Your Enemy is an Overstuffed Mailbox
Have you ever wondered why your planned giving newsletters are not getting a good response? Because chances are they are not even getting read.
There’s No Secret. It’s Common Sense Planned Giving
“People commonly use statistics like a drunk uses a lamp post; for support rather than illumination.” (Mark Twain)
Age-Based Marketing: Rest in Peace
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 to younger donors, specific messages to single donors, both young and older, a specific message to widows … You get the idea. It might take some research and elbow grease on your part to segment your prospect list, but identifying your audience and targeting your messages appropriately is the best way to get results. If you’re still just mailing only to your most loyal donors (premium PG prospects, by the way) over 70 … take a look at these numbers: By the time a prospect is 60, the chance of them leaving you in their will is less than 15%. 43% of bequests are created by those 55 and younger. 34% of all CRTs are created by those 54 and younger. 15% of all planned gifts are created by those 45 and younger. The moral of this story? Make segmentation part of your planned giving action plan. Do your market (donor) research, use it to segment your marketing efforts, and then reach out to everyone, creatively! Category: Planned Giving Marketing
It’s Now Or Never: A Seven Point Planned Giving Action Plan
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.
Treat Your Prospects Like Donors, and Your Donors Like Friends
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.
Get the Year End Going
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.
Why Most Planned Giving Marketing Fails
“Response rates from newsletters are down! Attendance at my annual seminar is way off…” fundraisers tell us.
Find Your Audience, Then Find Your Money
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.
You Can’t Guess Direct Mail Response Rates
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.
How To Make Donors and Prospects Tune Out Without Trying
With improper messaging you’ll become an unwelcome pest instead of a welcome guest in your donors’ mind.
