If you don’t have a fundraising plan that is donor specific, consider this exercise: Make a list of all of your calendar year 2024 donors and what they gave cumulatively last year. Also list what they have given cumulatively this year to date. Take note...
Most of us are familiar with the basics of a gift chart, sometimes called a donor pyramid. Gift charts are commonly used in capital campaigns – and rarely used outside of campaigns. But you can also use them for annual fundraising. Here’s how you might...
4 February 2025 By David Allen, Development for Conservation The funny thing about nonprofit work is that we are regularly called to accomplish 120-150% of what might be humanly possible in a day or a week – and we like it that way. Think about it. If the workload...
7 January 2025 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Happy New Year! Time to start again. January of new year. This is part of a blog that I post every year right after New Year’s Day. I modify it slightly, and I add to it from time to time,...
31 December 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Happy New Year! Time to start again. January of another year. This is part of a blog that I post every year right after New Year’s Day. (This year I’m cheating that calendar by one day – no apologies.) I...
2 July 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Some land trusts are supported by fewer than 100 donors. A few are supported by fewer than 50. For context, consider that most conservation organizations, regardless of the community in which they work, can attract at least 50 new...
17 October 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation One of the serious problems with consulting is that no one is around to help you manage your workload at a “reasonable” level. It’s all too easy to realize way too late that you have taken on too...
18 April 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation A few years ago, a Board member complained to me that the land trust wasn’t growing. “We have the same 250 donors we had ten years ago,” he said. I thought that was unlikely. This Board member was concerned about...
28 March 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Several years ago before COVID, I developed a Fundraising 101 workshop and presented it at one of the land trust conferences. It was intended for people who either are brand new to fundraising or just want to learn...
24 January 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation There’s a fun story about three bricklayers who are asked what they are doing. (You've probably heard it.) The first describes laying each brick on top of the others so that the lines are straight in every direction....