September 1, 2009
Planned Giving: When Age Is Really A State Of Mind
Sometimes age is just a number. Just ask action-packed star Harrison Ford, 67, or siren songstress Tina Turner, 69, about the numbers. In a time where 60 is the new 40, when do you tell someone about your planned giving program? And more importantly -- do you need to change how you approach people?
If your materials feature lace dollies and knitting grandmothers, it’s time to reevaluate your planned giving approach, according to Dan Pritchard, director of planned giving at Chicago-based Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, and Kathy Swayze, owner, president and creative director of Impact Communications, Inc, based in Washington, D.C.
Pritchard and Swayze explained how to spice up and simplify your planned giving at the recent Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference, in National Harbor, Md.
Here are some of their tips:
- No senior citizens. Don’t treat your potential planned giving donors as if they are over-the-hill. People are living longer and with a better quality of health. Think about planned giving as integrating your organization into a person’s life, not a step before their death.
- Early bird specials. Forget about the T-bone steak, you want planned giving donors. Try to engage prospective donors early on in the relationship and bring up planned giving as a donation option.
- Ditch the jargon. Make it easy for your donors to understand what planned giving options are available to them without first requiring a Ph. D.
- Steal some direct mail practices. There are rules that work for all your materials. Planned giving might be technical and require a lot of information, but if you make it look that way donors will be turned off. Be sure to include white space and mission-driven photos in print materials.
- Get some response. Paragraphs of information get boring after a while. And you can’t expect anyone to contribute to planned giving without giving a call to action. Give simple ways to get started with each option, such as a toll free number or dedicated URL.
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This article is from NPT Instant Fundraising, a publication of The NonProfit Times.
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