Carol Pollack from Planning and Endowment Consulting had a great idea to add to yesterday’s post
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Posts Tagged ‘Direct Marketing’
Another idea to think about before you write your fundraising copy
Tuesday, April 30th, 2013The planned giving marathon is all about engagement.
Thursday, November 8th, 2012Recently someone told me that their organization doesn’t consider a planned giving lead to be a “real lead” unless someone is calling in or requesting specific information about how to definitely leave a gift.
In other words, the planned giving team felt that their job was to “procure” gifts that have already been decided upon.
It would be great if that’s how things worked. Then we wouldn’t need to market planned gifts. In fact, if that’s how the world worked, we wouldn’t have to market anything. People would never need to be sold. They’d never need to be inspired or persuaded.
But, of course, that’s not how it works. Folks, it’s all about engagement!
Planned giving marketing should inspire people to seek out more information. And when they do, your organization needs to engage with them. You need to meet them half-way. You need to learn about their unique story. Why do they care?
It’s best to do this face-to-face or on the telephone. But who has the time? If you do, use it to build personal relationships. If you don’t, use technology to build relationships. Use email, personal letters and social media to engage with your prospects.
Once someone raises their hand, if you don’t engage with them personally or with marketing tools because they aren’t definitely ready to leave a gift… then shame on you.
Keep in mind that many planned gifts come from people who have never donated to your organization. And the average planned gift floats around $50,000 depending on who you ask. Now— if you think people will leave that kind of money for your organization in their will without engagement… well… you’re nuts! When it comes to gifts that drop out of the sky… the engagement actually started a long time ago without your knowledge.
So, if you’d like many MORE people to leave gifts, then you’d better engage with donors and non-donors alike.
Bottom line: Get people to raise their hands (lead generation). Then engage with them (cultivation) using polite, persistent, donor-centric marketing messages over time. Planned giving marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.
Trillions and trillions of dollars.
Tuesday, October 30th, 2012
Between 2000 and 2050 $12 trillion is expected to go to charity in the form of bequests.
That’s $12 TRILLION!
Or, 12,000 X ONE BILLION.
Imagine a pile of a billion dollars. Now imagine 12,000. Hard to do, huh?
Here’s some help thanks to Susan DameGreene’s website. A six inch pile of $1,000 bills equals $1 million dollars. Stack those piles as high as the Washington Monument and you get $1 trillion dollars. So you’d need twelve of those to envision $12 trillion dollars.
Got that?
All that is going to charity. But how much will go to your charity? Now— that depends on how much time and effort you spend promoting planned giving.
It’s Mildred not Millie!!
Sunday, October 28th, 2012
Face it… you are not her friend. You don’t want to be her friend. And she doesn’t want you to be her friend.
Yes, you work for an organization that she may love because it empowers her. Your organization can do what she cannot do on her own. You can feed the poor for her. You can deliver clean drinking water to impoverished nations for her. Or you can cure a disease for her.
You help her to help others. She believes in your ability to do that. And that’s why she gives.
But she deserves your respect. Her name is Mildred. Not Millie!! Her friends call her Millie. And, although you work together to help others, you are not her friend.
She cares about several causes. And, if you annoy her, she’ll give to another organization. Perhaps even a competitor. Ah yes! Let’s not forget… there is competition in fundraising.
So, when you write to Mildred asking for money, you better get her name right. Because getting it wrong is downright disrespectful. But even worse, getting it wrong shows incompetence— which breeds distrust. And distrust is the beginning of the end of your relationship together.
Phyllis Freedman’s excellent synopsis of how planned giving target marketing is changing
Wednesday, October 24th, 2012Very few people write as clearly, concisely and intelligently as Phyllis Freedman (aka- The Planned Giving Blogger). If you don’t subscribe to her blog, you can’t be serious about planned giving marketing.
In her recent post, she outlines what Stelter found in their recent study. I figured I’d create a watered down version using her post since I get a lot of reach from the Nonprofit Marketing and Fundraising Zone. Thus, I’ve included just the headers from her post below. But strongly suggest you check out her blog and review her take on each of the bullet-points .
- The best prospects for a planned gift (60%) are donors age 40-54
- Affinity for the nonprofit’s mission trumps everything. This helps explain why younger donors can be good prospects. It’s not about longevity, it’s about passion for the cause.
- Loyalty does not necessarily correlate with planned gift likelihood.
- Wealth and large annual gifts do not correlate with planned giving likelihood.
- Membership in a Legacy Society does not motivate donors to make a legacy gift.
- 53% of current planned givers said that less than a year elapsed between the decision to make a planned gift and executing their gift documents.
- Family and friends, rather than tax or legal advisors, are the go-to resources for planned gift decision-making.
- Only 40% of planned givers notify charities of their intention. This is not a new finding but it’s good to have it validated.
- There is room for improvement in our stewardship of planned givers.
- Written communication is more appealing than in-person communication, especially with older audiences and most donors do not wish to receive more communication of any kind.
The best planned giving blogs on the planet!
Friday, September 14th, 2012Please trash, bash or help me add to this list:
1) The Planned Giving Blogger by Phyllis Freedman
http://www.smart-giving.com/plannedgivingblogger/
2) Planned Giving Breakthroughs by Lorri Greif
http://plannedgivingbreakthroughs.com/
3) Michael Rosen says by Michael Rosen
http://michaelrosensays.wordpress.com/
2 very interesting planned giving marketing charts
Wednesday, August 1st, 2012After sending out hundreds of thousands of mailers and emails on behalf our our clients, running ads in their magazines and providing a whole bunch of other ways to generate leads over the past couple of years…. I am pleased to present the following charts.
Any surprises here?
13 stages of the consideration / evaluation process for making a planned gift
Monday, May 28th, 2012- Prospective donor buys into your mission
- Has a clear understanding of the future needs of your organization
- Sees the organization as a good investment because you manage funds well
- Willing to support the needs of the organization
- Understands what a planned gift is and how it works
- Realizes that they can make a planned gift
- Is clearly asked for the gift
- Consults with advisers and/or family to garner support and counsel
- Has all objections and concerns answered thoroughly
- Makes the gift
- Alerts the organization they have made a gift
- Gets thanked and recognized based on how they want to be thanked
- Considers whether to keep the gift in their plans and increase the size of it (or remove it from their plans)
Now you can determine where each of your prospects are in the consideration and evaluation process. Once done, you should send them the relevant communications that would make sense to them at that particular stage in order to move them forward.
Postcards get one more breathe of life for direct mail marketing.
Sunday, March 25th, 2012Why not create some postcards in bulk to save money and keep your marketing schedule consistent and on-track all year long?
Every Door Direct Mail from the U.S. Postal Service
While postcards are a form of direct mail, they are cheaper to produce and mail than full-blown direct mail packages or sales letters, and they are great for generating leads.
You can use them to drive traffic to your website or to a phone number to promote your offer. They are also a great way to stay in touch with your customers and prospects. We suggest you create 3-5 key messages emphasizing your unique selling points and competitive advantages. Then design and print them all at once dropping them in the mail every few weeks or so.
That will build awareness in a turnkey fashion. Create the plan once and just let it run all year long.
Plus, now you can get the postage down to about 18 cents each if you use the Post Office’s new service called Every Door Direct Mail. You’d have to deliver to every address on a route or in a zip code. But for many businesses, that’s exactly what is needed to flood a targeted geographic market with consistent offers, branding and reminders.
Direct mail still has a place in marketing
Wednesday, March 21st, 2012Although direct mail requires printing and postage, I have to say that… if it’s done right… it’s still one of the most effective marketing media channels ever. Don’t discount the traditional methods! MarketSmart has generated millions of dollars for clients with direct mail.
But you have to be smart with it. Make sure your list is segmented. Personalize your message for each recipient to make it as relevant as possible. Combine direct mail with an Internet landing page. Drive respondents online for more information – then give them opportunities to convert into leads by filling out forms to take advantage of your offer.
Ahhh. The offer! Don’t forget that part. You MUST have a great offer!!
And remember, if you don’t send highly targeted, relevant offers and information to your prospects…. it’s just “junk mail”.
Be strategic. Use your data to send the right person, the right offer, at the right time and direct mail will deliver an exponential return on your investment.
