7 November 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation This post will be about what we lose in the name of efficiency – but first I need to complain about ZOOM meetings. I attended a land trust Board meeting last week that was a “hybrid” meeting, with about...
31 October 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation BOO! Happy Halloween! Here’s a scary thought: What would happen if your primary fundraiser were to leave suddenly? It’s almost cliché to say that fundraising is about relationships, but the truth is that few of us have really embraced what...
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...