Category: Planned Giving Marketing

Key Performance Indicators Bar Chart Illustration
Planned Giving Marketing
Caitlin Fillmore

Average Gift Amount: A Fundraising Key Performance Indicator

A few essential pieces of data help fuel a powerful development department. These metrics, often called Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, help fundraisers gauge the health of their activities. Another essential KPI for fundraisers is the Average Gift Amount.

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Older male thinking of choosing executor and trustee
Planned Giving Marketing
Patrick O'Donnell

Choosing an Executor or Trustee

You’ve finally decided to create an estate plan instead of taking the path of Abraham Lincoln, Bob Marley and Aretha Franklin. Congratulations! But how do you choose an executor or trustee? We have a few tips that will help.

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People helping people for good causes
Planned Giving Marketing
Mike Johnson

5 Steps to Make Charitable Giving Part of Your Estate Plan

There are good causes with plenty of people and projects in need of support as they strive to make the world a better place. You might like to consider supporting them as part of your estate plan, making a charitable donation with the wealth you leave behind. This can be a wonderful way to give something back to the world, leave a positive impression, and support a cause that matters or means something to you personally. It also feels great, which is why so many people opt to add a charitable donation to their estate plan. But how does it all work? And what’s the best way to go about it? Here’s a five-step guide to learn all about charitable giving in estate planning.

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An image of an angry-looking elderly white man holding a cell phone to his ear, to illustrate a PlannedGiving.Com blog about fundraisers needing to be willing to take the tough calls.
Planned Giving Marketing
Wayne Olson

Take the Cranky Calls

We all know them. The phone rings and the caller ID shows this is a call from someone who we know will be trouble. He or she is calling to complain, and it will not be pleasant. Around the room, people suddenly get busy so they will not have to take the dreaded call. Accelerate your career by taking the call!

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Cross on top of a mountain during sunset in background, for a planned giving article on church fundraising.
Planned Giving Marketing
Patrick O'Donnell

Shrinking Congregations, Smaller Donations

The collection plate is drying up—and too many churches are praying instead of planning. Shrinking attendance, aging donors, and ignored legacy opportunities are putting ministries at risk. This isn’t a crisis of faith; it’s a crisis of fundraising strategy. Packed with real stats, biblical precedent, and blunt advice, this piece is a wake-up call for church leaders: Stop waiting on miracles. Start asking for planned gifts. Because “hope” isn’t a stewardship strategy.

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Woman sitting on bench in front of a lake contemplating and dreaming
Planned Giving Marketing
Viken Mikaelian

Don’t Raise Money. Sell a Dream.

There’s something that some fundraisers don’t get that good marketers know instinctively: You’re not selling a product, gift plan, or naming rights. To paraphrase Steve Jobs, “You’re selling a dream.”   It doesn’t matter if you’re buying a Ferrari or Ford, a Rolex or a Timex, diamond earrings or cubic zirconia, a villa on a lake or a weekend at an Airbnb: You’re buying a dream of something bigger, better, shinier, or easier.  The same goes for donors. Your donors are buying a painting visualized in their minds. They’re not “buying” your mission. They’re buying a dream of lasting legacies; philanthropic hopes; and transformative outcomes. Objects are a commodity. Whether it’s a Ferrari Testarossa or a Ford Focus, it’s just a car. But a dream is something different. It’s a very personal thing, and you — the fundraiser or “salesperson” — cannot put a price tag on it. That’s for the dreamer to do. Selling the Sizzle This concept of selling a dream fits neatly with our mantra of, “Sell the sizzle, not the steak.” Think about it: If you’re craving a steak, you’re not dreaming about the method in which the cow was raised. “Mmmm. Grass-fed, all organic, free-range, ethically raised beef.”     You’re dreaming about the taste, and your expectations for the experience. “Mmmm. Sixteen ounces of still-sizzling, flame-grilled tender beef served au jus with a loaded baked potato on the side.” Likewise, donors don’t dream about the mechanics of how a charitable gift annuity or donor-advised fund works. “I’ve always wanted to make a gift of cash that is set aside in a reserve account and invested for the betterment of a nonprofit!” Instead, they dream about all the good they can do by making a gift.  “I’ve always wanted to help orphaned children find loving homes!” Big difference, no? Donor-Centric Isn’t Just a Catchphrase “Selling the dream” is why we use donor-centric language. It takes the focus off the product (your nonprofit and its mission) and puts it on the donor instead. It’s also why we avoid using death language in our donor communications and gift descriptions. After all, saying “Mr. Jones, we’re looking forward to your death so we can use your money for our mission!” isn’t likely to inspire a gift — or put you in anyone’s good graces.   But too many think a donor-centric approach simply means inserting variations of the word “you” as often as possible in donor communications. They think “selling” planned gifts requires extensive knowledge of tax laws and gift details. And they believe a one-size-fits-all approach is the best way to reach their audience and capture donor interest. Since you’re likely one of our clients already, I don’t have to tell you they’re wrong. You know that donor-centric messaging requires you to consider your donors’ interests, motivations, and yes, dreams. You understand that it requires building a culture of philanthropy and focusing on stewardship. You realize it requires being a good listener, so you can learn what’s important to your prospects. And you recognize that it means helping your prospects clearly see their vision, their dream, so that you can help them to bring it to life. Conclusion Smart fundraisers know that raising money isn’t about selling donors on a particular gift vehicle, or even on a mission. It’s about selling them their dreams, and finding a way to facilitate those dreams in a manner that benefits both the donor and the nonprofit. It takes good stewardship, active listening, and a focus on donor-centric fundraising. Stop trying to sell your nonprofit’s mission. Sell your prospects their dreams of philanthropy instead. In fact, maybe it’s time to stop calling yourself a fundraiser, or even a friendraiser, and start calling yourself a dreamraiser instead.

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Number 1 people
Planned Giving Marketing
Larry Raff

Major Ask Calculator

This will sound familiar. A fundraiser has a good relationship with a donor and wants to prepare to make a major gift ask. Extensive research has been collected about the donor. It includes a philanthropic capacity estimate from services like iwave and DonorSearch, and whatever else could be found online. Notes from conversations, street research from people who know the donor, and the donor’s giving history to her organization are also gathered. Despite all of the research, the fundraiser has an uneasy feeling that whatever ask amount is settled upon, it will, at best, be a guess.

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Facilitator — woman facilitating a project
Planned Giving Marketing
Caitlin Fillmore

Seven Easy Ways to Become a Better Facilitator

We have all unfortunately been there. A meeting that could have been an email. A lengthy meeting that left all attendees confused about what was accomplished. A brainstorming session where personalities derailed the discussion. What these situations all needed is an effective facilitator. Learn how to run respectful and productive gatherings with these basic facilitation tips.

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Wealth Transfer
Planned Giving Marketing
Brad Caswell

The Impact Of Waiting For The Generational Wealth Transfer

We’ve all read the breathless projections of up to $140 trillion of wealth that will be inherited by Gen X and the Millennials over the next number of years. And as professionals in philanthropy, I expect we’ve all been waiting for that transfer to begin and make the great impact on charities we’ve imagined it will. But I admit my hair is getting grayer — and disappearing — as I wait for the great reward of this promised inheritance.

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