23 April 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Since 2017, about this time every year, I have posted about a metric I’ve wanted to collect data on – the 5-year-value of new members. I’ve been asking everyone to look back at the donors who made first gifts...
19 March 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation I read a lot of land trust appeal mail. You should, too. I recommend it. Some of it is really good. A lot of it is not. But what I notice more often than not is that the letters...
2 January 2024 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Happy New Year! Time to start again. January of another year. This is a blog that I post every year right after New Year’s Day. I modify it slightly, and I add to it from time to time, but basically,...
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,...