Philosophy

The Why is More Important Than the How.

“Response rates from newsletters are down! Attendance at my annual seminar is way off…” fundraisers tell us.

What did you think was going to happen?

Old marketing methods are simply not working anymore. While you weren’t watching, your prospect pool has changed. They’re more knowledgeable, more independent — and — skeptical, harder to reach and to persuade. Especially today.

Too many fundraisers still have the mindset of 1968, when the world was changing and planned giving was news. The world is different today. Your prospects are awash in fundraising material — from you, from their college, from their kid’s college, from their grandkid’s school, from the National Association to Save the National Associations. And if you raise planned gifts, your safe, four-times-a-year "place-your-name-here" newsletters aren’t working anymore. In addition, mailing pieces are drowned out by mailers from the supermarket next door, Chevy dealer, and coupons from Val-Pak.

Partners in Crime Behind Closed Doors?

Unfortunately, Planned giving has always conjured up thoughts of cigar-smoking, martini-sipping, conservatively-clad lawyers hanging out at the Union League while scheming about ways to deal with the rich and donate to charity while evading the IRS.

Since 1999, we have taken on the challenge of changing this image. And it is changing fast. Our marketing efforts have been paying off in promoting a donor friendly, benefits-based approach to planned giving versus a “promoting death” approach. Our tools and ideas have helped many think in new ways to close more and larger gifts, more easily and efficiently in an era where non-profits' voices are drowned in "marketing noise". And for those who have never promoted planned gifts, we have shown how easy it is.

So, if you are ready to raise planned gifts, this presentation is for you. If you are ready to invigorate an existing planned giving program and go beyond the marketing tools that once worked in the 60's — such as planned giving newsletters that never get read — then this program is a must.

Gather your staff — and if you wish, your board and top advisors — for this three-hour no-nonsense presentation. We are The Authorities in planned giving marketing and will demonstrate that planned gifts are understandable, practical, achievable and rewarding for both your organization and your donors.

"We need the money now. Why should I pursue planned gifts?"

Having doubts about going after planned gifts because it takes too long for the gifts to mature?

The average time from inception to maturity for a planned gift is 7-10 years — only a few years longer than most campaign pledge periods. Do the math yourself:

  • The typical capital gift target is 20 times a donor’s largest annual fund gift.
  • The typical completed planned gift is 200 times a donor’s largest annual fund gift.

Your planned giving pool may be as much as 5 times larger than your capital pool.

“But I am too busy to think about planned giving.”

They say that planned giving is being placed on the back-burner because of tight budgets, smaller staffs and not enough time.

Bull. There’s an underlying reason that none of us wants to acknowledge.

Four years ago we asked fundraisers whether they believed planned giving is “where the money’s at.”

A whopping 74% in the survey answered yes. On the next question, “Where do you spend your time?” a large number (82%) answered “raising cash gifts.”

So if they know the answer, why do they place planned giving on the back burner?

Because most attend to the urgent, not the important.

An analogy can be made here between a toothache and visits to the dentist. If we never attend to the important (visiting the dentist) one day we’ll have to attend to the urgent (a root canal).

Same goes for retirement planning. If you never proactively build your retirement (endowment) you’ll have to reactively work after you’re 70 (like raising annual gifts).

If fundraisers never attend to the important task of building a pipeline of planned gifts to provide a stream of long-term support, they will, year after year, waste time on the urgent task of picking up every $100 gift they can find to meet their quotas.

And, year after year, they’re missing the fact that those consistent $100 givers make the perfect planned giving prospects.

Considering the average bequest is over $68,000… it’s a no brainer.