planned giving best practices to start using today
TRANSCRIPT
Planned Giving Best Practices to Start Using Today
John Perell Director, Direct Response and Shared Services
Smithsonian Institution
Trish Rooks
Lynn Storey Director, Planned Giving Marketing Easterseals
Director of Planned Giving CARE USA
John Perell, Smithsonian Institution
Planned Giving expansion into lead generation is part of a broader strategy to integrate individual giving at Smithsonian
FY16 is the first year where the Office of Advancement initiated a marketing plan for Planned Giving Lead Generation Prior to FY16 - 30-40 leads per year
1,150 leads in the first 8 months
Lead Generation: New Frontier in Direct Response Marketing
Overall general support and planned giving represent 12% of the $250M in annual revenue.
Long-term goal is to increase general support and grow planned giving.
Can you talk about how much revenue or the share of your revenue brought in by planned giving?
Large percentage of planned gifts come from the lower ranks of membership from long-time members
62% of major donors started with gifts below $150.
High Touch model identified 53k members with Good to Excellent Planned Giving Likelihood scores
Success of initial survey campaign
How have you been able to make the case that Direct Marketing (mail) is a feeder program for planned gifts?
Funding fluctuates based on 5% tax on unrestricted bequests.
We are currently working internally to develop a different funding model and secure support.
Budget is spent on ads, targeted mailings and surveys.
How have you been able to get funding to support lead generation and other marketing activities? How did you spend the investment once you were successful?
Pipeline report and average gift of $61,000.
Currently evaluating other methodologies to implement at Smithsonian.
What methodology do you use to project future revenue?
Other anecdotes for building internal support?
Leveraging the success of the initial Friends Campaign to build support of other museums/programs for their Planned Giving marketing, including ads and surveys.
Leadership committed to “Horizontal” Integration of Individual Giving.
Working together to achieve greater results.
Capital Campaign focused on building out a best of class advancement structure.
What organizational traits/structure/culture have helped make you successful?
Which ones have provided an opportunity (challenge)?
“Ownership” - Overlap of members/donors across organization.
Holding onto “sacred cows” and age-old perceptions.
Last but not
least…
Avoid doing this.
What lead generation activities have been “eye openers”?
Magazine ads are not producing the way they once did.
They are still useful and help to reinforce campaigns.
Layer messaging throughout direct response to build awareness.
Survey campaign placed correctly in overall cadence plan can enhance renewals and appeals.
Create multiple ways for individuals to let us know we are in their plans (website, emails, direct mail, membership buckslips)
What have you learned about the cultivation, stewardship and cadence (communication strategy) with regards to PG donors and prospects?
Currently, we are layering in one to two targeted Planned Giving asks into our marketing plan annually.
We leverage a combination of push and pull.
How often do you make planned giving the main ask? Is it all push?
Do you have reactive elements as well?
We offer opportunities to self-identify interest throughout the program.
We include a buckslip in all acknowledgements, have check-boxes on renewal, lapsed and appeal reply forms.
John Perell
202-633-2042
linkedin.com/in/perell
Director, Direct Response and Shared Services
Smithsonian Institution
Lynn Storey, Easterseals
Making The Case:
74 affiliates provide supports for people of all ages living with disabilities 1998: PG marketing to national database 2010: Formalized PG marketing program
• Revenue potential for each affiliate • Impact of acquisition/lapsed
reactivation investment
Making The Case:
Affiliates cover cost of national planned giving marketing • Predictive modeling • Age-segmented, variable content in digital marketing • Interactive website features
Planned gifts are 7% of all network revenue from individuals
Unique Program Attributes:
What are your planned giving pain points? • Lack of familiarity with planned gifts • No time! • No budget! • Desire to share with/learn from affiliate
peers
Easterseals Affiliate Network – opportunities and challenges
Unique Program Attributes:
Affiliate engagement marketing via:
• Extranet – interactive messaging • Blog posts, polls, discussions
• Webinars • Email
Highest demand for most basic and most sophisticated content
Unique Program Attributes/Results:
2013-2015:
• Affiliate engagement re: planned giving increased 370%
• Number of Legacy Society members identified by affiliates increased 555%
Value of bequests from Legacy Society members stewarded by affiliates AND National is 25% higher than average
The Next Frontier:
Short term: • Silent Generation donors • Social media’s role
Long term: • Affiliates fully engaging local supporters re: planned gifts • Double planned giving revenue across network
Trends affecting planned giving lead gen today: • Decrease in estates distributed via wills/trusts - beneficiary designations • Longevity/weak interest rates effect on viability of life income gifts
Lynn Storey
312.551.7135
Director, Planned Giving Marketing
Easterseals
Trish Rooks, CARE USA
Can you talk about how much revenue or the share of your revenue brought in by planned giving?
PRIVATE REVENUE SOURCES FY15 vs. FY16 (Government Grants not included)
How have you been able to make the case that Direct Marketing (mail) is a feeder program for planned gifts?
CULTIVATION METHOD OF PG DONORS
• Storytelling with CARE’s Management team - showed the important link between Direct Mail and PG
• Making the case that any cut in acquisition could have a long-term impact on revenue from deferred gifts
How have you been able to get funding to support lead generation and other marketing activities? How did you
spend the investment once you were successful?
USING DATA TO MAKE THE CASE FOR PG
•22,500 donors scored very high
for bequest likelihood
•18,151 donors scored very high
for charitable gift annuity likelihood
•6,149 donors scored very high for
charitable remainder trusts
likelihood
CARE invested in database analysis….
REFRESH OF PG MARKETING MATERIALS Messaging will vary based on age
Newsletter also gets a refresh:
What methodology do you use to project future revenue?
PROJECTING PLANNED GIFTS
YEAR NEW ESTATE
NOTIFICATIONS
FY06 183
FY07 171
FY08 163
FY09 123
FY10 126
FY11 195
FY12 140
FY13 102
FY14 118
FY15 212
FY16 107
Other anecdotes for building internal support?
“Show me the Money!”
What organizational traits/structure/culture have helped make you successful? Which ones have provided an
opportunity (challenge)?
AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM
• In 2011, CARE blended our major gifts and planned giving efforts to ensure a donor-centered approach
• We no longer hand-off (or trade up) donors who cross an arbitrary threshold that was internally established
• This allows development officers to create a seamless and more meaningful relationship and build trust with the donor
CONFLICTS/CHALLENGES
• Executive Staff and Board of Directors are often focused on gifts
that provide revenue in current year. (Funding gaps put PG on
the back burner.)
• Lack of Metrics for PG activity
• Some feel that promoting bequests to Major Gift donors will have
an adverse effect on current giving, when in fact the opposite is
true
ADDED PG GOALS for MAJOR GIFTS TEAM 1. Confirm 2 New Planned Gifts; can be deferred (bequests, charitable
Trusts, beneficiary designations, etc.) or asset gifts (charitable gift annuities, charitable lead trusts, etc.)
2. Develop Solicitation / Stewardship Strategies for Comprehensive Prospects within Portfolio; send a minimum of 2 blended gift proposals in FY16 (goal is to tee up a PG discussion with the donor, not to close a gift this fiscal year)
3. Steward Legacy Society Donors in the Regions; incorporate these donors into MG donor trips / event invitations as appropriate
4. Steward/Cultivate of Planned Giving Prospects: Goal is to have meaningful interactions with the donor and to uncover qualified leads for further cultivation (not to close a gift)
41
What lead generation activities have been “eye openers”?
PG DONOR OUTREACH in 2016
17 CARE PACKAGE DONORS
RECOGNIZED AT NATIONAL
CONFERENCE
178K PG interactions w/
donors
Nearly 7K interactions from
stewardship calls, and donor
outreach from Relationship
Managers and Office of PG
102K donors received PG
Legacy newsletter
2 PG Lead Generation
Mailings to 60K+ donors
LONGEVITY DONOR OUTREACH CAMPAIGN
• Donors responded with
personal feedback to CEO
• $30K in gifts with no
solicitation – my biggest
return ever for a PG
mailing
2016 LEAD GENERATION RESULTS
• 46 new deferred gifts; potential value of $2.4M+ and 26 re-
confirmed deferred gifts
• 12 New annuity contracts totaling $370K
• 27 Comprehensive Asks (MG donors asked to consider a
deferred gift)
• Beneficiary Designation mailing had low return
• Major Gifts Team outreach to Florida donors
• May Newsletter with CGA focus has brought in $50K so far
What have you learned about the cultivation, stewardship and cadence (communication strategy) with regards to PG
donors and prospects?
COLLABORATION WITH DM
• PG Reply Device on renewal mailings 350K donors twice a month
• Outright gifts that come from PG mailings go toward DM revenue
PG & LAPSED DONOR CAMPAIGNS
• Studies show that
estate donors may
not be current
donors, but they used
to be.
• We need to target
lapsed donors with
PG messaging.
• Collaborate with DM
when they are doing
renewal campaigns. Source: Russell James, 2013
The Next Frontier for the Program
What are your short term goals for your program?
Where do you want the program to be in 5 years?
What are the big trends in planned giving impacting lead generation or DM best practices that you are paying
attention to right now?
THE NEXT FRONTIER……
• Here come the Baby Boomers
• Shift to Restricted
• Mid-Level Donors
• Incorporating PG into a Campaign
• New Ways to Market PG
Social media
“Small Bets”
