There are many trends and assumptions in philanthropy. The following are trends and assumptions that I believe have the greatest relevance to the private school now and in the coming years.

In every human being there is a desire to give.

We should be cognizant of this and not fearful of inviting people to partner in the mission of the school through financial investment, volunteerism, and gift-in-kind.

Overall giving will increase at the greatest rate in history between 1998 and 2010. During this period, we will witness the greatest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history. According to Forbes Magazine, baby boomers will inherit some $2.3 trillion from their parents.

The private school, now more than ever, needs to seize upon the opportunity to build the infrastructure required to support viable development programs and position themselves internally to externally cash in on this $2.3 trillion. The school must begin identifying, cultivating, educating, and involving people as much as they can. The best method of fundraising from the wealthy is and will remain, the highly relational approach to fundraising.

Strong volunteers will become the most precious and rare commodity a nonprofit organization can have.

Recognizing this, let us take care of our volunteers and let us be wise to maximize their talents and abilities with the result being an increased sense of ownership. It is important to recognize the competition in the nonprofit sector for volunteers and to understand that this competition will become only more fierce. One of the keys to tapping key publics is volunteers. Increasingly, development strategies will rely more and more upon volunteerism.

Public and private partnerships will increasingly become a new way of generating funding - especially corporate funding.

Develop and implement creative strategies where corporate America can partner with your school.

Direct mail will become an increasingly important tool of prospecting.

Equip the development office to have access to the necessary information to effectively prospect. Development is about thousands of pieces of seemingly insignificant information from all sources pulled together in an organized fashion so as to render an accurate profile of the prospective donor. The more we know about the donor and prospective donor, the more success we will have in solicitation, as appeals are needing to become more and more personalized.

Unrestricted giving will all but disappear as global and local challenges are increasingly tied to the bottom line.

Recognize that corporations are becoming increasingly more focused in their giving. Corporations are all to often "trading" in their giving. Creative thinking and strategy is our responsibility if we are to see corporate America involved with the private school.

The fundraising effort, to be successful, will need to become increasingly more corporate instead of being highly centralized in development employees.

Recognizing this, the successful development program is going to understand the importance of key publics and will understand the importance of developing highly inclusive strategies to access these publics.

The fundraising effort is going to become increasingly more dependent upon computer technology to access information.

Never forget as technology increasingly automates various aspects of our lives and professions that the personal touch is and will remain the most important factor in successful development programs.

Nonprofit organizations are going to need to become increasingly more creative, innovative, and aggressive in their development efforts.

The private school must recognize that creative and strategic planning in all areas of operation are required.

The private school will need to understand more astutely that the degree to which they are supported through charitable gifts is equal to the degree that they communicate their mission and vision.

Recognize that your chief communications officer is your director of development.

The theories of fundraising are rapidly changing. Donors will not give because of need but rather, because of opportunity. Increasingly, the nonprofit organization needs to position itself internally in such a way that monies raised are exclusively for the enhancement of core services and programs - not debt reduction or fiscal shortfall. As this is done, the number of donors increases, the average amount of the gift given increases, and donor longevity is multiplied.

The private school must establish cost based tuition and maximize their internal sources of income so as not to pass the burden of deficits to donors.

Increasingly, communicating to the donor exactly what difference the donation given has made is paramount.

The nonprofit needs to communicate the difference the donor gift has made and needs to be able to show the donor that difference. The private school must be careful to make sure they do exactly with donations what they say they are going to do before gifts are received.

The single most important trend that will only become increasingly important is institutional staff ethics and credibility. This is the first and greatest issue facing every development program. Honesty in dealing with the public and donors is not the best policy - it is the only policy. The public will scrutinize school records and demand impeccable integrity from staff, and unfailing stewardship from the board of directors. Accountability will continue to become one of the most pressing issues in fundraising. The private school must learn to report to donors and constituents in appropriate ways how income is used.

Even though a private school is private, its purposes and outcomes are public. Trust is earned through being responsive and open about affairs. When constituents trust the private school they will support its mission. People will trust the private school when they understand their monies are being used in responsible and effective ways.

The private school must commit to integrity in all areas.