A recent ACLU campaign beefed up its major gifts and planned giving

"By adding a planned-giving element to the campaign, we allowed more people to participate that could not have otherwise," she says. "Many members want to give a major contribution but can't leave an outright gift. But they can leave a legacy gift."

The campaign was bolstered by a matching-gift challenge by philanthropist Robert Wilson, who committed to giving a cash gift of 10 percent of every planned-giving pledge up to $100,000. (The cap was on individual gifts, not the overall funds raised.)