24 October 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation A question I often ask clients preparing for an individual donor visit is: “Why will this person say Yes to the request?” It can be helpful to ask the same question when writing appeal letters and emails. Why will...
26 September 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Nonprofits have been running capital fundraising campaigns for as long as there have been nonprofits. And (thank goodness!) the land trust community has become increasingly bold and sophisticated in their approach to campaign fundraising. Indeed, campaigns with goals...
4 July 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Happy Independence Day! I toyed with the idea that I should perhaps skip this week, or post on Wednesday instead. And I decided that since it was ready to go, I should just post it anyway. Can’t have...
27 June 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation If you have remembered _____ Land Trust in your will, please let us know so that we can say Thank You during your lifetime. This is so easy. It makes a good PS: note. It makes a good line...
20 June 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Just because something is new doesn’t mean it’s better. Just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s worthless. And just because we CAN do something doesn’t mean we should. I juggle about 25 clients in a year, including coaching clients. I...
23 May 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation All Board members need to be involved in fundraising. Not all Board members need to be involved in asking. Perhaps as much as 90% of fundraising is building relationships with donors – without asking. Pretty words that are arguably...
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,...
21 March 2023 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Quick – you’re off to meet with a donor and you can take one and only one prop with you. What do you take? Answer: A map. People love maps, and they love them because maps help place conservation projects...
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...