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.
When you get back home, write the several ideas you identified on a separate sheet of paper and start working on implementation. Also, flip through the cards you collected. Is there anyone you would like to follow-up with?...
But inevitably, you won’t be able to get or keep meetings with everyone on your list. Some you’ll just miss. Others will have other priorities – usually meaning well but somehow never getting back to you. And some will dodge you intentionally. Don’t let them...
“When your fundraising says, Give us money so we can do amazing things, you will raise less money,” says Brooks. “Because you’re missing the point. You’ll raise more if you say Do amazing things by giving us money.” ...
They are completely different decisions. Individual donors make annual or “renewable” general support decisions, major gift or project decisions, and end-of-life or planned giving decisions. These decisions operate independently of each other, and most everybody understands the differences....
It means that you can bet that we won’t be the only ones studying all this. Ask your Board members to pay attention to the mail they get from their colleges and universities and even some other charities they might support. If that mail includes...
Let’s start with the idea that the organization is worth it. This is a land trust that you believe in; that is doing important work. And this is an important place for you to devote your time and energy. Serving on the Board is a...
Many Board members and even staff are still operating as if $100 was an enormous number. They are reaching for arms-length solutions because actually getting to know donors is too scary. And they are sending letters and emails that never actually ask. They are waiting...
This is not a time to be timid. Putting a strong vision on the table that will touch, move, and inspire your donorbase and then investing both time and money into building one-on-one relationships and engaging everyone in your organization in doing so – that’s...
Most of us are familiar with the basics of a gift chart, sometimes called a donor pyramid. Gift charts are commonly used in capital campaigns – and rarely used outside of campaigns. But you can also use them for annual fundraising. Here’s how you might...
I believe nonprofits everywhere are seeing renewal rates less than 50% because they are making the same bet TNC made. They are reaching for the transactional. They believe someone interested in protecting a certain place, or making an impulse decision after attending an event, will...