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

"I said, 'I'm here to make up for lost time,'" Romero says.

Four or five meetings later, Levy committed to giving a million  dollars to the ACLU. Before that, Romero says, he was giving about $100 a year.

Other keys to success

LFF is a great example of collaboration and pure major-gifts fundraising. Large ACLU affiliates across the county got on board right away and rallied to secure gifts from their local donor bases. Smaller affiliates did what they could, and the smallest ones were able to just sit back and reap the benefits. The campaign was  created to build up their staffs and resources, after all.