PlannedGiving.com - Planned Giving

Scott Janney

What has Congress done?  (Or how could they just sit by and do nothing?)  I hear different versions of this question from a wide variety of people.

One article on a planned giving website starts with, “It’s an extraordinarily uncertain time …”  One boilerplate publication sent by nonprofits ends with, “… the estate tax litigation over 2010 law may last for the next decade.”  Some people in our profession may be trying to fan the flames of hysteria.  Do you want to be one of them?  Does hysteria encourage anybody to put together a good estate plan?

Here’s the short version of what happened, in plain English:  Read more »

The days of the traditional, “place-my-logo-and-name-at-the-top,” canned-content planned giving newsletters are over.  Prospects in the ‘60s may have responded to them, but not anymore — they have all passed away long since. Read more »

We hear it all too frequently; “I don’t want to mail my prospects too often because
I may annoy them.”

If you are that sensitive, perhaps you should not ask them for donations at all. Read more »

She’s busy. She has bills to pay. The family reunion is coming up and her husband’s got the flu. There’s a fourth grandchild on the way. Their ferret’s now a surprise mother of six… Read more »

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What’s scarier than your 401k statement? Writing a year-end appeal to your donors and supporters in this economic climate, that’s what.

Some of my non profit friends are telling me that they’re not putting a year-end letter in this year’s budget. They know donors are experiencing a cash crunch, and they don’t want to make them feel even more jittery. Read more »

From Cheryl, in Ohio: “Our Director is telling us to cut back our planned giving marketing program. My instinct is to tough it out.  I have to justify my budget and could really use some support.” Read more »

We recently heard of a non profit mailing out its annual report with a notice inside that read “In an effort to keep our costs low and use our resources to provide more food, we have reduced the size of our Annual Report. Please go to our website for a list of donors, volunteers and community partners.”

Now come on, how can you make this mistake? This type of thinking is a common form of scarcity mentality that many non-profits have to shake off! Read more »

Practice thinking like your prospect.

Who are they? What do they care about? What are their hopes, fears, dreams? What are their deepest desires? Read more »

Over 72% of Americans prefer their information via US mail. However, the best way to communicate is through online and offline integration. Read more »