Pentera's Integrated Marketing Strategy Helps Frostburg Promote Planned Gifts

When director of major and planned gifts Cherie Krug came on board at Frostburg State University two and half years ago, the school had a growing fundraising operation but had never really focused very heavily on offering planned-giving options to donors. Also, in the middle of a capital campaign, the need to get started was urgent.

That’s when they decided to turn to respected industry leader Pentera, Inc. for help.

Pentera worked with Frostburg to develop a customized marketing strategy integrating print, Web, and eMarketing to promote planned giving. “Our donors were used to writing a check for the Annual Fund,” says Cherie. “Everything Pentera does for us helps our donors think in a different way. It’s a whole other piece of giving.”

After about a year of consistent marketing, Frostburg began to see results: Donors started asking about making planned gifts.

Frostburg uses a best-practices marketing strategy recommended by Pentera:

• Loyalty-building component—achieved by educating donors about gift options through newsletters
• Solicitation tools—engaging, custom postcards
• Online research center—a donor-friendly planned-giving Web site
• Lead-generation strategies—strong calls to action in print materials and on the Web site that allow donors to request print booklets, eBrochures, or let them know the best next step to take

Frostburg was confident both that the marketing strategy had proven to be effective with other Pentera clients and also that it was customized to their individual needs. Pentera’s team of experts also gave the plan built-in flexibility, ready to change direction or focus if need be.

Featured Strategy #1—Build loyalty through education and meaningful, relevant communications

The Compass: Creating Your Legacy, Frostburg’s newsletter, focuses on a particular type of gift each issue. According to Krug, “The language is easy and simple to follow.” She continues, “The examples are great. I have the volunteers working on our campaign read the newsletter; it helps them learn what they’re talking about.”

Pentera’s production of the newsletter is painless for Frostburg: “I say I want to feature gift annuities and maybe some other kind of estate planning; Pentera finds the articles. The ease and convenience of it is just amazing.”

In addition, most issues contain a donor story written by Pentera’s testimonial-writing service and using Pentera's donor-profile questionnaire, two of Pentera’s many creative services. “The donor stories are wonderful,” Krug says. “Something that would take me or someone else here weeks to do is quick, accurate, and beautifully written.”

Quincy Crawford, campaign chair for Staking Our Claim, is President and CEO of Crawford Associates, Inc. located in Annapolis, Maryland, a financial advising firm. He doesn’t hand out compliments easily. Yet in a phone call with Cherie Krug and Bernard J. Davisson, II ’81, vice president for advancement and the foundation’s executive director, Crawford praised the Pentera-produced newsletter.

“He said, ‘This is one of the best marketing pieces I’ve ever seen coming out of this division,’ ” Krug remembers. “ ‘It’s clear, it’s easy to read, and it gives great information.’ “

Featured Strategy #2—Research Center – Donor-friendly Web site that is easy for the novice as well as the expert to navigate

Frostburg knows that while traditionally the newsletter was the main component for a planned-giving marketing program, now it is just one piece of the whole. Their Web site is another major piece.

“The Web site is a great way for a relatively new donor base to go online and learn about planned gifts,” Krug says. “It’s easy to navigate and very helpful. We’re finding more and more that even our older alumni are on things like Facebook, so the electronic component is very important.”

The easy-to-navigate Web site includes diagrams for illustrating the ways to give to Frostburg, as well as easy-to-understand detailed descriptions and benefits that donors can read while they do their planning.

Frostburg’s site also includes Pentera’s signature interactive feature, the Life-Stage Gift Planner™, which Pentera pioneered over a decade ago. The Life-Stage Gift Planner™ allows donors to explore various gift options most appropriate to them based on the financial and personal issues they are facing during their particular life stage. As Frostburg is focusing on bequests, the site gives examples of various types of language that a donor can easily access and use when updating or writing a will.

The Web site is very flexible and kept up to date. Every month, an article spotlighting current trends in planned giving is posted to keep donors coming back to learn more. Pentera also keeps Frostburg’s site fresh with new donor stories and automatic updates with any changes to legislation or rates.

Frostburg trusted Pentera’s industry knowledge, experience, and willingness to customize their products to Frostburg’s needs. And as a result, the integrated marketing strategy has made a huge impact on their planned giving department. As Cherie Krug says about working with Pentera and its expert, friendly, and helpful staff, “…it is just amazing. It’s been a great experience.” And more important, donors are directly benefiting too. They are being educated and cultivated, and in turn are responding and asking about planned gift options.

For more information on integrated marketing best practices and what's working for Pentera clients, visit www.pentera.com, call 317-875-0910 x251, or e-mail info@pentera.com.