20 April 2021 By David Allen, Development for Conservation HAPPY EARTH DAY! Before I start this week, I want to put in a plug for donor stories. I am beginning to hear heartwarming stories about gifts that have been motivated in part by how much the land...
6 April 2021 By David Allen, Development for Conservation I have been privileged to work with many different land conservation organizations since I started consulting full-time in 2009. Many of them have been run by so-called “Working Boards,” which means that they either do not have paid...
30 March 2021 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Imagine this scenario: A Board member recruits a $5,000 donation from one of their friends. The actual event took the Board member completely by surprise. (This story really happened!) The donor simply called out of the blue and announced her intention...
2 March 2021 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Much is made of the “evolution” of nonprofit Boards – from Working Board to Transition Board to Governing Board. The way the process is described – using words like “maturing” and “progressing” – one might assume that the...
19 January 2021 By David Allen, Development for Conservation I’ve been thinking about motivation. Why do donors give? Why will donors say YES? We spend WAAAY too much time imagining people saying NO to the point that we are terrified of that possibility. What would happen if we...
8 December 2020 By David Allen, Development for Conservation One of the workshops I have most enjoyed doing for the last several years was called Development Committee Makeover. The point of the workshop was to show, using before and after scripts, how Development Committees could address their...
23 June 2020 By David Allen, Development for Conservation The late Jerry Panas was quoted as having said that “No organization will rise above the strength and commitment of its Board,” though the quote may not be originally attributable to him. I keep coming back to that quote...
2 June 2020 By David Allen, Development for Conservation I am not a gardener. We live in an urban home on just shy of an acre, and we are busily converting anything that is now grass into something else – trees, flowers, vegetables, and so on – that...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation Kate and I are moving soon, and we need your help – well actually you and your truck. On Saturday, a bunch of people are coming over to help carry boxes and furniture from our old house over to the...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation When I come home every evening, I throw the change from my pocket into an old coffee can. (Remember when coffee used to come in cans?) It’s an old habit that has served me well around Christmas on more than...