By David Allen, Development for Conservation One feature of the blog world that I have found academically interesting over the years is the “hits per page.” This is the metric that tells the writer which pages or posts attract the most readers, whether it’s because they...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation I have this image I like a lot. It’s an image of a campfire somewhere on a moonless night. The fire creates light which illuminates everything that is relatively close. It also warms everything relatively close to it. But if you get...
Writing and editing fundraising letters is better thought of as an exercise in technical writing, than as writing actual letters. There are techniques, rules, and form to the exercise that, if followed closely, will help you raise more money. Many of these techniques are counter-intuitive....
We need all kinds of people to make land conservation happen. We need land protection specialists, attorneys, scientists, administrators, and volunteers. And we need members and donors, too. I’m not saying put donors on a pedestal or inflate their importance, as some seem afraid of....
What’s the story you want to tell donors? Chances are getting them in the air could help. Maybe you fly over protected areas and areas that are not protected yet. Maybe you see how protecting and restoring one tract can help connect other protected areas....
Instead, try this as a mantra: “Thank before you bank.” I have always believed that an official acknowledgement of receipt can be different from the more personal expression of gratitude. And the receipt should be sent immediately – certainly within 48 hours if not the...
This weeks’ post is about shooting yourself in the foot. And in each case, the cause is related to an overreaction to a complaint. Worse, sometimes the person complaining is someone internal to the organization and who therefore should know better....
We talk sometimes in solicitation training about “No” not necessarily meaning “Not Ever.” It might mean not now. It might mean I don’t have enough information, or I don’t yet have the level of trust I would need to have to make that kind of...
Donor by donor, each by each, consider and draft an interaction plan for each prospect. It’s tedious and time-consuming, and the more donors you begin to seriously cultivate, the more tedious the process becomes. I suggest taking two weeks out of each January and slogging...
Start again. January of another year. 2016 is over. History. Fa, sol, la, ti, Done. And January brings us ‘round again to Do. 2017 yawns before us. It could be anything. What will it be for you? January is a good time for reflection. Where have we been? How...