2 December 2025 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Due to a combination of factors including weather and family changes, my wife and I (and Development for Conservation) are moving from Wisconsin to western North Carolina. We are at once saddened to leave long-time friends and the...
We should all stop using first-person possessive determiners in our writing. And they are so easy to avoid. Avoiding “my” is a no-brainer. Avoiding “our” is only a little more difficult, because “our” could theoretically include the reader. Avoid using “our” when you mean the...
It means that you can bet that we won’t be the only ones studying all this. Ask your Board members to pay attention to the mail they get from their colleges and universities and even some other charities they might support. If that mail includes...
Let’s start with the idea that the organization is worth it. This is a land trust that you believe in; that is doing important work. And this is an important place for you to devote your time and energy. Serving on the Board is a...
Many Board members and even staff are still operating as if $100 was an enormous number. They are reaching for arms-length solutions because actually getting to know donors is too scary. And they are sending letters and emails that never actually ask. They are waiting...
17 June 2025 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Your land trust probably uses events for all sorts of reasons. You might have an annual “olly-olly-oxen-free” member meeting. Maybe an annual fundraising event, gala, or auction. Maybe an event just to show donors how much you appreciate...
Getting yourself outside is enormously helpful for fundraising. My son once told me that he wanted to share something with me because it helped make it real for him. I knew immediately what he meant. You need to do the same thing and for the...
20 May 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation I got on a plane last week heading to Detroit from Madison. I was on my way to Connecticut to work with a land trust on a capital campaign. On my seat, a postcard was waiting for me with...
13 May 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Statistically, more than half the people who have a last will and testament at all will make changes to it within five years of their death. Will the land trust get written in or written out? Will the...
29 April 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Linsday Linsday comes off the preserve trail with her family. She surveys their flushed faces happy chatter from being outside these last few hours. The bald eagle siting was truly awesome and inspiring. The weather was perfect. And there...