27 August 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation I looked back and saw that it had been more than seven years since I last wrote about fundraising from foundations. To a certain degree, it’s because grantwriting has never been an area of particular expertise for me....
5 July 2022 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Many nonprofit conservation organizations have their long-term stewardship funds invested through a local community foundation. And why not? Community foundations are usually conservative in their investments, but they are very good at it – often getting better returns...
Grant Advisor is an on-line source of consumer information about real experiences with grantmakers. Had a great experience? Totally frustrated? Here’s a place where you can tell your story and learn from others. For everyone who is looking ahead to looming grant deadlines this fall,...
The final form of the LOI is as a Business Letter. Make sure to use board stationary for the first page and that it is addressed and dated properly. I recommend doing the legwork to find a real person to whom it should be addressed...
There are several important things to keep in mind when writing grants proposals to foundations...
I doubt there is any donor segment more confusing to plan for than corporate/business. It’s confusing because of the stories we make up about why particular companies SHOULD give us money. It’s confusing because of United Way. ...
The planning idea behind segmenting is that you identify separate groups for separate consideration such that they are then removed completely from the larger prospect group. This is an important consideration because it forces you to plan in a way that is donor-centric instead of...
A few weeks ago, I started a series on planning (See Development Planning from Scratch – The BIG Picture). In that post, I emphasized the importance of starting with a GOAL. If the purpose of fundraising activity is to return a Net to Program, it...
Think about this scenario: You’re at the office, and it’s 11:30 in the morning. You have a lunch appointment for which you’ll need to leave in 15 minutes. Not enough time to start something new, but too much time to waste. What will you do?...
July officially starts on Friday – Yikes! – Are you ready? What’s on your list for July? Annual Meetings? Summer field trips? Donor visits?...