In a true epidemic, studies show that there are always a few people who infect others at a much higher rate – the sneezers. For any number of reasons – hygiene, genetics, behaviour, etc – these people manage to spread the disease all too effectively. They're highly contagious!

In a typical fundraising campaign, we see the same phenomenon. If you're a fundraiser, chances are you've observed this yourself. Those people who know how to work their network, ooze charisma, and raise way more money than the average? Those are your sneezers. (I spoke about them recently in a Charity Village article, which you might want to check out too.)

Bottom line: if you're smart, you'll treat them differently.

No, I'm not suggesting you isolate them in quarantine... quite the opposite! Rather, a smart sneezer strategy looks something like this.