Planned Giving Websites
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Should I have a planned giving calculator on my website?Here is a hint or reality check: If you, yourself, have even the slightest difficulty in using a PG calculator, your prospect will not be able to use it at all. We don't take a position on the question, but we do know that confusing and poorly designed calculators will frustrate and turn off prospects. The obvious "pro" of a typical online calculator is that it makes the financial benefits of a gift plan more tangible to prospects, and thus can engage prospects in the gift process more deeply. Here are some of the "cons":
One calculator we recommend is PG Calc. You may also wish to consider VirtualGiving's consumer-based calculators that help prospects better understand their own personal financial planning - thus making clear how a gift will fit into that planning, as well as encouraging them to revisit your website for their personal use. We feel they are a great value-added item. |
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Do you have any information on legacy societies? How to create them...effective use...names, etc.?I'll share a little of my personal experience (this answer is from Scott): This picture is from a newsletter at a former position. It accompanied the story of our newly formed Legacy Society while it was still in the very beginning phases. But the real reason I used it was because that adorable little boy is my son. We went through a process of soliciting responses from likely members about what we should call our society. "The St. Mary Legacy Society" won by a mile. I thought it was a boring name, but I was wrong. Many professionals want a name that will stand out from the other societies at our friend's charities, but most cute names leave people wondering what you're talking about. We went to the board and to the most likely legacy donors to get "charter members" of the Legacy Society and we had a specific time deadline. This created a capital-campaign-like sense of urgency. We put together a four-member campaign team (patterned after a capital campaign committee) to call and meet with each board member individually. The board chair was on this committee and his goal was 100% participation by the board. Although we didn't reach that in our short charter time frame, it was an admirable goal and provided a lot of energy. By the end of our ten-month charter period, we had enrolled 41 members with $8,000,000 in bequest commitments, including one commitment for $3,000,000. This at a hospital which had received a total of $600,000 from 18 individuals during its first 33 years. So my advice is to go for it. But don't blow the one opportunity to start well by starting slowly. Get input from your best prospects, buy-in from your boards, have realistic goals and challenging deadlines, and put together a working committee to solicit bequest commitments. |
