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2 May 2023   By David Allen, Development for Conservation   A few weeks ago, I was asked to prepare a presentation on how best to raise money for stewardship, and last week, I posted the majority of the answers I offered: Raising Money for Stewardship – Part 1. Essentially,...

  28 February 2023   By David Allen, Development for Conservation   In the conservation community, and for land trusts in particular, the work is “in perpetuity” – forever. So, if our work will never end, neither can our organizations. They must be perpetual as well. And because none of...

  21 February 2023   By David Allen, Development for Conservation   Recently I attended a webinar presented by Tom Ahern. Ahern is a well-known figure in nonprofit direct response fundraising and has written several books related to communicating with donors: Turning Doubters Into Donors, How to Write Fundraising Materials...

  20 December 2022   “To be a conservationist is to be an eternal optimist. Pessimism serves no purpose, not when you are trying to change the world.” Jan Deblieu, Meant to Be Wild   I think the same is true for fundraisers - that eternal optimism is a requirement; that pessimism...

  1 November 2022   By David Allen, Development for Conservation   OK – so let’s talk about donor fatigue. And two things we need to acknowledge head-on. First, donor fatigue is real. It’s defined as the situation where donors either reduce or stop donating due to “feelings of indifference or...

  25 October 2022   By David Allen, Development for Conservation   (This essay was originally posted in October 2018. I have updated it for posting today. I still find it relevant with all the recent attention I have paid to Legacy Bequest Matching Campaigns.)   Back in 2018, Jeff Brooks, Future...