Are You Irresistible?
Sales and marketing are different things. Sales, or stewardship, is direct contact, and the point is to make a sale. Marketing is more about building awareness of your brand, your mission and your vision. Though it creates bonds in less personal ways than sales, marketing enables you to cast a wider net and create a sales funnel that directs revenue your way.
Making Mid-Level Prospects into Major Givers With “Legacy Life Giving”
Tom Ligare and his colleagues at Planned Giving Marketing Solutions, LLC are promoting a gift type that helps build long-term endowment by making it easier for mid-level donors to engage in major giving. We decided to find out more about it…
Gone Without Trace: Man Bequeaths $2 Million to Uncle Sam
I don’t think any of us would be in this business if we didn’t believe that philanthropy, giving, the act of charity – no matter how humble – ennobles everything it touches. But I don’t know whether to laugh or cry just now, because I learned recently that a man in Florida willed his house to the U.S. government so the sales proceeds could be applied to defray the National Debt.
“Monkey See, Monkey Do” Fundraising:
E-Marketing Is Not the Answer If you really think you can run a planned giving program on autopilot with outsourced help that supplies electronic tools online such as tax reference libraries for prospects and financial advisors, articles on gift laws, automated email blasts, complicated calculators, etc., this article is for you. One of the scariest things I see is that many fundraisers are entirely, foolishly depending on this stuff (which no one reads) and on the Internet for marketing, and worse, simultaneously abandoning direct mail and other print media for outreach to new donors and prospects. It is terrifyingly stupid, ugly, lazy, and cheap.
Headless Fundraising: Where is the Leadership?
I was invited to speak at a national charity conference with over 800 attendees. I know some of them were Directors of Operations and Chief Executive Officers. So where the heck were they hiding? The conference featured something for everyone, topic-wise — from operations and finances to strategies and fundraising philosophy, they had it covered. The conference was a huge success… except for my session, which was on planned giving marketing. Read on.
“Planned Giving” vs. “Gift Planning”
Our clients, friends and prospects often ask which term is better to use for their marketing efforts, “Planned Giving” or “Gift Planning”. This is a decades-old dispute and I am getting tired of it. So I decided to write this blog to end the argument. If anyone is ready to spar, sharpen your blade (well, pencil is okay). A few nonprofits have migrated to Gift Planning because it sounds more “sophisticated.” Others argue that Planned Giving has been around too long and it’s time for something “new.” And some “feel” it makes better sense and sounds better. This is all just self-serving theory. [By the way, we own both domains: giftplanning.org and plannedgiving.org; so we do not have a reason to be financially biased in this article.]
Transparency Is Its Own Reward
“Transparency” is just a trendy term for “operational openness.” Openness can work in a nonprofit’s favor. It allows donors and prospects to see that your organization is being run responsibly. It assures them that the money it raises is being used to further its mission. But a charity that tries to keep too many secrets may end up with the feds imposing a little “transparency” of their own. In the legal system, this is sometimes called “discovery.” Case in point: The Kabbalah Centre International. Just to recap, the IRS and a grand jury in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York is asking serious questions about the nonprofit Kabbalah Center. The general drift of the questions is: What happened to all the money? A court in Los Angeles wants to know, too, now that a West Coast donor is also suing for the $200 million she says the center fleeced her out of. The Celebrity Connection Having a celebrity like Madonna on board with your nonprofit’s mission – as the Kabbalah Center does – can confer a powerful fundraising advantage. It means built-in publicity, name recognition, and probably a fat donation from the personality in question. But the problem is, when things go south at the charity, more eyes are watching. The court of public opinion doesn’t wait for explanations or a fair trial. What seems clear to us, whatever the facts in this case, is that the more open we fundraisers can be about our charities and their operations, the better. Transparency is critical, and not just for anti-scandal purposes. Leading by Example Donors are attracted to and motivated by transparency that lets them know who and what the charity is. They want to see what its goals are and what it believes in. They want to know how donations will be put to use and the procedures and personalities involved. And they want to know who really benefits at the end of the day. If you have trouble answering these questions for yourself, consider punching up your organizational transparency. Because scandals like the one at The Kabbalah Center can only make you look bad if your nonprofit looks as opaque as The Kabbalah Center. Category: Planned Giving Marketing, Relationships
No Short Cut to Planned Giving Ethics
The idea of ethics, as an active, engaging, and permeating part of what we do, falls well short of where it needs to be in our daily routine.
To Junk Mail, or Not to Junk Mail…Is That the Question?
Listen: there’s a grassroots rebellion against direct mail marketing. For example, CatalogChoice.Org, a nonprofit “do not send” registry for consumers and companies who want to stem the flood of unwanted catalogs and other junk mail they receive, has served more than a million individuals and businesses since its founding in 2007. And while — at least from your viewpoint — your planned giving newsletter is anything but junk mail, to your prospect, it’s just part of the daily avalanche of unwelcome arrivals. And that means it’s quite likely your messaging is going straight from the mailbox to the recycling bin, or — even worse — triggering an aggravated prospect to put your nonprofit on a “do not send” list. So, how do you get your message through to your audience? How do you avoid sending junk mail? Be the Welcome Guest Instead of an Annoying Pest Know your audience — filter your mailing list to identify prospects who will be interested by what they receive. (This means learning about your prospects and forming relationships!) Send mail with an appearance markedly different from commonly used direct mail formats. For instance, hand-write addresses (or have volunteers write them) instead of printing them on envelopes, and use an actual paper stamp. Focus on composing and delivering the right message. The significance of graphic design, font and type size, colors, etc. is important for readability and maintaining your brand, but having the right message is critical. Even with resistance, direct mail is still, by far, the No. 1 way your prospects want to hear from you! These days, everyone gets an overwhelming amount of emails. That means they are treated like junk mail and generally ignored — sent straight to the trash, or flagged to go straight into the spam folder. Consider these figures: In the commercial world, $1 spent on media advertising returns $5 in sales But a $1 investment in direct mail returns $7 to $15. Learn from and copy the experts (you should already be running your nonprofit like a business)! Create a planned giving marketing plan to guide your efforts, maximize your success and help you avoid sending junk mail. Finally, remember that not all direct mail is created equal. Read about Overkill Marketing. Categories: Planned Giving Marketing, Relationships
Prevent Fundraising Blackouts by Saving Donor Energy
The more you stress your prospect, the more demands you make upon them, the more likely they are bail on you. Here are some tips on how to keep ‘em sweet.
