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

Having relied on a large base of lower-level donors secured through traditional membership strategies since its inception 90 years ago, the ACLU never quite got around to developing a major-gifts mentality.

"This was a place that was afraid to ask many of our donors for $10 million or $12 million," Romero says. "We thought we would get laughed at or would offend people."