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.
There is a real person behind every gift – most of whom are giving from their hearts, motivated by an interest in supporting the work and commitment we have to our organizational mission. Their gifts are freely bestowed and not necessarily earned or even deserved....
The trend in all communications is toward the use of very personal stories and testimonials. This trend – first person accounts of real people, their motivations, and emotional connections to the land – also makes for effective fundraising. Testimonials, once captured, can be used (with...
Donors give money because of their belief in the mission and their belief that the organization can actually get it done. Efficiency rarely trumps actual results in donors’ decision-making. Projecting a successful organization will raise more money from more donors than projecting an efficient organization....
I’m convinced there is a land conservation gene that will be isolated at some point in the near future – hitch-hiker’s thumb, black hair, land trust. This means that somewhere, someone has asked the same question you are asking. And they will be happy to...
Give five times your annual gift – $125,000 – each year for five years. The land trust will pull the first $25,000 each year as a continuation of your annual gift. And they’ll invest the rest. After five years, they will have a $500,000 endowment...
"Major gift" is donor-centric and describes how the decision gets made. It is independent of the denomination of the gift. One donor’s $5,000 is an annual gift; the decision is made to some degree because of the donor’s giving history. For another donor, the same...
Create a new spreadsheet with the same rows and columns but without all the boxes filled in. And answer this question: “What must we do this year to meet our goals?” The spreadsheet you have can help. If you look down the columns, you can...
The moment you take your campaign public is your last chance to change the CAMPAIGN GOAL. Perhaps you need to increase it because of the early success you’ve had – that’s a happy thing. But perhaps, it becomes clear that you are not going to...
This year, we have different challenges – named Harvey, Irma, Lee, and Marie. (At this writing, Marie has just been upgraded to a Category 5 Hurricane and headed for the eastern seaboard.) Houston, the Keys, Miami, and Jacksonville are still bailing and digging out. And...
Grant Advisor is an on-line source of consumer information about real experiences with grantmakers. Had a great experience? Totally frustrated? Here’s a place where you can tell your story and learn from others. For everyone who is looking ahead to looming grant deadlines this fall,...