Looming over everything you do, technology is making nonprofit fundraising more relevant and immediate than ever imagined.

By Margaret Battistelli Gardner

Large-volume efforts such as special events where a great number of donors are tapped to give smaller contributions — supporting someone in a walk-a-thon, for example, sending out urgent alerts and calls to action, etc. — have reached new heights with the dawn of viral marketing and interactive, user-friendly Web site innovations. But once you get beyond that into the realm of major and planned gifts, fundraisers have to pry themselves away from their keyboards and put in the same kind of intense face time with donors that they always have.