Almost 85 percent of all charitable contributions come from individuals. Most nonprofit organizations realize that major gifts are critical for achieving organizational financial stability. However, many small-to-medium sized organizations lack the training and information they need to pursue this critical fundraising technique.

Planning and Implementing Your Major Gifts Campaign is designed specifically to assist the smaller nonprofits in the field that are considering implementing their first major gifts campaign. The guidance is appropriate for both volunteers and professional staff who are novices to major gift fundraising.

This ready-to-use workbook is different from many fundraising books in that it is short on philosophy and long on worksheets. Suzanne Irwin-Wells lays out a carefully crafted plan, complete with checklists, sample forms, and how-to documents.

As the author states in her preface, "If your organization is one of the many smaller organizations with very limited development budgets, this workbook can be your personal fundraising consultant." Her emphasis is that even very small grassroots nonprofits that have a strong mission and appealing case can raise major gifts.

Certain sections of this accessible primer stand out. The author is at her best when discussing how to jump-start a stalled campaign or what steps need to be done to effectively monitor the campaign. Overall, Irwin-Wells effectively walks you through the major gift solicitation process.

Planning and Implementing Your Major Gifts Campaign is the latest volume in the expanding "Excellence in Fundraising" workbook series. Irwin-Wells brings more than thirty years experience to the field. The author is founder and principle of Irwin-Wells Associates, a California-based fundraising consulting firm, and she teaches major-gift fundraising as an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

For additional citations to materials on this topic, refer to Literature of the Nonprofit Sector Online, using the subject heading "Major gifts campaigns."