Planned Giving Best Practices to Start Using Today

Planned Giving Best Practices to
Start Using Today
John Perell
Director, Direct Response and Shared Services
Smithsonian Institution
Lynn Storey
Director, Planned Giving Marketing
Easterseals
Trish Rooks
Director of Planned Giving
CARE USA
John Perell, Smithsonian Institution
Lead Generation: New Frontier in Direct Response Marketing
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
Can you talk about how much revenue or the share of your revenue
brought in by planned giving?
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.
How have you been able to make the case that Direct Marketing (mail)
is a feeder program for planned gifts?
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 get funding to support lead generation and
other marketing activities? How did you spend the investment once
you were successful?
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.
What methodology do you use to project future revenue?
Pipeline report and average gift of $61,000.
Currently evaluating other methodologies to implement at
Smithsonian.
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.
What organizational traits/structure/culture have helped make you
successful?
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.
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.
What have you learned about the cultivation, stewardship and
cadence (communication strategy) with regards to PG donors and
prospects?
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)
How often do you make planned giving the main ask? Is it all push?
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.
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
Director, Direct Response and Shared Services
Smithsonian Institution
202-633-2042
[email protected]
linkedin.com/in/perell
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:
Easterseals Affiliate Network – opportunities and challenges
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
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
Director, Planned Giving Marketing
Easterseals
312.551.7135
[email protected]
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
CARE invested in database analysis….
•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
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
FY06
FY07
FY08
FY09
FY10
FY11
FY12
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
NEW ESTATE
NOTIFICATIONS
183
171
163
123
126
195
140
102
118
212
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
178K PG interactions w/
donors
102K donors received PG
Legacy newsletter
2 PG Lead Generation
Mailings to 60K+ donors
17 CARE PACKAGE DONORS
RECOGNIZED AT NATIONAL
CONFERENCE
Nearly 7K interactions from
stewardship calls, and donor
outreach from Relationship
Managers and Office of PG
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 reconfirmed 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”
Trish Rooks
Director of Planned Giving
CARE, USA
404-979-9528
[email protected]