The 3 Key Words That Can Motivate Donors

Taking your organization to a new level in transformational planned giving may require a closer look at words such as “inspire,” “transformation,” and “legacy.” What does it mean to inspire your donors? What motivates someone to make a transformational gift? What legacy do your donors want to leave? While these words may sound vague and fuzzy compared to the nuts of bolts of specific charitable gift plan options, the concepts are worth exploring. Why? Because donors who feel inspired by your organization’s mission are the donors who may someday make transformational legacy gifts.

Cultivate Small Gifts and They Multiply

Joe Schmoe dies and leaves a million dollars to a college that has never heard of him: He didn’t attend, wasn’t a sports booster, didn’t use the library.… But he lived in the college town all his life, and neighbors say he used to walk his dog around the campus perimeter.

Donor Stewardship: More Than Thank You Notes

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines stewardship as “the office, duties, and obligations of a steward” and “the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care ”

Right Brain or Left Brain Marketing: You Need Both!

According to left-brain, right-brain theories, the right side of the brain excels at creative, emotional, and intuitive responses while the left hemisphere of the brain is well equipped for tasks such as logic and analytical reasoning. An interesting read in this area is the bestselling book, My Stroke of Insight, by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist who suffered a massive stroke that disrupted her left-brain circuitry.

Don’t wait—get the word out about the IRA Rollover before it’s too late

The annual uncertainty of the continued existence of the IRA rollover presents an excellent “double whammy” marketing opportunity to use with donors this fall: You’ve got to take your required minimum distribution before the end of the year—and this may be the last year to take advantage of the rollover strategy.

Turning Obstacles into Golden Opportunities

Most planned giving professionals frequently face obstacles in pursuit of their goals. For instance, a long-time donor may fail to properly execute his or her will before death; family members may dispute a donor’s charitable bequest; a loyal donor may suddenly stop supporting your organization, and so on.

3 Reasons Why Newsletters Don't Get Read

Newsletters are still a major part of most nonprofits’ marketing plans for planned giving, and for good reason—when done right, newsletters are well-read and are an excellent way to elicit response from some highly qualified prospective donors. But readers get turned off when newsletters make one of the three errors described below.

The Autobiographical Connection - Why Your Donors' Life Stories Matter

MRI studies show a visible brain response between donor recollections of their life stories and their willingness to engage in charitable bequest giving, according to Russell James III, JD, PhD, professor at Texas Tech University. What does that mean for planned giving professionals? It means that your focus should be donor-centric. In other words, when soliciting a bequest, or other planned gift, you will want to ask about and listen to your donor’s life story rather than simply communicating the needs of your organization.

The Real Purpose of Photo Captions

So after photographs and headlines, what do readers typically read most often?

According to reader eye movement research, readers’ eyes next go to captions.

With such high readership, publishing one of your photographs without a caption—or with one that merely describes the action in the picture—is a missed opportunity. The real purpose of a photo caption is to market your mission. Tie the photograph to the organization message, advises the Direct Marketing Association, using the caption to highlight  the “benefits” of whatever product or service is being marketed.

Five More Legacy Dreams to Explore With Your Donors

PART II

Continuing our exploration of donor legacy dreams from last week, here are five additional motivators to explore with your potential donors. Take some time to discover what drives donors’ philanthropic planned giving and how your organization can help them satisfy those goals.

Ten Key Legacy Dreams to Explore With Your Donors

For planned giving professionals, successful solicitation of potential donors involves more than just uncovering a person’s level of wealth and interest in your organization. It also entails knowing what motivates donors to make meaningful philanthropic gifts.

While it may not show up on the job description, discovering your donors’ legacy dreams is one of your significant planned giving responsibilities. By acquiring such knowledge, you can then better understand how to communicate with donors so as to encourage their heartfelt philanthropic impulse.

Many people may give to the same organization or to similar causes, but they likely have different reasons for doing so. Below are five legacy motivators to explore with donors as they contemplate supporting your organization. We’ll continue this topic with additional legacy dreams in Part II.

Three Secrets Behind Successful Legacy Society Names

While the name of a rose may not change its sweet scent according to Shakespeare, the name you select for your legacy society can significantly impact how donors respond—or fail to respond—to membership invitations. Below are three secrets behind successful legacy society names.

Navigating the Gender & Philanthropy Landscape

Enormous progress has been made in gender equality in terms of women’s education, wealth, and employment opportunities. Yet, women are still reporting that they encounter outdated attitudes and stereotypes that hamper their full and equal treatment. In the planned giving field, there’s no room for these kinds of preventable errors with prospective female donors. Gender tips to keep in mind:

Tips for Understanding Donor Fears about Money

In the planned giving field, much more goes into obtaining donor gifts than simply “the ask.” You have to know your donor’s ability to give, their interest in giving, and their blocks to giving. While planned giving professionals often explore a donor’s ability and interest in making a charitable gift, understanding a donor’s fears related to money (both rational and irrational) is also crucial. Such insight helps you adequately address those fears, rather than simply ignore them. Once you identify the blocks to giving, you can then work toward planned gift arrangements that best meet your donor’s financial and philanthropic objectives.

Tips for Getting a "Yes" From Your Planned Giving Prospects

Planned giving professionals understand that extensive time, patience, and effort normally must go into cultivating donor prospects and transforming those relationships into loyal planned giving donors for their charitable institutions. However, that difficult work can be made easier. Below are three essential tips for increasing your chances of arriving at a “Yes” when asking for planned gifts.

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?

Market Younger. Market Smarter.

Many successful businesses know the benefits of segmenting their marketing to cultivate consumers at a young age. Consider well-known companies such as McDonald’s, BMW, or even toothpaste manufacturers, who market specifically to a younger audience. The intended result:  Building brand loyalty at a young age and creating consumers for life.