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.
Cultivation is easy to say and easy to understand. But sometimes it’s hard to figure out what to do. Here’s something tangible: board members can help by becoming the conduit through which donors receive information about the land trust. Be the bearer of news. Be...
Never – ever – turn an unrestricted gift, into a restricted gift. Try simply saying “Thank you” instead....
In the end, fundraising is about personal relationships. Done well, the relationship is between the donor and the organization, but every relationship begins between two individuals. And 90 percent of fundraising comes down to how well you’re doing at building those relationships. Maybe instead of “fundraiser”...
I had a great time in Pennsylvania last weekend presenting at the Pennsylvania Land Conservation Conference. One of the sessions I presented was called Secrets of High-Functioning Development Committees. I had originally envisioned this as a Rally session featuring a cast of actors who would play...
A land trust was recently confronted with a peculiar problem. A major donor with a keen and personal interest in protecting a specific piece of property offered an enabling gift equal to, and restricted to, the entire purchase price of the property. The gift amount...
Are you as engaged in fundraising as you should be? If not, December is a great month to change that – by saying thank you. Making calls to donors and members carries the twin benefits of increasing their connection to the organization and increasing...
Most organizations, including land trusts, tend to default to a monthly membership cycle. However, managing such a system for organizations with fewer than 2,000 members or so is inefficient for staff whose positions are not solely dedicated to it. There are alternative systems that can...
Eliminating term limits for board directors is a bad idea. Boards without term limits have no incentive to recruit, and without the constant stimulation new recruits bring, organizations can get stale and inbred over time and fail to grow. Furthermore, organizations that are growing have...
An important concept in fundraising is that of “access” to current and potential donors. Access in fundraising means that if you send someone an email or leave a voice message, it will be returned. Each of us has a circle of friends, family, business colleagues,...
I encourage all board members to regularly deliver their elevator speech to the entire board, as a form of ritualized practice. Practicing is just good "practice" anyway, but hearing what others say can help you refine and hone your own message. Delivering such a speech...