Rural community colleges are employing several fundraising strategies to offset the pain of increasingly anemic budgets in the face of higher student enrollments. Whether it's educating stakeholders about the potential impact of campus improvements or reaching out to donors for financial support, it's critical to tout the economic and educational benefits of changes on campus to students and the community at large. Doing so opens new channels for relationship building and, in turn, fundraising. Yet, no matter what fundraising strategies colleges choose, experts say, one element is essential: leadership. "Without the president of the college out in front, it is a very difficult job for an advancement person," says Terri Burchell, Mid-Plains Community College's (MPCC's) area director of institutional advancement. Stakeholders want to know the college's top leaders are on board with the projects its fundraisers are out there pursuing. The author takes a look at what some other rural community colleges are doing across the country.