• The Annual Fund

• Data Management

• Fund Raising Letters that Invite Celebration

• How to Make a Visit on a Prospective Donor

• Major Gifts: How to Qualify Donors as Major Gift Prospects

• Thank You Letter

• Planning a Phonathon

• Making the Case

• Making the Visit

• Fundraising Events

• Improve Your Direct Mail Program

• Planning for Planned Giving

• How Old is Your Campus Ministry

• Building Your Donor Base

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1. Clear your desk, sharpen your pencil, take a deep breath, and get ready for some fun, as we begin to roll out the Centennial for Campus Ministry!
2. Begin early to talk with your board about how to celebrate the Centennial on your campus.
3. Consider appointing a special Centennial committee to plan and oversee special events.
4. Hold a "what if" session to dream and set goals.
5. Give your mission statement a fresh look.
6. Develop a five-year plan for the ministry that builds on current strengths and past accomplishments.
7. Develop a timeline for activities and the plans that lead up to them.
8. Bring your database up to speed by including all the names you know with accurate addresses.
9. Segment your donor list into continual, occasional, and prospective givers.
10. Hold a brainstorming session with a wide range of folks who know everyone to add new names to the contact list.
11. Contact your current donors and ask them to share names of friends and colleagues.
12. Work with your board to develop a Centennial Campaign goal.
13. Take an inventory of office computers, copiers, etc. to be sure that you have functioning software programs and dependable equipment.
14. Count the cost. Determine what each activity will cost and build it into the budget.
15. Invite special gifts and/or pledges to reach the Campaign goal.
16. Consider a phonathon as a way to invite supporters to a particular event and ask for gifts above and beyond the annual contribution.
17. Prepare personal response replies to thank each donor and send them within three days of receiving the gift.
18. Consider establishing an endowment for your campus ministry, or building on your current endowment.
19. Work with a financial planner to present an evening program that helps your supporters think through legacy gifts.   Invite your most faithful donors to attend and bring a friend.
20. Set up a meeting with your local Thrivent for Lutherans staff member to talk about the Centennial, learn about their financial options, and enlist their support.
21. Send a special letter to persons you have identified who are Thrivent members to inform them about the matching gift program.   Include appropriate forms and information.  
22. Develop a bulletin board, plaque wall, or other visual way to post the names of major donors (you decide who is "major").  
23. With their knowledge, publish a complete listing of donors in your newsletters.
24. Write your annual request letter with the Centennial as a theme.  
25. Have the letter critiqued by several people who have the perspective of recipients.  
26. Prepare a return envelope for inclusion in the mailing.
27. Include a response card that allows donors to update information or make a pledge.
28. Think about sending out additional mailings during the Centennial year.
29. Set up a meeting with your friendly ELCA Foundation staff member.   Contact the Foundation office in Chicago if you need information.
30. Develop a packet of information that can be used by Thrivent or Foundation staff, board members, or others who will be interpreting your ministry to others.
31. Write a special letter to lapsed donors and those who have never given, asking them if they would like information about Centennial Celebration events.   Include a return card.
32. Update your email address book.  
33. Consider how to use email to send regular informational updates about the Centennial.
34. Publish a special Centennial newsletter.
35. Create a bulletin insert that can be used by area congregations.
36. Prepare an article for your synod newsletter.
37. Organize your photo library.   Be sure you have names and dates on as many photos as possible; ask alums from particular eras for help.
38. Take new photos, maybe with some help from a professional photographer.
39. Prepare electronic files of the best photos, ready for placing on your Web site, newsletter, or sending electronically.
40. Create special archives for the historical material you identify.   Work to preserve these items for future generations.
41. Plan to host one of the Hundred Parties in the spring of 2007 to celebrate the Centennial.
42. Plan a Centennial Celebration event that includes fun, fellowship, and time for reflection on both the past and the future of the ministry.
43. Invite persons to be on the committee who are local leaders, as well as honorary members who live at some distance, but who would lend their name, ideas, and support.
44. Although all supporters will be invited, plan special ways to lift up and invite your most faithful givers.  
45. Let invitees know that gifts will be received at the Celebration or can be pledged over a designated time.
46. Develop a list of ministry needs to publish in the newsletter or annual letter.
47. Commission a special Centennial hymn or liturgy.
48. Organize a creative fundraiser, an art auction or wine-tasting event, for example.
49. Prepare a news release.
50. You're halfway through the list.   Take another breath.   Adjust your attitude.   This is worth the effort.
51. List 10 reasons to be thankful for campus ministry--then double it.
52. Order Centennial give away items (tchotchkes) to use as donor appreciation gifts.
53. Order some that are less expensive to splash around at meetings and assemblies.
54. Order other items that are more expensive to thank larger donors.
55. Have resident poets write creative pieces to print on a poster or include in a newsletter.
56. Write a special devotional booklet for Advent or Lent and send it to students and to congregations.   Put it on your Web site.
57. Invite former campus ministry staff or students who have entered the ordained ministry to return during the year as guest preachers or lecturers.
58. Write to parents of current students to invite their participation in the Celebration.
59. Add your campus ministry colleagues around the country to your mailings to share ideas.
60. Invite the Churchwide Campus Ministry Team to be speakers or share resources at your Celebration events.
61. Visit with other organizations that have held anniversary events to get ideas and samples of materials.
62. Consider inviting willing supporters to serve as volunteers.
63. Set up a training/orientation session for volunteers.
64. Remember to thank all volunteers, workers, and co-workers when the Celebration is over.
65. Develop a Web site or bring your current Web site up to date.
66. Have a special Web page or link to highlight the centennial celebration events.
67. Check to see of the synod and/or university will link to your web page.
68. Ask for a variety of persons to write testimonial letters or paragraphs about their experience with your ministry, including alums, parents, faculty, and church leaders.  
69. Ask current or recent students to share their experience with your ministry, particularly life-changing events.
70. Develop a comprehensive list of students from your ministry who are rostered leaders in the church.   Ask them to write their stories.
71. Make an appointment with the synod council to lift up the Centennial and talk about how campus ministry has served the church for 100 years.
72. Invite your bishop to preach or lead worship at a special worship service.
73. Pursue the possibility of floor time at the 2007 synod assembly.
74. Request the synod to designate part of the 2007 assembly offering to campus ministry.
75. Invite youth groups to use the campus ministry center for overnight lock-ins.   Take time to talk with them about the history and work of campus ministry.
76. Provide a forum for local congregations.   Don't forget to take students along!
77. Organize a speaker's bureau consisting of students, board members, alums, faculty, and staff to lead workshops on campus ministry in congregations.
78. Ask the local ELCA Conference to designate time for you to share news of the Centennial with them.
79. Send a Centennial poster to every congregation in your synod or surrounding area.
80. Offer to set up lunch gatherings so that area pastors can meet with their student members on campus--and so that you can meet with them too.
81. Check with the Women of the ELCA about presenting a program on campus ministry.
82. Make a special effort to send students to the National Student Gathering sponsored by the Lutheran Student Movement.
83. Spruce up the old place by decorating, landscaping, or installing new signage.
84. Plan a walk-a-thon, bike-a-thon, or golf tournament to lift up the Centennial.
85. Use the Centennial Bible study.
86. Reserve the dates for the national Celebration in Chicago, June, 2007.
87. Use the Centennial litany (available fall, 2006).   Forward it to congregations.
88. Collect campus ministry stories from 100 alums to use in newsletters or other presentations.
89. Print out the 100 Year Timeline on the campus ministry Web site and post it on your bulletin board.   www.elca.org/campusministry/celebrate100
90. Check the Web site for ongoing resources through June 2007.
91. Share word of the Centennial with ecumenical colleagues.
92. Promote the Giving Basket on the ELCA Foundation Web page as a way for persons to make contributions online.   www.elca.org/fo   
93. Ask the city in which you serve to declare a special day as Lutheran Campus Ministry Centennial Day.
94. Beginning September, 2006, read the electronic digest of essays, written by current and former campus ministry staff, that will appear at regular intervals on the campus ministry Web site.   www.elca.org/campusministry/celebrate100
95. Forward the essays electronically to students and friends of the ministry.
96. Invite the president of the university out for coffee and talk about the importance of campus ministry now over the past 100 years.   Invite key board members to join you.
97. Do the same with your bishop.  
98. Work with your students and board to develop a list of 100 ways that campus ministry makes a difference in the church and in the larger world.
99. Set aside 100 days to pray for campus ministry.   Select 100 passages from scripture to be read during these days.
100. Take another breath, sit back, give thanks, and enjoy the celebration!