Literally – print out the draft letter and use a highlighter to mark every use of these pronouns. Notice the frequency – the weight – of their use. And then go back through, and in each case, ask yourself whether the pronoun explicitly includes the...
Typed communication is rarely read linearly. Recipients read the first line, then skip to the PS Note, scanning the paragraphs in between for things that catch their eye. Handwritten letters are read from start to finish, allowing you as the writer to lay out your...
31 March 2026 By David Allen, Development for Conservation When your land trust lists its conservation partners, what does that list look like? Does it include State agencies? Federal agencies? Local government agencies? Tribes? The Nature Conservancy? Other conservation nonprofits? All of the above? My guess is that the list...
We should be aiming our communications, and especially our donor communications, at current donors in their 50s, 60s, and 70s – the donors we actually HAVE instead of the donors we think we WANT....
Many organizations have moved away from using membership language for reasons I don’t fully understand and won’t argue here. It’s only a consequential mistake if donors no longer feel connected and therefore have less invested in renewing. In other words, if it ends up costing...
The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle was coined (as far as I know) by Ann Goggins and Don Howard in a post published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review way back in 2009. The point in their post was that nonprofits were NOT spending enough on information...
I have always believed that an official acknowledgement of receipt can be different from more personal expressions of gratitude. The receipt should be sent immediately. The actual thank you can be produced on a more reasonable 2-3-week busy-person schedule – especially in a small office....
We ask our communications and engagement events to help educate people about the importance of conservation work. But we don’t ask our communications to help donors talk about conservation and the need for conservation investors....
Board members who give money and never show up themselves to volunteer would not be tolerated very long. No one ever questions this. So why do we question it when it comes to giving time and never giving money? ...
Annual one-on-one interviews with directors is a sign of good leadership. It can open channels of communication, alleviate anxiety, improve organizational comradery and morale, recognize performance, and improve efficiency and effectiveness. ...