Give and Take

  Is Altruism an Endangered Attribute? What if the “I” in “iPad” turned out to be Gordon “Greed is good” Gekko from the movie WALL STREET? While we don’t know if Gordon really has an iPad, we’re sure he’s out there, at least in spirit, because results from a recent survey of iPad owners by MyType seem to show that his real-world confreres make up a hefty proportion of those who have purchased this trendy new tech toy. Specifically, as reported by Eliot Van Buskirk in the 7/27/2010 edition of Wired.Com, the survey conducted this spring by MyType (a consumer research firm specializing in personality inventories) indicated that: “iPad owners tend to be wealthy, sophisticated, highly educated and disproportionately interested in business and finance, while they scored terribly in the areas of altruism and kindness. In other words, ‘selfish elites.’” The Opposite of a Donor Presumably individuals who self-report in …

The economy in 2008 was challenging. But what’s scarier than your 401k statement? Writing a year-end appeal to your donors and supporters in this economic climate, that’s what. Some of my non profit friends are telling me that they’re not putting a year-end letter in this year’s budget. They know donors are experiencing a cash crunch, and they don’t want to make them feel even more jittery. So, in my own very gentle, tactful way, I’ve been trying to soothe my friends’ fears by saying: “Whoa! Are you nuts?” That’s right. It’s crazy not to send a year-end letter. During tough times, nonprofits should be thinking bigger, not smaller.  A year-end letter is a must, especially one with a planned giving twist.  There are creative ways to give at the end of the year and many are through planned gifts.  Don’t forget, bequests make up at least 75% of planned …

Do you cut back on food when times are tough? If that were the case, everyone would be slim and trim right about now. Marketing is the meat and potatoes (sorry, bad pun) of any fundraising operation, and cutting back, especially in a tight economy, is a recipe (sorry again) for problems down the road.

Practice thinking like your prospect. Who are they? What do they care about? What are their hopes, fears, dreams? What are their deepest desires?

Have you ever wondered why your planned giving newsletters are not getting a good response? Because chances are they are not even getting read.

“People commonly use statistics like a drunk uses a lamp post; for support rather than illumination.” (Mark Twain)

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 …