Again and again, Dr. Russell James found that formal and technical terms reduce the chances that a prospective donor will be interested in making a planned gift. And we’ve been saying that since 1998. Yet, many nonprofits still do not take the advice.
Planned giving productivity. It’s not about learning calculators, CRUTs and CRATs. Here are 5, simple helpful tips for you career — and mental health.
Recently, an IT functionary at a large Midwestern institution convinced the Development team to produce their planned giving website in-house. It took them 8 months.
“Direct mail is too expensive,” you say. Well, fine. Use something cheaper that does not work nearly as well.
“Oh, you’re one of those people who care about the black squiggly marks,” the Director of Development told me.
You can’t believe how hard it is for people to be simple, how much they fear being simple. They worry that if they’re simple, people will think they’re simpleminded. In reality, of course, it’s just the reverse. ~ Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric
A direct mail campaign that’s not so vanilla. Only in the for-profit world. Would you have had the stomach for it?
A donor can donate a house, get a deduction, live there for life, and receive an annuity from the donation for life. Hmm … does not sound right.
We worked with a client that’s a women’s breast cancer foundation with over two million Facebook followers. This is very impressive. So how did they do it?
I am amused when a client hires us and then tells us what to do. My favorite inquiry is, “We’d like to send out a planned giving postcard and see if something will happen.”
Marketing planned gifts is not rocket science. This article is an excellent refresher.
Are you nurturing your donors? One way to do it is by asking them to tell their story. People like to talk about themselves. It’s natural.