Archive for the ‘Goal setting’ Category

What activity metrics you should measure for effective long-term planned giving marketing

Monday, April 15th, 2013

Tracking marketing metrics

For effective planned giving marketing, you really should be keeping track of your metrics. That’s because it’s not like traditional fundraising.  You can’t send out a letter and count the dollars 6 weeks later.  It just doesn’t work the same way.

I’ve seen some foolish things in planned giving marketing.  But one of the worst mistakes you can make is to look at immediate revenue as your number one metric.  Instead, since planned giving marketing involves a long-term fundraising strategy, you really need to measure “activities”… not dollars.

This has been proven effective in the private sector for enterprise-level sales (and you better believe that planned giving is an enterprise-level sale) where the best sales managers and marketing directors know that you shouldn’t only measure outcomes.  Rather, you should measure activities.  If the activities are happening and the numbers are going in the right direction, the revenue WILL follow.  It works every time without fail.

Here are the activities we recommend you measure for effective long-term planned giving marketing:

1- Lead generation and disclosures

  • Number of leads generated
  • Cost per lead generated
  • Number of highly qualified leads generated
  • Cost per highly qualified lead generated
  • Number of disclosures generated
  • Cost per disclosure generated

2- Awareness/reached Number of people reached with planned giving messages in the following:

  • Publications including magazines, newspapers, newsletters, etc.
  • Inserts in acknowledgements
  • Facebook posts
  • Banners or posters
  • Etc.

3- Cultivation numbers Number of people nurtured with on-going messages multiplied by the frequency of those messages via:

  • Telephone calls
  • Personalized letters
  • Personalized emails
  • Marketing automation emails
  • Face-to-face visits
  • Proposals written
  • Proposals properly presented

4- Engagements With the right software, you can now track individual prospect engagement with your organization online including:

  • Number of times visiting your website
  • Number of clicks on that website
  • Where were the clicks (what topics)
  • How long did they spend online (on average)
  • Number of cultivation emails opened
  • Number of clicks on cultivation emails

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Posted in Fundraising, Goal setting, lead generation, marketing, Multi-channel marketing, Philosophy/motivation, Planned Giving, Planned giving, Planned Giving Marketing, strategy, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

How the tortoise beats the hare in planned giving marketing every time.

Sunday, April 14th, 2013

I’ve been thinking about all the different philosophies that people have when it comes to planned giving marketing.  There are so many out there that it’s hard to know who really knows their stuff.  There’s no consensus.  And, I can honestly say that there’s no “one-size-fits-all” strategy.  Each organization has to determine what works for them.

But one think I know is true for sure.  You simply can’t beat doing things right.  So that’s what lead me to create this little graphic that compares the tortoise and the hare in planned giving marketing.

Which one are you?

Planned giving marketing tortoise versus hare

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Posted in Fundraising, Goal setting, marketing, Philosophy/motivation, Planned Giving, Planned giving, Planned Giving Marketing, strategy, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Start with the end in mind.

Friday, May 18th, 2012

Begin by deciding where you want to be.  Goals and strategies come before tactics every time.

If you don’t know where you’re going… you’ll end up going nowhere.

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Posted in Goal setting, Philosophy/motivation, strategy | No Comments »

The rope theory of life.

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012

Everyone gets a rope.

Some are shorter than others.  Some are thicker than others.  Some have notches.  And others are a little bit slippery.

Each of us has a choice.

You can either climb up the rope, dangle on it, or hang yourself with it.

What have you chosen to do?

Just imagine what the world would be like if all of us spent a lot less time examining the rope we were given… and a lot more time examining how we’re going to climb up them.

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A refresher on setting goals.

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

It’s 2011.  Have you set your goals yet?

Someone once told me, “if you don’t know where you are going, you’ll probably end up going nowhere.”

So each year I like to start off with a blank sheet of paper and a cup of coffee in a quiet room to think about where I’m headed.  I think about what I want to achieve.  What I want for my family.  What actions need to be taken in order to achieve my goals.  I work backwards beginning with the end result and what needs to be done to get there.

I recommend you do it too.  Remember, success IS the pursuit of a worthy goal.  So, if you set your goals and begin to move toward them, by this definition you will be successful every step along the way.

Here are some important things to consider as you go about setting your goals:

1-    Be realistic.  Are your goals attainable?

2-    Be specific.  Use numbers to quantify what you would like to achieve.

3-    Measure your achievements.  You cannot improve upon that which you do not measure.

4-    Set a timeframe.  A goal with no end date is like a football game without a time limit.  The game has to end sometime.

Have a great year!!

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