25 July 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation If I had to pick just one issue holding organizations back from raising more money, it would be this: Board members and senior staff don’t know the donors and donors don’t know the organizational leadership. Donors will feel more...
4 January 2022 There’s something you can do this week that will make a HUGE difference in how much money you will raise this year. It may take several hours to do it right, or maybe even a couple of days. And you probably won’t enjoy doing...
7 December 2020 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Last week, I started a post on capital campaigns, because I have been hearing from land trusts exploring capital campaigns for projects ill-suited for campaigns – specifically to raise money for operating endowment, stewardship endowment, land protection “opportunity”...
30 November 2020 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Before I start on today’s post, I have a request. I will get Giving Tuesday emails all day as I’m sure you will. I am interested in the subject lines. What are people using to get/draw attention? I...
26 October 2021 By David Allen, Development for Conservation In the past twelve years, I’ve worked with more than 100 land trusts across the country. To be honest most of them are struggling with very similar issues. And they need very similar things. You’d think I’d get bored. Nope. Everywhere...
18 May 2021 By David Allen, Development for Conservation I need to get something off my chest. Major gift fundraising is the most important fundraising you can do. OK - that feels better. Major gift fundraising is NOT dependent on the scale of the projects being funded, and it’s not...
20 April 2021 By David Allen, Development for Conservation HAPPY EARTH DAY! Before I start this week, I want to put in a plug for donor stories. I am beginning to hear heartwarming stories about gifts that have been motivated in part by how much the land...
19 January 2021 By David Allen, Development for Conservation I’ve been thinking about motivation. Why do donors give? Why will donors say YES? We spend WAAAY too much time imagining people saying NO to the point that we are terrified of that possibility. What would happen if we...
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....
8 December 2020 By David Allen, Development for Conservation One of the workshops I have most enjoyed doing for the last several years was called Development Committee Makeover. The point of the workshop was to show, using before and after scripts, how Development Committees could address their...