Does Personalization Work?
“This year, we are asking the board to personalize our appeal letters (beyond the major donor) and, in connection with discussion about the extra staff time, logistics, etc., a new board member asked if we knew what the difference was in response rate. I remember you giving us information indicating an increased response to personalized as compared with non-personalized appeal letters during the fund raising seminar you led for us but cannot find it. Would you do me the favor of sending me that...
Read MoreDecember is for Saying Thank You
The more I work with land trusts, the more I work with non-profit organizations for that matter, the more themes emerge that seem common to nearly all of them. One of them that seems universal is that Board members are not as engaged as they should be in fundraising. Are you as engaged in fundraising as you should be? If not, December is a great month to change that – by saying thank you. It’s easy: Look over a list of members in your area and identify at least ten members that you would be willing to call (as in – on the telephone). Make a note of their names, phone numbers, and...
Read MoreAHA Moments from the 2011 Land Trust Allinace Rally
David, 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. Using our database, which serves as the basis of our fundraising program recordkeeping, I identified our top 150 donors and created a three ring binder with printouts of the basic record information for each donor – name/address/record of donations. This is now prominently on my desk as a reminder of where my executive director and I need to focus our efforts. I make notes on each sheet as I am in contact with the donor in...
Read MoreAnonymity isn’t Necessarily Friendly
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 equaled about 75% of the total “conservation costs” of the project, including stewardship endowment, closing costs, and so on. The condition was that donor’s identity and even the dollar value of the gift were to remain completely secret. Refusing the gift was never seriously considered, but the land trust was confronted with...
Read MoreTaming the Social Media Monster
In a recent blog by Nancy Schwartz, Getting Attention Blog, she outlines seven guidelines for “taming the social media monster”. Good, solid communications stuff here. Her guidelines and my comments related to land trusts follow: Be crystal clear on why you’re using social media. Most land trusts that I work with are engaged in social media because they think they have to. Take a step back. Define more general communications goals for your land trust, and identify a piece of that structure for social media. Common goals are to generate increasing community awareness of the LT, engage...
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. 