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...
At Rally this year, I finally got to present the Development Committee Makeover workshop. The point of the workshop was to show, using before and after scripts, how Development Committees could address their work in a much more productive way by limiting their discussion to...
Are you ready for November? Are you getting the most out of the magic three months when 50-70% of all your gifts for the year will be committed? Here’s what I’m thinking about. What are YOU thinking about?...
Think about this scenario: You’re at the office, and it’s 11:30 in the morning. You have a lunch appointment for which you’ll need to leave in 15 minutes. Not enough time to start something new, but too much time to waste. What will you do?...
The forecasting question is simply this: Given what I know right now about what foundations, corporations, and individuals have committed, and what I know right now about what requests are still out there, and what I know right now about the requests I will yet...
In fundraising for land conservation, we often say that “the land sells itself.” By this we simply mean that if you can get a potential donor out on the land to see, smell, touch – feel – for themselves, often that’s all you need. This...
That scenario presumes, of course, that you do not have a mailhouse doing all the work for you. If you do have a mailhouse that you work with, what you can do now is get the merge files ready to go. But you should also...
At the Land Trust Alliance Rally, I particularly enjoyed this year's speaker Andy Goodman, who talked about the importance of good story-telling. Another blogger, Vu Le talks about how to make the most of downtime to cultivate new ideas and strengthen relationships....
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...
I thoroughly enjoyed your seminar at the recent Rally and wanted to share with you an "AHA" moment that I have had since returning from Milwaukee. ...