First Thing Tuesday

26 Aug A Dozen Rules for Writing Better Fundraising Letters – Part 2

Posted at 05:51h in Board Development, Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Last week I wrote the first half dozen rules for writing better fundraising letters this fall. I based it in part on an excellent book that Jeff Brooks wrote several years ago that I wish I had written: A Fundraiser’s Guide to Irresistible Communications. This...

19 Aug A Dozen Rules for Writing Better Fundraising Letters – Part 1

Posted at 07:26h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Jeff Brooks wrote a book several years ago that I wish I had written: A Fundraiser’s Guide to Irresistible Communications. Based on his information, coupled with my own experience, I have a dozen rules to live by this fall. Here are Rules 1-6. Check back...

12 Aug Digital Marketing

Posted at 05:40h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Raise money first. If you suck at raising money, investing time and energy in digital marketing will not help. It will only distract you from getting better at raising money....

05 Aug Four Things You can Do in August to Raise More Money This Fall

Posted at 06:04h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Uncategorized 0 Comments

You can get out ahead of this November stress factory. Plus, you can probably raise more money in the process. Here are four things you can do right now that will help: 1. Write your fall fundraising letter NOW; 2. Get your mailing list ready...

29 Jul Lessons on Inspiration from a Hiker

Posted at 05:12h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Plans and Budgets, Uncategorized 0 Comments

There’s a lesson here for land trusts. Instead of being limited by how few people we know or who support our current work, maybe we are getting the level of support our current vision will attract. Maybe if we put a bigger vision on the...

22 Jul The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Fundraising Board Members

Posted at 05:43h in Board Development, Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured 0 Comments

Highly Effective Fundraising Board Members: 1) Understand the goals; 2) Know the organization’s donors; 3) Interact with donors in person and over the telephone; 4) Support each other’s fundraising efforts; 5) Use personal stories; 6) Keep good records; and 7) Practice. ...

15 Jul Is Wealth Screening Worth the Money?

Posted at 06:23h in Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets 0 Comments

BEFORE you pay for Wealth Screening, ask yourself whether you are prepared to use the information. How? Are you prepared to “cold call” the donors identified by the screen? Build relationships with them? Discover their specific interests? Ask them for money? Do you have a...

08 Jul A Surprisingly Easy Place to Find GREAT Board Members

Posted at 05:25h in Board Development, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership 6 Comments

Why do we ask people who do not support the organization to assume leadership positions and serve on the board?...

01 Jul Pocket Change

Posted at 06:42h in Board Development, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets 0 Comments

I don’t necessarily expect every board member to give $1,000, but it’s not unfair to ask. The world expects nonprofit board leaders to be among the most committed and ardent supporters of their organizations. Let’s stop settling for the ways people say “No,” and...

24 Jun On Term Limits – Take 2

Posted at 05:47h in Board Development, Featured 0 Comments

If a board member is not showing signs of getting progressively more involved after the first term, they may not be asked to stay for a second. If they are unavailable or incapable of taking a leadership position with the land trust after six years,...