Thinking About the Best Board Chair
The best Board Chair is one who knows how the organization works. S/he is a good public ambassador for the organization articulating the land trust message accurately and confidently, and lending credibility to the organization through his/her association. S/he leads with her own giving, which is significant for her, and manages the administrative side of the job well. Such a person wasn’t recruited to the Board yesterday. In fact, s/he has probably been on the Board for five years or more. Furthermore, such a person is not likely to be idle when you have a Board seat to fill. It might take...
Read MoreAre we there yet?
Just about everywhere you turn nowadays, you can find gloomy economic news about the charitable giving. A new study released by Dunham and Company of 487 adults who donated at least $20 in the past year reports that only 2 in 10 Americans plan to continue or increase their giving next year. 1 in ten plan to stop giving altogether. Giving USA has revised its estimates for 2008 and 2009 – and now says that donations fell by a higher percentage than in any other time in the past five decades. The Chronicle of Philanthropy has several articles about declines in foundation fundraising,...
Read MoreFinancial Literacy and Organizational Sustainability
I have long been critical of Land Trust Alliance’s organizational assessment tool, the Assess Your Organization or AYO, because it focuses too heavily on policies and compliance and too little on sustainability. It’s fine that you have a conflict of interest policy and that you monitor each of your 35 conservation easements every year like clockwork, but having only six Board members and 100 members is a problem. It’s not sustainable. Jeanne Bell, Jan Masaoka, and Steve Zimmerman collaborated last year on a new Jossey-Bass published book called Non-Profit Sustainability: Making...
Read MoreCreative Disruption: Sabbaticals for Executive Directors
Early last year, six foundations with a history of funding Executive Director Sabbaticals released a study documenting their effectiveness, entitled Creative Disruption: Sabbaticals for Capacity Building and Leadership Development In the Nonprofit Sector. According to the study: Organizational capacity increased as the second tier of leadership took on new responsibilities. Governance strengthened as a result of the planning and learning that goes with a sabbatical process. Executive directors came back rejuvenated, with a fresh vision and innovative ideas, and tended to extend their tenure...
Read MoreConduct Your Board Campaign First
The first quarter of each calendar year is the best time to run your annual Board campaign. Doing so: opens the door for quarterly or monthly pledges, making larger gifts possible, assures 100% participation early in the year, establishes the “moral authority” for Board members asking other donors to give, establishes the level of credibility necessary for other donors to take challenging requests seriously, and serves as a useful “practice” campaign each year. Here are the parts and sequence: Set a Board Goal – the goal should be set with the participation of the Board Chair,...
Read MoreDavid Allen, Development for Conservation LLC
I am a fundraising consultant who has devoted the majority of my professional career to the service of land conservation. 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. 