PlannedGiving.com - Planned Giving

Fundraisers can make “civilians” a little nervous when they’re around (see Dan Rice’s article in the Spring 2008 issue of Planned Giving Tomorrow). What comments do you get when you tell folks what you do for a living? “Ugh, I could never ask strangers for money!” “Well, I hope you didn’t bring your begging bowl with you tonight – this is a friendly party.” Read more »

Suggest a codicil, a document that adds a bequest to your organization, then confirms all other provisions of the existing will.

It’s simple and inexpensive to prepare.

In this discussion we must assume that the mailing is not going out late and does not have a deadline for response. In this case use First Class or do not mail at all. Read more »

Marketing noise: every day the average prospect is inundated with over 2500 marketing messages. In a large city, it’s over 3700. A battle is being fought for the eyes and ears of the world, and in most cases the enemy is an overstuffed mailbox. Not only is your mail competing with the Legacy Newsletter of the hospital next door, but your prospects’ mailboxes are full of so much junk that it levels the playing field. Read more »

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: Read more »

According to whom?

Marketing guru Dan Kennedy says, “A funny thing usually happens in the advertising business – a client will cancel or change an ad campaign that’s working perfectly well just because they got bored with it and assumed everybody else was, too. That’s a bad assumption. Read more »

A while back we wondered whether fundraisers really received much benefit from the much-hyped IRA Rollover.

A lot of sales materials were sent urging non-profits to get in on the coming bonanza in gifts; vendors sold seminars explaining the rollover and marketing pieces promoting it. But our survey data found that the actual number of new gifts inspired by the rollover opportunity – gifts that non-profits wouldn’t have received in another format if rollovers weren’t available – was modest at best.

It’s a few months later and we’re looking at another example of marketing hype and get-on-the-bandwagon optimism.
Read more »

“What % response rate should I expect from my mailing?”

If someone ever gives you a definitive answer to our industry’s most frequently answer, don’t do business with them. Read more »

“What’s the difference between advertising and public relations? In advertising, you tell your audience how great you are. In public relations, you get someone else to  tell them the same thing.”

Fundraisers, like other marketers, face skepticism and resistance nowadays when they make a direct statement about the worthiness of their organization. Prospects feel they have been fooled so many times by government, corporations and non-profits that the first response to any straight-out, first person message is distrust. Before you can get prospects to listen to your recitation of your organization’s accomplishments and needs, you have to expend a lot of persuasive energy to get past their defenses. Read more »

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Suggested payment rates for charitable gift annuities will decline effective July 1st, 2008. Many fundraisers are viewing the drop as a marketing opportunity – a chance to prod their prospects into locking in current higher rates by making a gift now. Read more »