If you don’t know where you’re going… you’ll end up going nowhere.

Some are shorter than others.  Some are thicker than others.  Some have notches.  And others are a little bit slippery.

Each of us has a choice.

You can either climb up the rope, dangle on it, or hang yourself with it.

What have you chosen to do?

Just imagine what the world would be like if all of us spent a lot less time examining the rope we were given… and a lot more time examining how we’re going to climb up them.

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
- Martin Luther

 

“A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.” - D. Elton Trueblood     “Blessed are those who can give without remembering, and take without forgetting.” - Princess Elizabeth

“When I chased after money, I never had enough. When I got my life on purpose and focused on giving of myself and everything that arrived into my life, then I was prosperous.”
- Wayne Dyer

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Dr. Seuss, from The Lorax.

“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Holy Bible, Book of Acts 20:35

“I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious task of wise distribution.”

Andrew Carnegie

You sent them the information they requested making sure to spell their name correctly on the cover letter.  You entered their contact information in your database.  You set up a calendar reminder so you could call to follow-up in about 2 weeks.  You’re busy but you made sure to grab your phone and dial their number.  And, you’re in luck because they actually answered the phone.  So what do you say?

The answer I most commonly get when I ask that question to folks is, “Did you get the information I sent?”

STOP!!!  That’s it!  That’s the number one thing to avoid saying when you call a planned giving prospect!

Why?

Number one:  Because you never want to start off with a yes or no question to a prospect.  If you do, most of the time they’ll just say “no”.  It doesn’t matter what you ask them.  “NO” is the first word we learn as babies (next to mama and dada).  And people are especially trained to say “no” to strangers calling them at home.

Number two:  Everyone is so busy.  They won’t remember what you sent them.  Then they’ll say “no”.  Then you’ll have to say, “Oh, well I’ll resend it.”  End of conversation?  I hope not.  But it usually is.

Number three: Let’s face it.  You should be calling them with an objective.  What is it?  If you plan that out before you pick up the phone, you’ll have a strategy for your call.  And the strategy should be to accomplish one or all of the following:

• Build rapport
• Learn why they requested the information in the first place
• Understand why they requested the information from your organization
• Determine why they care about your organization
• Uncover their estate planning and philanthropic goals
• SAY THANK YOU

In the end, it’s all about them.  It’s about getting their needs, wishes and dreams aligned with your organizations’ mission.  What’s written in the brochure you sent them doesn’t really matter.  And it won’t matter if they got the brochure or not.  The brochure they requested was a door opener for you to uncover why they care about your organization and how you can help them understand how planned gifts can work.

When I make the calls (as a volunteer for my favorite charity), I start off by saying “thank you” first.  Then I go on to ask what prompted them to start giving to that particular charity.  I try to get them to tell me their story…. why they care.

I may thank them more than once for their donations and interest.  Then, after rapport has been established and sometimes after listening for 20 minutes about their life story (which is usually very interesting), I get to asking why they were interested in information about how to update their will.  Most of the time they remember.  Sometimes they don’t.

Then I may ask if they ever considered leaving money to the organization in their will.  That’s a “yes” or “no” question.  But it’s ok to ask it now.  A lot of times they’ll say “yes”.  Or at least I’ll get to hear their objections and so I can provide reasonable rebuttals that might help them understand the process better.

Even if they say “no” at this point, you can continue by asking “why not?”  The decision tree is endless for this kind of call.  But by asking if they received the information, you’ll turn the call into a short one and a waste of time for both you and your donor prospect.  That’s for sure.

Oh… And wanna’ know what else you should avoid saying when you call a planned prospect whom you have never met?  “How are you?”  Nothing could be more disingenuous than to have a complete stranger call your home and ask you how you are right off the bat.  Come on folks.  You don’t know them yet and you don’t care how they are.  It’s a waste of three words and a wasted opportunity to create rapport with a loyal donor.   But I’ll leave more about that for another post.

I’m not sure if I’m on the right or the left politically.  Sometimes I agree with one side.  And sometimes with the other.  But I laugh out loud when either side points the finger saying, “We’re right and you’re wrong.”

But one thing I know for sure is this:

There’s too much whining and complaining in America these days.  People in other countries live with dirt floors, no air conditioning and certainly no plasma tv’s.  But here in America, lately there’s a lot of talk about “fairness”.  A lot of talk about the rich beating up on the poor and holding them down.

But I still believe there is more opportunity in America than anywhere else in the world… if you’ll just do something!

Case in point.  Here’s a young man who lost his job.  He didn’t complain.  He didn’t blame the rich.  And he didn’t look for a handout.

Instead, he made an investment.  $300.  He invested in himself and took out a billboard with the words “Hire Me!” next to his photo.

And guess what?  He got a job!

Now how many people would make that kind of investment before asking the government (us… the taxpayers) to pay them to wait around for someone to offer them a job?  How many people are whining these days instead of doing something positive?  Too many in my opinion.

America was built by people who did something.  Let’s all take a lesson from a 22 year old and get this economy moving again.

Think about this.

Planned giving marketing begins with a good list, right?

I’ve seen it time and time again.  When we look at the folks who said they already left a planned gift or are considering doing so, they are always loyal, high-affinity donors or volunteers.  And, often they are average folks.  Not rich.

Combine this with research we found online and put into our report titled 26 really interesting planned giving marketing charts, stats, and graphs.  Among other things, we found the following:

• 43% of planned givers are under 55
• Average age a person makes their first will is 44 while the average age of a person’s first bequest is 49
• 31% of people never revise their wills while 75% never revise their charitable bequests
• Top reasons people make planned gifts include (at the top of the list) a desire to support the charity and the ultimate use of the gift by that charity
• 70% of donors who made planned gifts did so because they were asked

Now… let’s look at the people who “like” your Facebook page.  I don’t have any research to support what I’m about to write.  But here goes.  People “like” your Facebook page because:

• They want to be closer to your organization and hear more from you because you touched them in some way that evoked a special emotion
• They want their friends to know that they like your organization (probably because they want their friends to have the same experience and “like” your organization too)

So what am I getting at?

I’m thinking that you might want to consider planned giving advertising that is targeted solely to your Facebook fans.  It’s hyper-targeted and inexpensive.

Sure… you may not get the gift for about 30 years.  But you’ll get it.

And, if you do your planned giving marketing right… they’ll tell you about their gift soon so you can steward them properly, prevent them from taking your organization out of their will, and, hopefully, get a chance to inspire them to increase the size of their gift.

Just cut out one planned giving newsletter and you’ll have enough of a budget to target your Facebook fans for the next few years.

Am I nuts?  Or did I just find the missing link?

The arguments against this kind of advertising are my own.

1. For starters.  Show me the money!  I think they need to make a gift of some sort in order to become planned giving prospects (although volunteers leave planned gifts even though they don’t necessarily make donations).
2. And, what about loyalty?  Have these “likers” already exhibited (or will they someday exhibit) long-term loyalty.
3. Plus, you may not see that gift for quite a while (although seniors make up the fastest growing segment of Facebook these days).

Facebook fans are exhibiting a high degree of affinity for your organization… publicly!  But is that enough?

I don’t know but I can tell you this:  Advertising on Facebook to your fans is pretty darn cheap.  And, if you don’t ask… you don’t get.  So I think it’s certainly worth a test.  I’ll try to get one of my clients to agree and I’ll let you know what happens.

But guess what?  Now that they changed to “Timeline”, I think it works for us.  It helps us tell a story about who we are.  Now I like it!

Will you?

If you do, please “like” our page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/MarketSmart/247850665258857

Is marketing planned giving at all like selling insurance?

Let me ask you this.  If you owned a car wash, would you get your employees to write the copy on your website?  No!  Then, would you get the engineer who created the machines used to wash the cars to do it?  No!

Ok, I realize that a car wash is not the same as planned giving.  So, how about something more complex… more sophisticated…  How about something that could have major legal ramifications?  How about something that must require legalese… like insurance!?!

Sure!  Let’s go to State Farm’s website at www.statefarm.com.  They’re selling that stuff.

Did you go there?  Did you notice the conversion opportunities at the top.  “Get a Quote.”  “Contact Us.”  “Manage Claims.”

And did you check out the copy below?  Hmm.  Not very complex, huh?  Hmm. Are you scratching your head yet?

Alright… I’ll just say it.  Most planned giving websites are written by the wrong people.  They usually have the following problems:

1. They are too complicated
2. They have too many words
3. They use legalese that most people don’t understand (My Aunt Carol does not know what appreciated assets are)
4. They don’t have easy ways for people to contact someone to ask questions
5. They don’t easily offer downloadable information or a way to sign up for a newsletter
6. IMPORTANT: They don’t focus on the mission of the organization
7. They don’t tell folks how their money will be spent
8. They don’t share bequest language easily
9. They don’t say who is leading the charge at the non-profit and what his or her strategic plan will be going forward
10. They don’t emphasize the history and longevity of the organization signaling that an investment in the organization is an investment well-spent

I could go on.  But the point is… people who believe in your mission just want to know the basics about planned giving.  Make it simple.  Make it easy to understand.  Make it emotional.  And make sure they can contact you.

Here’s a post that is much better than mine about being disliked.

When it comes to marketing, branding, cultivation, logos, design, copy and anything else… for some reason everyone has an opinion.  But not all opinions are worthy.

I have found this to be true in private and nonprofit organizations.  For some reason everyone thinks they can do marketing.

For those of us who truly understand what marketing is and how it should be done, we’ll have to forge ahead and brush aside the opinions that don’t matter.  Let us all hope that senior decision-makers do the same.

You and your non-profit or your business simply can’t be for everyone.  Some people like Macs, some like PC’s.

The key is to decide what or who you want to be. Make sure you are better than the others in some way.  Focus on what that is.  Get even better at that to create distance for yourself.  Then promote it.

I want my firm to be like a Mac so the people who buy from us (especially those needing planned giving marketing) become humongous fans.  And those who don’t buy from us simply are just folks who either want and need something different or don’t realize they can benefit from our services… yet.

Or they like to have their computers crash and get viruses. (I guess you can see that I like Macs so I’m ready for the PC lovers to hate me.)

What makes you different?  What firms are you a fan of and which ones do you dislike?