The Digital Marketing Myth
Are you relying exclusively on digital tools to run your planned giving program? Think again. Many fundraisers and now advisors depend entirely on outsourced electronic solutions—tax reference libraries, gift law articles, automated emails, and complex calculators—while abandoning proven traditional methods. This shortsighted approach undermines fundraising effectiveness.
As someone deeply involved in digital marketing myself, I offer this perspective with firsthand knowledge of both its power and limitations.
Learning From Digital Giants
Consider Google—the undisputed leader in online advertising. If any organization could succeed using exclusively digital marketing, it would be Google. Yet Google consistently employs sophisticated direct mail campaigns to acquire new customers.
Meanwhile, fundraisers expect to attract planned giving prospects with online reference libraries about gift laws? Planned giving isn’t Entertainment Weekly—donors aren’t eagerly awaiting the next update.
The Youth Misconception
“But my prospects are young and digitally savvy,” you might argue. “They’re constantly on social media, messaging, and email. They are always using the Internet.”
Exactly—and that’s precisely why your message gets lost in their crowded digital landscape.
A revealing case study from Target Magazine highlights this reality. One nonprofit marketer designed a campaign for younger, web-savvy audiences, assuming they wouldn’t respond to print materials. This proved to be a costly misconception. Studies by ICOM and Experian demonstrated that young adults actually respond better to print.
The nonprofit in question, World Vision Micro, quickly added print elements to their campaign to salvage their results.
Evidence-Based Fundraising
Target editor Thorin McGee summarized it perfectly: “World Vision Micro discovered, as many have during the digital era, that embracing the newest trend rarely matters as much as analyzing the evidence and making decisions based on what it reveals—whether that means implementing social media innovations or returning to traditional telephone outreach.”
What concerns me most is fundraisers operating without factual foundations due to misguided advice. Too many make decisions based on “monkey see, monkey do” mentality, following industry fads, peer pressure, and marketing hype rather than concrete data.
I deeply respect those organizations—many of them my clients of various sizes—who recognize facts and maintain their effective, common-sense marketing approaches that consistently deliver results.
The Integrated Approach
The most successful fundraising programs don’t choose between digital and traditional—they leverage both strategically. Digital tools provide efficiency, analytics, and reach, while traditional methods offer tangibility, personal connection, and cut through the noise.
Analyze your donor demographics, test different approaches, and measure results. Let evidence, not trends, guide your fundraising strategy. Operate like a business because you are a business.
Remember: It’s not about being the most technologically advanced fundraising operation—it’s about creating meaningful connections that inspire giving.
