30 Jun Summer Shorts
30 June 2026
By David Allen, Development for Conservation
Project Prospecti
I ended last week’s post with a request:
Let’s crowdsource this: If you have examples of standardized project data sheets, or prospecti, that I can publish on my Resources page as examples, please forward them to me, and I’ll post them as I get them.
Special thanks to Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy who sent me three examples. They are available for download near the top of my resources page. You can also see their
on-line examples here.
Jennifer says:
We loved this First Thing Tuesday! In response to your request, I’ve attached 3 of our project sheets (or prospectuses) and hope they might be helpful. We create one for every active project. They are available for download on our website, taken to donor visits, and displayed in our gallery with a large map. Very useful tools!
Anyone else with examples you might be willing to share?
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Fall Appeal Segmentation
It’s June 30. You know everything you need to know right now about who you will solicit at year-end. You know who they are, how much they gave last year, and how much you will ask them to give this year – those you will ask for $35, those you will ask for $100, those you will ask for $250, and so on.
Question 1: Is there any reason NOT to do your audience segmentation now? To get ahead of the holiday craziness?
Question 2: WHO will you ask for $5,000? (There aren’t that many – name them.)
HOW will you ask them? (Letter, email, in person?)
WHY will they say yes? (Read back through your organizational VALUES to find one that they share. Lead with that.)
WHO will do it? WHEN?
(OK, technically that was five questions.)
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Outlier Ask Amounts
As a wild experiment this year, try adding an outlier to your ask strings. I’ve been reading and writing lately about how in our zeal to keep ask amounts low enough to appeal to everyone, we may be sending a message to some donors that we don’t need money.
Imagine using this as your ask string:
$35_____ $50_____ $100_____ $5,000_____ Other_____
And then imagine following that string with a short testimonial from a donor who was giving $5,000 this year. Something like this:
“I’ve lived in this county all my life, and I’ve seen housing and strip malls pop up where there used to be farmland, and woods, and creeks and streams. The Land Trust is out there every day, strategically protecting what’s left. Children need Nature. We’ve got to make sure they can find some. That’s why I’ve decided to give $5,000 this year. I hope you will, too.”
Note that I’m after the concept here, not the specifics. Use $1,000, or $365, or $10,000. Or find some other value-based reason to make a much larger gift.
Think about it this way: Not many people will give at the higher level. But all you need is one, and you will have made the effort worthwhile. PLUS – I’ll bet more people give $100 than would have otherwise.
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Matching Gifts
Let’s be clear about Matching Gifts.
Matching gifts work. Almost every time. So, use them.
The knock on matching gifts comes from public TV and radio. They have used matching gifts so often and for so many years that there is some evidence that donors wait to give until there’s a match.
Maybe this is a So What? moment. Matching gifts still work.
I have never seen any evidence that compares matching levels. 1:1, 1:2, 2:1, 5:1, whatever. It’s a match. Every donated dollar is leveraged. It’s the match that counts.
So, consider getting creative this year.
For everyone who agrees to be a monthly donor at $20 or more, $250 will be released from the matching grant.
For everyone who joins the $365 Donor Circle, $500 will be released from the matching grant.
The language you use does not need to imply that receiving the grant depends on new giving.
“Your contributions leverage federal and state grants 7:1. Every dollar you give leverages $8 of conservation results.”
When naming the “anonymous” donor making the match, consider the advice philanthropist Bob Ross: Use “anonymous couple” instead of anonymous donor. It’s sound much warmer and less intimidating.”
So: “An anonymous couple will match every dollar given over $250.”
Half way home for 2026. Make it a good year.
Cheers, and have a great week.
-da
PS: Your comments on these posts are welcomed and warmly requested. If you have not posted a comment before, or if you are using a new email address, please know that there may be a delay in seeing your posted comment. That’s my SPAM defense at work. I approve all comments as soon as I am able during the day.
Photo by Veronika Andrews courtesy of Pixabay.
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