Getting the most out of your fall fundraising events - you want to capture as much information from the evening as possible. And to set it all up, you need to get organized now...
This year write your fundraising letters to your most important donors longhand. Actually make this a board activity with each board member writing 3-5 letters....
Replace your ability to narrate in the third person with an ability to testify in the first person. So with that in mind, I suggest that you join the organization you support....
In fundraising for land conservation, we often say that “the land sells itself.” By this we simply mean that if you can get a potential donor out on the land to see, smell, touch – feel – for themselves, often that’s all you need. This...
Back in May, I talked about periodically using some reflective time to “take stock” of where you are right now versus where you thought you’d be at this time (See Taking Stock). Presumably, if you acted on the advice, you a) redoubled your effort to...
Foundation grants should be written by the person closest to the project - the project manager or land steward. Board members have a role to play here as well, because (hopefully!) they are well connected in the community and know key decision-makers. Now – in...
Donor clubs are a perfect group to solicit using a letter that is entirely written longhand. If you want to mail these letters in late September or early October – which would be ideal – you need to have the letters written in August. And...
There’s a problem with measuring your year in twelfths. It works for expenses like rent, which is the same each month. But it doesn’t work for insurance which sits at 0% of budget until the month it’s due and then zooms all the way to...
Donor events can take many forms, from field trips to coffees or luncheons, house parties, open houses at the office, and so on. In general, I separate them functionally as follows: Introductory Event, Cultivation Events, and Appreciation Events....
We’re looking for rich people who already know us and understand why what we’re doing is important. And on whatever economic scale our current supporters represent, we’re looking for the top 10 percent (or so)....