The annual fund does not mean that you only contact your donors once a year. Many successful organizations solicit their donors seven times a year or more. And the most successful organizations contact their donors often without soliciting them for more money.

Consider starting a monthly giving program, asking your donors to make their pledges via credit card. If you can accept donations over the Internet, this is even more successful for many groups.

Start giving clubs or a giving society with different levels of giving. These giving levels should be named after something appropriate for your organization, the old "gold silver, and bronze" levels are kind of boring. One great example of tying the giving clubs into the organization's mission is an organization that works with babies and young children, whose top giving level is, "Sooooo big!"

The annual fund, like any fundraising program, must start with the board appeal. If the fiscal year runs from July through June, solicit the board through an organized appeal program in July and August before conducting any other appeals.

The annual appeal needs to have an integrated approach; direct mail does not an annual appeal make. There should be other methods used to solicit donors, i.e., telephone, personal appeal for major donors. A good rule of thumb is that the top 10% of an organization's donors should be solicited in person, the next 20-30% by telephone and the rest by mail.

Corporations and businesses should not be approached by mail, but through a special corporate or business appeal program, using volunteers who will solicit their peers in person for their gifts.

Using volunteers in the annual appeal is crucial to success. The staff cannot do an annual appeal by themselves. (See Wiley Press's new "Recruiting and Training Fundraising Volunteers," authorized by CAPITAL VENTURE's CEO/President, Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE)

Direct mail appeals should be personalized with the donor's name and address and the amount of their previous gift listed. Remember to start by thanking past donors before asking for additional gifts. Having board members write personal notes on the letters increases the chance of a gift, but remember that personal notes on the letters disqualifies you from using the nonprofit bulk rate, However, first class stamps and personalized letters are much more effective, so the return is almost always well worth the investment in a personal approach.

The annual appeal plan must also include stewardship acknowledgment and recognition. Try a "Thank-a-thon" using board or other volunteers to personally call and thank donors for their past support, without asking them for another gift. Thank donors seven times before asking for the next gift.

If you've ever run a capital campaign remember that may of the techniques used in capital campaigning are easily translated into the annual fund-there must be a compelling case for support, the board must give first, having a plan is essential, segmenting your donor base is essential, always ask for a specific amount, ask high, and use volunteers to solicit peers.