First Thing Tuesday

09 Sep See you at Rally!

Posted at 05:32h in Board Development, Communication, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Next week is Rally: The National Land Conservation Conference in Providence, Rhode Island. Anita O’Gara and I will team up to present The Surprising Secrets of Direct Mail Success on Friday. Peter McKeever and I will present A Board for All Seasons, which we like...

02 Sep Resist Replacing Paper Newsletters with ENews

Posted at 17:34h in Communication, Development Audit, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Uncategorized 0 Comments

If you switch off your printed newsletters in favor of electronic substitutes, you will lose members and donors....

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?...