21 May 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation “The systems you have in place right now either were created or evolved on their own to support the current status quo. If you want to change the status quo, you need to change the systems that support...
14 May 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation A few days ago, Richard Perry (Passionate Giving Blog) reposted an item he originally posted in 2021 about common strategies used by nonprofits that actually suppress donor giving. It’s interesting, because the items he lists are items that...
7 May 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation The secret to successful fundraising is asking. The secret to effective asking is follow-up. And the secret to effective follow-up is timing. Take a look at your 12-month renewal rate. How many households made a gift in any 365-day...
30 April 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation I fielded a question about premiums again last week. I get these periodically, because it seems intuitive that if someone is going to join, or give, or upgrade, or renew, they need to get “something” in return. In fact,...
23 April 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Since 2017, about this time every year, I have posted about a metric I’ve wanted to collect data on – the 5-year-value of new members. I’ve been asking everyone to look back at the donors who made first gifts...
16 April 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation In my practice, I have come to make several nomenclature distinctions. These are oversimplified, to be sure, but they serve to help ensure my clients and I are talking about the same things when we use the same...
9 April 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Last year in December, I wrote a blog post about how land trusts might be able to get younger. The post seemed to resonate and was even picked up in the most recent issue of the Alliance’s Saving...
2 April 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation In a perfect world we would know – really know – every single donor who gives money. We would know how they found the land trust in the first place. We would know how old they are and...
26 March 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation How did you come to be on the Board? Well, I’ve known _______ for years, and when she asked me to be on the Board, it sounded like fun. Think back on that conversation. Did she ask you to fill...
19 March 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation I read a lot of land trust appeal mail. You should, too. I recommend it. Some of it is really good. A lot of it is not. But what I notice more often than not is that the letters...