By David Allen, Development for Conservation In the early 2000's, I had the great privilege of observing a local election held in Zambia. The community, apparently defined as the number of people who could still hear each other when seated under a tree, was conducting its...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation Things would be so different if they were not as they are. - Anna Russell Jeff Brooks posted a guest blog by Christiana Stergiou speculating on the unquantifiable – opportunity costs. An “opportunity cost” is the amount of money we leave behind...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation If you’re like me, you won’t be mailing your appeal letters and/or renewals after this week and until after the election. If you’re like me, you will calculate that the national mood will be seriously distracted by the election. I...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation In my groups and workshops, I always ask how many people are First Timers. It gives me a chance to repeat my best advice for newbies: Rally (and any conference) can be overwhelming the first time. Your job then is to...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation Whether we understand and acknowledge it, or not, we all have an interesting relationship with neuroscience, neurolinguistics, and neurolinguistic programming. These terms describe the possibility that how human beings react to certain decision-making triggers can be studied and understood. Many of...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation OK, so let’s talk about Fundraising Metrics. As I mentioned last week(See On Metrics, Data, Information, Science, and How We Use Them – Part 1), I will be doing a workshop on Fundraising Metrics this year at Rally. What to count....
By David Allen, Development for Conservation One of my current clients is the Bayou Land Conservancy in Houston. They have launched a well-branded monthly giving program called Land Lovers. For a pledged monthly donation of $15 or more, members get a couple of T-shirts and invitations...
By David Allen, Development for Conservation When I come home every evening, I throw the change from my pocket into an old coffee can. (Remember when coffee used to come in cans?) It’s an old habit that has served me well around Christmas on more than...
by David Allen, Development for Conservation Dear Mary, We opened the Trillium Trail today. In the grand scheme of things, it was a little thing. There were about 30 people there, mostly the volunteers who worked on building it these last three years. Frank was there,...
by David Allen, Development for Conservation At some point between now and Christmas, you will be asking just about everyone you know for a gift to your land trust. Some will be asked to “renew.” Some will be asked to make an additional gift this year. Most...