Do you set daily goals? Do you think multitasking is helpful? Do you know the difference between motion and action? These 8 hacks will get your productivity — and your career — energized.
Do you set daily goals? Do you think multitasking is helpful? Do you know the difference between motion and action? These 8 hacks will get your productivity — and your career — energized.
What's your biggest planned giving marketing challenge? Here's what 12 philanthropy professionals from 11 different parts of the country had to say about theirs.
Companies like to boast about what they do. Apparently, many firms also like to do far more than they should. More and more in the planned giving community I see “marketing” firms promising their clients the world.
Says the panicked board member… until you show him a better way to lower risk. Has this ever happened to you? A board member or finance officer who is unfamiliar with gift annuities sees a big liability on the books and panics. “Why are we doing this?” they ask. Their concern is understandable. A charity normally pays a donor around 40-60 percent of the original gift in interest. For someone who isn’t familiar with gift annuities, that seems like a very bad way to raise money. Unfortunately, the knee jerk reaction is all to often to pull the plug. Stop issuing CGAs and let the existing pool run its course. But there couldn’t be a riskier solution. Without newer contracts coming in at lower payout rates, it is an actuarial certainly that the program will eventually run out of funds. Then the generous gifts your donors made will be all for naught. Reinsuring does nothing to offload risk. Non-profit organizations often receive …
What is the single biggest excuse people use to not do things they say they want to do? Wait for it... (No pun intended.) "I don’t have time." We’re about to blow that excuse away.
My colleague was at her wits’ end with a donor we’ll call Philip. Everything about Philip screamed MAJOR DONOR OF THE HIGHEST LEVEL! He had all three As of a great donor prospect.
Direct mail is king. But kings can be dethroned. Well-intentioned organizations do it all the time. Avoid these common mistakes to ensure your direct mail campaign is as kingly as it should be.
If your idea of increasing productivity is petitioning the universe to add a few hours to the day, take heart. There are less cosmically improbable ways. Let’s glance at how technology can work in your favor and add hours back into your week.
In a perfect world, all of your benefactors who receive your planned giving mailing will immediately decide it’s a good idea, call their advisor for the go ahead, and then make your institution a gift that changes not only the trajectory of your long-term revenue goals, but your career as well.
There are many smart people walking around with brilliant ideas in their heads, but just a small few of them can manage to take action and make something happen.
You know that feeling of spinning your wheels? That feeling you get when you are burning through time and exhausting yourself yet having little to show for it in the end? Preparation is critical, but what gives you bragging rights at the end of the day is the action you take
For the really big gifts, ask for the residue. The $100,000 was appreciated. But the 8.2 million went elsewhere.
Do you wish to be better than average in your career and in your life? If you do, then you need to behave in a better than average fashion. It's an obvious statement, but an endless number of people belie this sound reasoning.
Two informal surveys we conducted indicate that those who even dabble in planned giving do significantly better in their careers than those who do not.
Trying to save money by using eMarketing? Think again. According to the 2015 Response Rate Report by Direct Marketing Association (who also does eMarketing), direct mail outperforms all digital channels in a big way. The response rate for direct mail was 600% higher than that all of the digital channels combined. This number is too big to ignore.
People are the best time investment you can make. The most common goal of executives who hire me for time management coaching is to free up time to invest in their teams and to spend with their families. Intuitively, they know that time spent with people forms crucial bonds, enables personal development and reduces fire drills. Yet, daily urgencies frequently preempt time reserved for weekly 1:1’s, for “walking the halls” to stay visible and getting home in time for dinner.
Q: When a husband and wife fund a gift annuity, is it always joint and survivor?
Donors often do not know the exact structure or details of their own planning, charitable or otherwise. They depend on their advisors. This is one reason it is so important to partner with advisors when working with donors.
Question In your Strange Myths section in Giving Tomorrow Magazine, the statement is made that “Most planned giving donors are not prospects for large major gifts.” Did the word “not” creep in there by mistake? Answer This is a really good question and common misperception. Over the last several years there have been a number of studies of the most likely planned giving prospects. We have learned that those individuals who are loyal to your organization and mission are the most likely to be open to the planned giving message. Typically we measure loyalty by regular, consistent annual giving. One of the studies showed that donors who give 15 or more times are the best planned giving prospects. It does not matter the amount they give, just that they give. So wealth is not a factor in determining your planned giving prospects. In fact, when you do a wealth screening …
Long-term study shows multiple benefits for charities to get in the estate plan sooner. We all know charitable estate giving is a big deal. In comparison, despite all of the media attention and conversation generated by corporate giving, annual estate giving has always been much larger. (In some years, charitable estate gifts are more than double all corporate gifts.) Of course, we all know that to receive any estate dollars, your organization must get in the will or other estate planning document. So, getting in the will eventually is clearly important. Get into the will today. But, new evidence is emerging as to why it is important not just to get in the will, but to get in the will today. The evidence comes from a large national survey called the Health and Retirement Study. This study, starting in 1992, tracks older adults (age 50+) year after year. It includes …
First, a Thank You For those of you who are reading this and are clients of mine, I truly thank you for your business. When I started in 1998, I did it with the goal to make planned giving accessible to your average prospect. At the time, planned giving was so bogged down with legalese and mind-numbing details that fundraisers were intimidated and donors befuddled. We’ve come a long way since then, but there’s still a shocking number of fundraisers taking calculator courses and fretting about tax codes while ignoring the relationship part of their job. Not you. You’re among the top 5% who get it and take the lead. As our client, you know that planned giving is a people business and simple is best. In 2000 when I introduced the planned giving postcard, a competitor who was (and still is) in the business of printing lengthy planned giving newsletters, …
Question My nonprofit organization currently uses all bequest proceeds for operating expenses. The family of recently deceased donor has questioned this and wants us to designate the funds for endowment. What should we do? Answer Remember that the only funds that serve as true endowment are those that are restricted by the donor. Since the donor’s will did not restrict the funds, it is impossible to have these funds go to endowment. However, they can be treated as “quasi-endowment,” “board designated endowment,” or “funds functioning as endowment,” which are funds your organization’s board will treat as endowment (only using the draw from these assets based upon your spending rule) unless the board formally acts to tap into the principal. The larger question you need to address is what is your policy on using unrestricted planned gifts and why. Many organizations are not particularly thoughtful on this point and simply …
I wonder if anyone’s ever done a study to see when gyms are more crowded—in January (post new year’s resolution season) or in the spring (pre swimsuit season). I’d put my money on January.
Our clients are some of the most successful, creative people in the planned giving community. We asked them what they’re grateful for, and here’s what they said. (Feel free to steal their ideas at your family feast on Thanksgiving.)
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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.
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