Capital Appeals are all about Big Gifts. Generous gifts. Outrageous gifts.

Having recruited a Chair who is enthusiastically calling together a team of Giftseekers, who do we target? Who are the big givers? A capital appeal is all about the top line - not the bottom! I speak, of course, not in terms of accountancy but of fundraising.

In any appeal, we are driven by the top gift. It sets the standard for others to follow; it establishes appeal credibility; it motivates the troops. The higher our goal, the higher the leading gifts should be. Rule of thumb says that the top gift should be at least 10% of goal. I have achieved target with less on many appeals but it certainly would have been more comfortable with.

So: who gives? Generally, someone close to the institution or a philanthropist who is in sympathy with your aims. Often the Board will say: "Corporate!". Sadly, this is not so. Although big business has the capacity to give, the days of the Chairman of the Board exercising a personal whim are fast fading: thanks to tighter times and shareholder questioning.

We have to look for a reason to give. What is the association of the potential giver with the institution? A corporation with a significant presence in your neighbourhood could be a prospect. What is the nature of your institution? A school is primarily of interest to its users - present and past families. A public hospital could gather support from the whole community that it serves.

Generally, looking to the top ranges of gifts, I have found the givers to be: individuals & families, local government, service clubs, locally owned businesses: probably in that order.

When I think of two $100,000 donors, one city, one rural, the first gave because of a close association with the institution, the second in thanks to the community which had welcomed him in and enabled him to become wealthy.

Indeed, in a true sense, every gift is a personal, individual decision. Someone decides on the gift - whether from their personal pocket or from a company or institution.

That is why we believe so strongly in face to face asking: personal presentation with personal feeling.