We were talking fish ladders. The problem was that many of the culverts on the river were set up too high. The culvert did a great job of moving water under the roadway without damaging the roadbed. It did a lousy job helping fish get upstream,...
The job of fundraising, then, is to build a program of interrelated strategies (membership, campaigns, events, planned giving, and so on) that delivers a net result large enough to meet the organizational need. The mission is perpetual, so the fundraising strategies must be designed to...
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....
In nearly every strategic planning exercise with which I have been involved over the past 20 years, someone has added a strategy or a goal that has something to do with “educating the public.” The underlying frame of reference is that the public doesn’t know...
So, without throwing the baby out with the bathwater, let me suggest that we find other ways of recognizing (and equally valuing) other contributions. Listing everyone who gives to a special project, for example, without regard to how much they gave. Recognizing volunteers (major gifts...
“Donor-Centric” fundraising is fundraising that brings the donor into the center where the action is. Instead of being “out there” supporting the stuff “we’re” doing, Donor-centric fundraising invites donors into the center. And I think that’s a good thing. ...
This might even be the single most important criteria. It is always a mistake to recruit a board member and hope that they fall in love with the organization later. Giving money is a big clue, though it’s not the only one. People who self-select...
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’re going to need to change the systems that support it – first....
Premiums are different than benefits. Premiums are offered to incentivize a particular action or activity – like upgrading to a $100 membership, for example. They are only given the first time someone does something. Benefits are things that accrue to members at certain levels –...
5. When cuts are necessary, have a very clear projection, activity by activity, of what will be spent and what the projected return will be. Instead of reducing expenses by some arbitrary percentage across the board, reduce them by eliminating a particular activity entirely. ...