I remember this expression from an American fundraising authority in my first years obsessing on the subject. The idea was very simple: ‘the development process’ is all about gradually turning outsiders into insiders, a process of inviting affluent, influential, talented and/ or well connected individuals to consider our organisation and our cause to be their [...]
John Regan Associates Blog
“Get them into the kitchen”: zoo donors
April 28th, 2011The revolving door: why do zoo fundraisers and development professionals not last longer..?
April 17th, 2011There are some (USA) statistics that seem to show that fundraisers tend to change jobs on average every 18 months. Clearly this is not helpful in the zoo world, which must look to long term projects and long term relationships. So why do they jump ship so often? The following thoughts are not intended to be [...]
So, name a famous zoo director…?
April 13th, 2011Well you may be able to name quite a few, if you actually work in the field, but figures that are recognisable at all to the public or the media..? Of course there was one in the past, Gerald Durrell, amongst other things, perhaps the UK zoo world’s most sucessful marketeer. Because he ‘got it’. Ultimately, [...]
Fundraising for zoos and nature venues from affluent individuals: the Pareto principle
April 8th, 2011Finding ways to politely, patiently and appropriately ask high net value individuals to support relevant zoo projects is probably an underused avenue in zoos, especially in the UK and Europe. Which is a shame, because RICH PEOPLE HAVE ALL THE MONEY!!! Those charged with developing external funds for zoos have limited time and resources, so [...]
Zoo and nature venue funding: what is a ‘Gift Schedule’ and how do you use it?
April 2nd, 2011sample gift schedule A gift schedule takes your overall project funding target and breaks it down into manageable chunks. It should allocate a high percentage of the donations required to a few big gifts, because all research shows that that is where most of your funding is going to come from. It is there to concentrate the [...]
