For a campaign ask to be successful, three factors must come into play. The gift prospect must have the money – that’s a given. They must also see themselves as philanthropists – people who can provide help toward the campaign goal and are willing to...
22 April 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation My topic today is donor files, but I want to start by acknowledging that today is Earth Day. I don’t know about you, but it feels to me that our work protecting land and caring for Nature is...
21 November 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation How long does it take for your organization to turn around a thank you message? You receive a gift one day and the meter starts ticking. How much time elapses between then and the day your “grateful” message...
1 August 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Have you ever tried to fold a square of paper into an origami crane? If so, you can appreciate a study published in 2011 by Michael Norton of Harvard Business School. In the study, subjects were asked to fold...
22 November 2022 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Many of us are familiar with the concept of matching gifts. And with Giving Tuesday right around the corner, finding matching gifts is on most of our minds. And not too long ago, I posted about Legacy matching campaigns...
25 May 2021 By David Allen, Development for Conservation An important concept in fundraising is that of “access” to current and potential donors. Access in fundraising implies that if you call, she will answer; that if you send an email or leave a voice message, it will...
12 January 2021 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Have you challenged yourself for 2021? Lose 5 pounds, paint the house, learn Spanish. What about organizational challenges? Secure an Americorps Volunteer, achieve accreditation. How about start a major gift program? Nationally, more than 80% of charitable giving comes from individuals....
10 November 2020 By David Allen, Development for Conservation OK – Election is over – time to return our attention to fundraising. Think back to the last time you spent (or at least committed) a great deal of money on something you really wanted. A car for example. And...
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...
12 November 2019 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Major gift development isn’t hard. It’s a discipline. And it’s scalable. So just start. Let movement create momentum and let momentum create habit. It starts in January, and it could start for you in January 2020. You can do this for ten donors....