This BLOG is intended to help conservation organizations and land trusts pursue excellence in all aspects of their conservation endeavors. I welcome your comments and feedback to these posts.
People give money because they want to see something done. Strategic Planning is an opportunity to go ask them directly what they like about what you’re doing; what’s important to them. Including them in the process is a wonderful way to engage them in the...
You may be hurting your organization is unseen ways by allowing financial illiteracy to go unchallenged on the Board. Donors make big giving decisions based on gut, and they will have fed their gut on months and years of little impressions. This post is about...
In a perfect world, non-profits would enjoy consistent and stable community support. Individual donors might make a first gift, a second gift (first renewal), multiple unrestricted gifts on some sort of predictable schedule, episodic major gifts restricted to support specific programs or projects, and a...
Someone wise once told me that every once in a while, instead of trying to climb faster or smarter or more efficiently, it’s important to step back and make sure your ladder is still leaning on the right wall. I’ve written about this topic before...
This weeks’ post is about shooting yourself in the foot. And in each case, the cause is related to an overreaction to a complaint. Worse, sometimes the person complaining is someone internal to the organization and who therefore should know better....
We talk sometimes in solicitation training about “No” not necessarily meaning “Not Ever.” It might mean not now. It might mean I don’t have enough information, or I don’t yet have the level of trust I would need to have to make that kind of...
Donor by donor, each by each, consider and draft an interaction plan for each prospect. It’s tedious and time-consuming, and the more donors you begin to seriously cultivate, the more tedious the process becomes. I suggest taking two weeks out of each January and slogging...
To create board members who are fully prepared to make the strategic, critical, and wise decisions we ask of them at every meeting, my idea is to create a Scavenger Hunt – one that will take a year and a Guide to complete. Create a...
Here’s what I want to know: How many different individuals gave you money last year? It seems like such a simple question, but I have had more trouble getting clear answers than I ever would have suspected. How you count and what you count obviously...
Start again. January of another year. 2016 is over. History. Fa, sol, la, ti, Done. And January brings us ‘round again to Do. 2017 yawns before us. It could be anything. What will it be for you? January is a good time for reflection. Where have we been? How...