22 September 2020 By David Allen, Development for Conservation Here’s a great idea that deserves another mention: Send $50 to five different organizations you admire. It will cost your land trust $250, and it will take about half an hour. But for that investment, you will see every piece of...
4 August 2020 By David Allen, Development for Conservation A few years ago in mid-November, a client asked me whether they could just use the same appeal letter they used last year. That appeal letter had done reasonably well and had surpassed the fundraising results from previous...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation Start again. January of another year. 2019 is over. History. Fa, sol, la, ti, Done. And January brings us ‘round again “to Do.” 2020 yawns before us. It could be anything. What will it be for you? January is a good time for reflection....
By David Allen, Development for Conservation It’s the most wonderful time of the year. I’ve heard that 70% of the money given away each year is committed just four months: October, November, December, and January. If that’s true, then most of that 70% comes in just six...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation Two quick thoughts for you this week – I’m running short on time – it being the season for fundraising and all. The first is this: We’re all in on Boomers. They are on our Boards. They represent the majority of...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation I don’t have enough time! There are two problems with taking that statement on its face. The first is that it is almost never literally true – there is usually plenty of time. We’re just using it to do other things. A...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation DA: So Tom, tell me about these donors – Pulen and Tumany Weeds. Well-Meaning Tom: What do you want to know? They’re not from around here. DA: I figured that out. Well-Meaning Tom: Kind of exotic. DA: I’ll bet. Well-Meaning Tom: She’s a gardener. DA: STOP...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation If you accept the premise that fundraising through the mail, email, or phone is a science – a behavioral science – then you should be reading a blog called The Agitator. It is written by scientists about the science of...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation Yesterday was December 17th. I marked the day, because there are exactly 14 days left in the charitable giving year. So this post will serve as a reminder that these two weeks are NOT weeks you should be taking off. Just as...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation If you’re like me, you won’t be mailing your appeal letters and/or renewals after this week and until after the election. If you’re like me, you will calculate that the national mood will be seriously distracted by the election. I...