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.
July officially starts on Friday – Yikes! – Are you ready? What’s on your list for July? Annual Meetings? Summer field trips? Donor visits?...
When you plan your fund development work, you should segment your donors and plan for each segment separately. In my opinion, you SHOULD have a donor segment on which you plan to devote individualized attention. I call it my Top 100 List, but it’s...
Last week, I received an Annual Report from a former client. On the inside of the front page was a letter, and it broke so many rules, I thought I’d doctor it up as a case study and share a “before” and “after” with you....
June is officially here – Yikes! Are you ready? What is on your To-Do List for June? Here’s what I’m thinking about: Getting ready to ask my $250 donors to give $1,000 this year....
People who donate time and not money are wonderful volunteers. People who donate money and not time are wonderful donors. We need wonderful board members to do both....
Aside from the every-four-years political craziness, the presidential election in 2016 will present some challenges for your fall appeal planning as well. The bottom line is that few people will be paying attention to renewal or seasonal appeal letters around the election. There will be...
If your organizational goals depend on having more members than you have now, you should consider investing in direct mail recruitment. The best approach is a solid strategy consistently applied over a period of years. Be predictable, and you will cultivate loyalty over time....
For most land trust organizations, I don’t recommend big assertive planned giving programs. It can get too complicated too quickly, and 8/10 planned gifts are either bequests or beneficiary designations. It’s quite easy to market such gifts passively. Also, the management of any of the...
Fundraising planning should always start with the program goal. Starting with the program goal does not necessarily imply that every goal is attainable, but starting there is important. The program goal is a “net” goal for fundraising; that amount needed to run the programs and...
May officially starts on Sunday. Are you ready? What is on your To-Do List for May? Here’s what I’m thinking about: My Second Spring Appeal Letter: I want my donors to give to the organization twice each year, once to renew their membership, and once...