about relationships
1. Make every major donor and prospect feel like he or she is the center of the universe.