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.
You will want to imagine the relationship from the donor’s perspective. What will they see from the organization? Will it come from a single “voice” (better)? Or will each communication be from someone different (not as good)?...
When you have donor meetings set up, when you will be at an event or field trip where one or several top donors will be present, take a moment to invite a Board member to come along. I would not go so far as to...
January is a good time for reflection. Where have we been? How did we get here? What could we have done differently? What have we learned? ...
What we know about most charitable giving is that people give first because they want to see something done and second because they believe the recipient organization can do it. Tax deductions are something donors take advantage of later more so than something that actually...
This year, both Christmas and New Years land on Mondays. That means someone (you?) needs to be in the office next Tuesday through Friday, picking up the mail and answering the phone. Here are several other things you might plan for that week: ...
The internet and the advent of e-marketing has changed the rules a lot, and there are different expectations now. One big change is the call for regular disclosure in all media. Instead of simply being responsive to donor requests to be removed from various lists,...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation Among the data points I get back from my website each week is the number of “page hits” I get from the top twenty or so most popular pages. The most popular page right now is a 2015 post of Writing...
There is a real person behind every gift – most of whom are giving from their hearts, motivated by an interest in supporting the work and commitment we have to our organizational mission. Their gifts are freely bestowed and not necessarily earned or even deserved....
The trend in all communications is toward the use of very personal stories and testimonials. This trend – first person accounts of real people, their motivations, and emotional connections to the land – also makes for effective fundraising. Testimonials, once captured, can be used (with...
Donors give money because of their belief in the mission and their belief that the organization can actually get it done. Efficiency rarely trumps actual results in donors’ decision-making. Projecting a successful organization will raise more money from more donors than projecting an efficient organization....