This book is a guide for private and public schools on how to raise large sums of money using the same methods as a mature school development program or the opera. It's a beginner's book for an emerging development program or a professional director new to the school environment. It sets aside the assumption that grants and candy sales are the ways to go and puts the focus on cultivating people, the sources of the largest checks and the keys to the greatest resources. Topics covered in the book include creating a development plan, soliciting major gifts, researching donor prospects, building alumni support, finding corporate sponsors, writing a grant, applying for government funds, raising money online, preparing a capital campaign, starting a planned giving program, planning a money raising event, organizing a reunion, choosing a database program, establishing giving levels, and promoting the school.