Give and Take

More than 40 years ago, comedian Steve Martin did an inflation routine that featured the line, “Gee, I got four dollars; I think I’ll throw it out into the street.” This came during the time of gas strikes and a recession in the 1970s, when many folks felt like their dollars weren’t going very far. These days, four dollars looks infinitely smaller than it looked back then. In 21st Century America, we’ve been desensitized to dollar amounts up to and including those with 12 zeros after them (i.e. numbers in the trillions). No surprise there: One hesitates to pay attention to numbers that big when they appear all the time with a negative sign and a dollar sign in front of them. The problem for fundraisers, of course, is that when even a million dollars looks paltry, donors can easily feel that their “small” gifts won’t make much of a

Johnny has done something more: He has contributed over $156 million dollars from his estate to a variety of charitable groups.

“I don’t need to be recognized,” the donor commented, “but a sense of individual appreciation such as a personal thank-you goes a long way.”

Is Altruism an Endangered Attribute? What if the “I” in “iPad” turned out to be Gordon “Greed is good” Gekko from the movie WALL STREET? While we don’t know if Gordon really has an iPad, we’re sure he’s out there, at least in spirit, because results from a recent survey of iPad owners by MyType seem to show that his real-world confreres make up a hefty proportion of those who have purchased this trendy new tech toy. Specifically, as reported by Eliot Van Buskirk in the 7/27/2010 edition of Wired.Com, the survey conducted this spring by MyType (a consumer research firm specializing in personality inventories) indicated that: “iPad owners tend to be wealthy, sophisticated, highly educated and disproportionately interested in business and finance, while they scored terribly in the areas of altruism and kindness. In other words, ‘selfish elites.’” The Opposite of a Donor Presumably individuals who self-report in such

Do you cut back on food when times are tough? If that were the case, everyone would be slim and trim right about now. Marketing is the meat and potatoes (sorry, bad pun) of any fundraising operation, and cutting back, especially in a tight economy, is a recipe (sorry again) for problems down the road.

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.”

Practice thinking like your prospect. Who are they? What do they care about? What are their hopes, fears, dreams? What are their deepest desires?

Have you ever wondered why your planned giving newsletters are not getting a good response? Because chances are they are not even getting read.

“People commonly use statistics like a drunk uses a lamp post; for support rather than illumination.” (Mark Twain)

After a long and fruitful life, Age-Based Marketing is dead. Cause of death? The New Economy, youthful Baby Boomers and just plain old age. Once upon a time, Americans marched a predictable path: From high school to college to career to marriage to family to retirement and then the golf course in Florida. That’s all changed. Today, many 50- and 60-year-olds are launching businesses, reinventing their careers and some are even starting new families. It used to be we could market products and services based on the age of our target audience, but that strategy, like your Filofax, rotary phone and pager, is old school. It’s time to retire Age-Based Marketing from your planned giving program and promote a savvier, much more energetic strategy. It’s called … Segmentation. Segmentation and message-to-segment marketing is crucial in planned giving, the most personal type of giving. Smart segmentation involves sending a specific message

With the recent plunge in the value of investment portfolios, some chief financial officers and development professionals are wondering whether they should remain “in the business” of offering gift annuities to their donors.

Many development officers are wondering where to focus their efforts during these uncertain times. Whether times are good or bad, the answer may surprise you: It's planned giving.

People give when they are ready to give, not when you are ready to sell (i.e., "ask"). So, just because your lead is not ready to buy (donate) today, doesn't mean they aren't important. That's why we develop relationships.

Helping your donors meet the December 31 tax deadline means that you can plan on staying longer and doing more than just about everyone else — except for your office’s gifts processor.  So plan a nice rest in January (Isn’t there a planned giving conference in the Caribbean, then? There should be...) and get ready for the year-end sprint.

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

It’s my experience that your audience is the single most powerful and most important element in the mix. If your marketing campaign is to get results, whether you use direct mail, print pieces, or e-mail, you must first make certain that the right audience is getting your message.  As I see it, finding the right audience determines 60 percent of the outcome.

In planned giving marketing, it's virtually impossible to guess direct mail response rates unless you've had a control group you've been experimenting with for years.

With improper messaging you'll become an unwelcome pest instead of a welcome guest in your donors' mind.

Your organization helps teenagers with substance abuse. One of your board members announces he’s received a large inheritance from his grandfather and is going to donate $250,000 in his grandfather’s name. The local paper discovers granddad made his money from the sale and distribution of alcohol.

Using spam for planned giving marketing? Think again.

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Bequests are up, cash is down. Empower your donors to plan their will and invest their legacy in the cause they support the most.

Please reach out. Note: if you give us your mailing address (or PO Box), we’ll send you a complimentary Planned Giving Gift Comparison Chart. 

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