80 DEANS AND DEVELOPMENT A case in point involved a prominent family who had influ- ence over charitable giving that exceeded what they them- selves could personally contribute. A member of this family had left the city of his birth, but never forgotten it. The bulk of his estate accrued to a foundation established upon his death. A family member who remained in the city where he was born sat on the foundation board. By working with the board member and her family, a proposal for an endowed research fund of $500,000 was put forward and approved. After the five years it took to establish this initial endowment, regular stewardship had built a strong relationship with the family and we were in a position to ask for a larger gift to support an instrumentation endowment. Because the family valued the presence of the University in the community and perceived that their initial gift had been well-stewarded, the second and larger ask was a comparatively easy one to make. Parents of current students are more involved in their children’s higher education experience than ever before. The Development Office is likely to be tracking people with considerable means who are non- alumni parents of current students. They may even have a council of current parents along with a parental fund-raising annual campaign. If your institution has this program, ask for opportunities to interact with this group so that they can hear about your vision and about the activi- ties in your college. Both you and the development team will benefit. Another way to identify appreciative parents of your current students is to invite them to award ceremonies that honor their children. How do you Cultivate Individuals that have Given as well as Those Who have Not? Finding new donors and moving existing donors along a continuum of giving will keep your fundraising activities in healthy balance. Fundraising activities on this continuum give donors opportunities to increase the amounts. Each is vitally important, since the more elemental levels should be viewed as stepping stones to major gifts, or