The Right Way to "Echo"

The term “echo e-mail” has a negative connotation for some, and for a reason: The Urban Dictionary defines it as “when you receive copies of e-mails that you previously received because those people who were cc'd on the original send them to you thinking you never received the first one.” The dictionary adds, “very annoying as it needlessly floods your inbox.”

Get Women Together to Turn Potential Donors into Actual Donors

Barbara Stanny grew up wealthy—her dad was the “R” in H&R Block—so she assumed she would never want for anything, and she let her husband take care of all the finances. Big mistake. She says that in 15 years her ex gambled away all of her wealth—which she discovered when she tried to get $60 at an ATM and found there was no money left. In her colorful retelling of the story, she relates that she went to her father for help but he told her she needed to solve her own problems. She had three kids and was more than $1 million in debt.

New Client's Praise Reflects Pentera Team's Dedication to Excellence

Pentera staff in every department has been working very hard on a new client’s materials.
They signed up for a Web site that is now live and includes an eBrochure library; newsletter and QuickCards; and eNewsletters and eQuickCards. We are so happy to hear this wonderful feedback as the suite of materials is created. And their comments reflect the Pentera team’s dedication to our clients and to excellence.

• "Just printed out a few eBrochures, and they are fantastic! Great job by everyone at Pentera...”
• “We are really pleased with the eNewsletter designs you sent.”
• “It’s so exciting to see the newsletter! Thanks for the good work.“

The Contest

No, I’m not referring to the famous television episode of Seinfeld! I’m referring to ways to get your donors and prospects to actually read and keep your planned giving newsletter. As mentioned in Gypsy… “You Gotta Get a Gimmick!” My gimmick for this article was the first sentence of this paragraph. It hooked you in, right?

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.

Why One Client Continues to Choose Pentera as Marketing Partner

All of us at Pentera would like to extend a warm welcome to Tom Fogarty and his team at Crotched Mountain as we work with them on their new integrated planned-giving marketing plan, including newsletters, postcards, and Web site.

Throughout the years we've had the unique privilege of working with Crotched Mountain's vice president of development, Tom Fogarty, at the different institutions where his career has taken him. Most recently this includes Crotched Mountain, a non-profit organization in New Hampshire dedicated to serving children and adults with disabilities and their families.

When asked the reason Tom keeps returning to partner with Pentera, he said, "First of all the customer service is wonderful. Everyone I've worked with at Pentera has been very responsive. You make every effort to customize the pieces as much as possible."

Pentera’s Integrated Marketing Strategy Helps Frostburg University Promote Planned Gifts

Frostburg University's Take on Help from Pentera, Inc.:

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.

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

The Compass: Creating Your Legacy, Frostburg’s newsletter, focuses on a particular type of gift in 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 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.”

R. Sam Griffith, president of the FSU Foundation, is a financial advisor in a major company. 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, Griffith 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.’“



#2. Featured Strategy: 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 about how you could achieve success with your planned giving marketing like Frostburg has, contact us at info@pentera.com or 317.875.0910, ext. 251.

Tracking Your Marketing's Success Through Analytics

How do you measure the success of your planned giving marketing program? By the number of reply cards you receive? By the number of phone calls or e-mails that follow your planned giving newsletter or postcard mailing? In an increasingly online world, more and more potential donors are using the internet to research their options. This means that your potential donors are going to your planned giving Web site to research gifts before they contact you. With so much going on behind the scenes how can you know that your marketing is making an impact?