Build a Bridge to Major Donors

The best way to do this, he says, is to tie the prospect to people who are carrying out the organization's mission. "Whether that's a faculty member in a college or university or the person who's out there actually working with the homeless directly ... your job is to build that bridge so that your prospects feel like they're making a meaningful impact on the object of the mission. Because, really, the object isn't necessarily, in the donor's eyes, to give to the organization," Hugg says. "The objective is to help the mission of your organization. Your organization is simply an intermediary."