By Debra Ashton
Are you running flat out developing the annual gifts you need just to cover your expenses? Endowment giving enables you to strengthen your organization’s position permanently.
Viken Mikaelian makes a critical case about the importance of planned giving. He states that it’s not about money, yet about something much more critical and deeper.
Many people are always counting on the “jackpot” — whether it’s in the dating scene or the fundraising scene. Somehow, in a humorous way, Karen makes an analogy between the two. The funny thing is…it really makes sense!
An opinion from Steve Perry, Director of Planned Giving at Furman University. This article helps you decide whether you should have a planned giving website or not.
Bequests can easily become a fundamental part of your organization. Brian Sagrestano explains why you should spend the time to promote them.
It is a mistake to go through a few simple steps as thanks to a donor. Mindy Aleman and Jim Pierson examine how to take your relationship with donors to the next level.
Fundraisers are in the business of marketing, meaning they have an overwhelming amount of competition for customers’ attention. Viken Mikaelian examines how to cut through that confusion and reach potential customers.
Many companies make the mistake of relying almost entirely on e-marketing to attract customers, leaving print media abandoned. However, print media, such as direct mail, continues to prove itself as an effective means to reach new customers.
By Viken Mikaelian
Planned giving marketing does not have to be like vanilla ice cream melting in a beige room. Ready or not, it’s time for incendiary thinking. Marketing smarts that set you and your nonprofit apart and ahead! That’s guerrilla marketing. Think outside the box to get the attention your message and mission require. Replete with real-world examples, this lively white paper explains how.
Evaluating websites in terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) – who needs the aggravation? Not fundraisers. But the issue of online ADA Compliance isn’t going to go away, and there’s a very real downside to non-compliance.
By Betsy Suppes
Can you dig it? Ores of metals, coal, oil, natural gas, gemstones and much more – they’re the valuable commodities under our feet that neither fundraisers nor prospects can afford to ignore. You owe it to yourself and your constituents to understand the basics of gifts of mineral rights, and Betsy Suppes’ concise primer in FAQ format is just what you need to get that knowledge. Print one out for your prospect, as well.
By Tom Ahern
Are you oversensitive? Do you melt down with grief and remorse when some marketing piece of yours stimulates a couple of complaints from your constituents? Well, in this paper Tom Ahern says, “Relax and smile.” Because complaints are useful and constructive. They tell you things you need to be aware of about your marketing. And the bottom line is, if you’re not getting complaints, you’re doing something wrong.
By George P. Brown, Phd. and Kevin C. Brown
Why is it that when it comes to promoting charitable planning, financial advisors don’t seem to do a very good job of it? On the other hand, why should they spend time on something that doesn’t generate revenue? In this exciting, wide-ranging white paper, the authors examine why financial advisors tend not to do charitable planning, and why they should! With focused analysis, self-assessment quizzes and concise illustrations, this paper sounds a wake-up call to financial advisors who may be missing out on a chance to broaden their opportunities, ramp up their careers, and cultivate the bottom line – with charitable planning.
By Jack Miller, CFRE
Author Jack Miller shares a true story of an event that changed his life. It begins with the shy little girl Jessica who won’t make friends with him, and culminates in a lesson on how suffering can help people put aside their fears to serve one another — on the real meaning of giving.
By Chris McLeod, JD
The roller coaster continues. Costs and revenues fluctuate. And when it comes to dividing the loaves and fishes and rendering unto Caesar, there’s no special dispensation for your faith-based nonprofit. But there IS a way to pour oil on troubled fiscal waters: building endowment through planned giving. In this article Chris McLeod, JD, of GIVINGMATTERS provides a compelling list of reasons your organization should be initiating a legacy giving ministry now.
By Viken Mikaelian with Jim Pierson
Old-fashioned planned giving newsletters are easy to produce, but these days easy is not good enough. Your grandfather’s newsletter is not getting read. It’s time for a new approach.
By Viken Mikaelian
The “all you can eat buffet” may be a great come-on for a chowhouse, but will it get you the traction you need in your planned giving marketing? This white paper explains why what works for Costco and Wal-Mart can be a costly failure for nonprofits.
By John Foster
Not so long ago, the outlook for fundraising reflected the sunny optimism of the overall economy. What a difference a few years and some economic “uncertainty” make! Charitable gifts are made from ever-more scarce discretionary dollars. Yet we still ask the same prospects more often for more support — a great recipe for diminishing returns.
By Tom Ahern
It’s easy, but is it wise? You pay a vendor good money to produce a planned giving newsletter for your organization, and what you get is the same thing all that vendor’s other clients get. As communications, they’re a trainwreck, with writing that would put an accountant to sleep, inept headlines, and they’re glaringly over-designed (a common feature of publications with nothing to say). No wonder prospects are calling them “death brochures.”
By Viken Mikaelian
Our clients, friends and prospects often ask which term is better to use for their marketing efforts, “Planned Giving” or “Gift Planning.” Answering their question has required a fair amount of explanation on our part, because this argument has been going on for more than 30 years. But now, the facts are in. The debate is over — and guess who wins.
By Viken Mikaelian
Times have changed a lot in ten years — but the excuses for not pursuing planned gifts haven’t. The excuses weren’t valid a decade ago, and they sure as hell aren’t true now. But you still hear fundraisers saying the same darn things – and falling further behind in the struggle for endowment. Reality check!
By Brian M. Sagrestano, JD, CFRE
Should you promote gifts of life insurance from donors ages 30-45? Brian says he is asked this question a lot, and that’s no surprise, given that no nonprofits can afford not to look into every revenue source in a challenging economy. Based on practical and economic considerations, however, he recommends against seeking such gifts.
By Viken Mikaelian
Have you been putting them off? Bad idea. Find out why they can represent your most powerful marketing tool, and how the very process of eliciting donor stories cultivates your supporters and invites future giving.
By Viken Mikaelian
Do you have a lazy website? Not anymore. Here are the critical steps you can take starting now to drive more prospects to visit, and energize your online marketing – even if your site is already rocking and rolling!
By Brian Sagrestano, JD, CFRE
Tough times don’t mean you have to miss out on that $41 trillion wealth transfer. Charitable bequest offers the greatest long-term sustainability for your program and its mission.
By Viken Mikaelian
What does the new research say? Who cares? Dithering never closed a gift. Navel-gazing is a waste of time when action pays dividends. It’s common sense.
By Jerry Rohrbach
Talk about a successful Building Fund! The result was the Temple of King David. But that’s not the only Biblical story with philanthropic relevance.
By Dr. Scott R. Janney, CFRE, RFC
Women may or may not lie about their age, but ACGA rate calculations assume that all annuitants claim to be two years younger than they really are!
By Valerie Ingram
Some fundraisers’ plates are so full that they never get around to implementing a planned giving program. Community foundations are the reason that doesn’t have to be true.
by Richard D. Barrett and Reine Shiffman
by Viken Mikaelian
By John Foster and Kyle Anasiewicz, with Dan Rice
by Reine Shiffman
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