First Thing Tuesday

17 Feb Writing Renewal Letters

Posted at 09:59h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Unlike recruitment and appeal letters, (See A Dozen Rules for Writing Better Fundraising Letters), renewal letters aren’t complicated. They are short and to the point. The essential “case” for giving is that they gave last year and the year before. It is good practice to...

10 Feb Writing Thank You Letters

Posted at 10:31h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

February is a month I’m devoting to writing well and with that writing, connecting more with the donors who sustain us. I invite you to join me....

03 Feb Take the Time to Write Well

Posted at 14:56h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

This year, I invite you to join me in writing differently. Let’s commit ourselves to anticipating more often. Getting ahead of the curve. Let our writing steep more. Write in such a way that our audiences will read it. Be more effective communicators....

27 Jan Do You Say Thank You Enough?

Posted at 05:49h in Board Development, Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

I once read that organizations should thank their donors seven times. How do you even do that? Here are some ideas to get you thinking:...

20 Jan Board Evaluations, Board Campaigns

Posted at 05:37h in Board Development, Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Plans and Budgets, Uncategorized 2 Comments

Fundraiser’s Almanac: January Happy New Year! For 2015, I am creating a week-by-week guide to organizing a fundraising program. My ambition is to provide strategic ideas for approaching your work more so than providing some kind of overlay to what you might be doing already. Some of...

13 Jan Working with a Top 100 List in 2015

Posted at 05:11h in Board Development, Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

A Top 100 (or T-100) is simply a list of top donor prospects. These are people who warrant and deserve your special cultivation attention. This is the list of priority donor prospects that the board members should be working with. ...

06 Jan Communications Theme for 2015

Posted at 05:22h in Communication, Featured, Uncategorized 3 Comments

January is a great time to consider having a communications theme and what that theme might be. A communications theme will run all the way through your communications for the entire year. It will provide substance for newsletter and website articles; Facebook, Twitter, and...

30 Dec Happy New Year!

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

Don’t talk about your overhead. Don’t graph it in your annual report. And above all, don’t brag about it. Be the organization that always seems to be getting something done. Find and invite those outside the organization to tell your story for you....

23 Dec Peace for the Holidays

Posted at 06:15h in Communication, Featured, Uncategorized 0 Comments

What you are doing as a land trust – what we are all doing together – is IMPORTANT. We are establishing modern temples of spiritual renewal. For your role in that critical work, I say THANK YOU!...

17 Dec Board Policy on Grant Administration

Posted at 08:39h in Board Development, Development Audit, Featured, Foundations, Plans and Budgets, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

My Board is considering adopting a resolution that stipulates that 20% of every grant will be used for admin ...