May 23, 2012 Strategic Stewardship for Planned Giving Programs 1
A presentation from the “Cultivating Lifelong Donors: Stewardship and the Fundraising Pyramid” Series
STRATEGIC STEWARDSHIP FOR PLANNED GIVING PROGRAMS
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• Target Analytics (Blackbaud) since 2007
• Author and Frequent Presenter on Planned Giving, Major Gifts, Prospect Research and Industry Topics
• Member, State Bar of Arizona; Drake University Law School
• Over 20 years development officer and director, including
• National healthcare, public broadcasting, law school
• National Director of Planned Gifts $300M healthcare organization
• Lead manager, $20 MM Capital Campaign; raised over $215 MM in career
• 12 years as affiliate faculty for Regis University’s Masters in Global Nonprofit Leadership program
KATHERINE SWANK, J.D., SENIOR CONSULTANT
Your Presenter:
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OUR AGENDA
• Stewardship’s Role in the Fundraising Continuum
• Planned Giving’s Unique Challenges to Stewardship
• Identifying the Planned Gift Donor
• Why Donors Give and Their Expectations of Us
• What’s in a Planned Giving Stewardship Plan?
• Examples
• Resources
• Q & A
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Donor Cycle
Identification
Qualification
CultivationSolicitation
Stewardship
THE FUNDRAISING CONTINUUM
• Every donor travels through the Donor Cycle
• Same steps whether effort is annual, major or planned
- Different emphasis on different steps
- Changes by effort
• Regardless of the effort - stewardship of a gift and its donor is the foundation of the Donor Cycle
• Cannot move forward without stewardship
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Not a unique issue to one organization over another
Planned gift donors are often
anonymous
Don’t know who they are until the end
of life
No legal requisite to
inform
Most planned gifts are made in revocable arrangements
Will or Trust
Life Insurance
Retire-ment Plans
Beneficiary Designation Form Gifts
PG’S UNIQUE CHALLENGES TO STEWARDSHIP
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• Why does this happen?
- Many planned gift donors are conservative with their finances and with their information
• Do not feel wealthy, although some are very wealthy
• Do not want “undue” or “unwelcomed” attention
• Do not want their families, neighbors or strangers to see that they “have” money
• Do not like to discuss “money”
- Most donors don’t know that we are interested in finding out, or don’t understand why it’s important to tell
PG’S UNIQUE CHALLENGES TO STEWARDSHIP
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HISTORICAL ACTIONS WE UNDERTAKE
We view stewardship as an “after the fact” activity
Therefore, we fail to recognize and steward planned gift donors
We end up “Thanking” the estate representative and not the donor
There is often no connection with the family of the donor
Ultimately, the donor’s loved ones lose connection with our organization
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PROACTIVE STEWARDSHIP WE CAN PROVIDE
In reality, many of them already have!
We can steward them NOW, by assuming that the most likely suspects have already made a planned gift
We can meet the expectations donors have of our organization
We can be strategic by understanding why people give
We can pre-determine who are our most probable planned gift donors
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• 50% of high net worth households have already made future charitable gifts to non-profit organizations
PLANNED GIFTS ARE, INDEED, OUT THERE!
The 2010 Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
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WHAT’S THE POTENTIAL PAY-OFF?
You may have more potential in planned gifts than in ANY other form of giving
Gifts1,000 100/year
for the next 10 years
25025/year
for the next 10 years
505/year
for the next 10 years
$70,000High Avg. U.S. $70,000,000 $17,500,000 $3,500,000
$35,000 Low Avg. U.S. $35,000,000 $8,750,000 $1,750,000
$10,000 $10,000,000 $2,500,000 $500,000
You’ll never reach this potential if you never make planned giving a top tier fundraising priority
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• Target Analytics has studied planned gift donors for more than 2 decades
• Data is gathered from thousands of instances of planned gifts across all charitable sectors from organizations large, medium and small
• Consistent, but changing, pattern of characteristics
• Age, life stage and financially conservative habits define the planned gift donor in the U.S.
W HO MAKE S P L ANNE D G IF T S ?
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Weights of Predictive Factors
Past Giving Pattern
Life Stage Factors
Financially Conservative Behavior
Smaller Household
Recent Mover
THE U.S. PLANNED GIVER PROFILE
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Ages 30-39• 59% say they will
make a planned gift
• Main reason they have not done so is because they haven’t been asked to do it
• Ethnic minorities are more abundant in this group of future planned givers
• Strategy: Introduce to planned gift concepts
Ages 40-49• Cash donors to
charity but may have lowered gift amounts
• Say they will make a planned gift but that they haven’t been asked to do it
• Consider 5-10% of their estate an appropriate gift level
• Strategy: Bequests and Beneficiary Designation Form Gifts
Ages 50-59• Are current cash
donors to charity• Are less inclined
to consider a planned gift at this life stage
• Paying off debt• Thinking of the
grandchildren• Strategy:
Bequests, Beneficiary Designation Form Gifts and Charitable Remainder Trusts
LIFE-STAGE GUIDES PLANNED GIVING STRATEGY
* Stelter Donor Insight Report: Age Differences in Planned Giving, 2009
One-Size Does NOT Fit All
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Ages 60-69• Are current cash donors to
charity• May have received an
inheritance• Are familiar with the term
“planned giving”• More likely to leave estate to
family and friends• Strategy: Bequests,
Beneficiary Designation Form Gifts , Charitable Gift Annuities for Parents and Dependents and Deferred Charitable Gift Annuities
Ages 70 and Older• Income is at its lowest• Have received an inheritance
and plan on leaving one• Least likely to change their
estate plans or include a new charity in existing plans
• More likely to leave estate to family and friends
• Strategy: Beneficiary Designation Form Gifts, Immediate Charitable Gift Annuities and Contingent Gifts
• Urge this group to notify you of their planned gift, if one exists
LIFE-STAGE GUIDES PLANNED GIVING STRATEGY
* Stelter Donor Insight Report: Age Differences in Planned Giving, 2009
One-Size Does NOT Fit All
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Personal experiences with an organization
and firsthand observations
Volunteering or receipt of services
Personal connection to the organization
Organizational communications on %
of funding for programming vs.
administration
Giving is expected of them
HOW PEOPLE MAKE DONATION DECISIONS
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Sound business practices
Timely receipt and acknowledgement
Not sharing their names with other
organizations
Full disclosure of financial statements by
the charity
Detailed information on effectiveness in
meeting goals and objectives
WHAT THEY EXPECT IN RETURN
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T HE F OUNDAT ION OF A S T E WARDS HIP P ROGRAM
What does PBS do so well?
Says “Thank You” Before and After Every Show
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Donor recognition (stewardship) must become more than a response to a gift or gift notification received
A strategic tool for communicating with current and prospective donors• The methods and activities for
thanking are keys to enhanced giving
Think before you Thank• Plan• Create a comprehensive effort• Use all communication avenues
available to you
Institutionalize stewardship•Everyone
within the organization needs to be on board
•Every staff member should understand their role in passing along accountability to our donors
STEWARDSHIP
MAKE STEWARDSHIP AN INSTITUTIONAL PRIORITY
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• Planned gifts are usually larger gifts
- Higher than lifetime annual giving
- Higher than average major gift
• Donor doesn’t see a distinction between today and the future
• Treat like a major donor now!
• Follow the same stewardship steps you use with important donors
STEWARDSHIP FOR PLANNED GIFT DONORS
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• If you consciously seek to steward loyal donors at lower gift amounts on a consistent basis you will already be cultivating your most likely pool of planned giving prospects
• Consider establishing a loyalty giving club, i.e. 10 years of giving, etc.
- Don’t be too literal - consecutive year requirements may bypass great prospects
- Look at donors who give more than half of the time, for instance 6 out of 10 years
• Invite these individuals to organizational events
• Strive to meet them in person
THE ROLE OF STEWARDSHIP
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YOUR CURRENT POOL OF PLANNED GIFT DONORS – REACTIVE STEWARDSHIP
• Bequest gift• Trust gift• Life insurance gift• Retirement plan gift• Life-income arrangements• Gifts of real estate, stocks• Etc.
All people who notify you of a planned gift intention
• Phone Call• Letter• Special Invitations and
Organizational Reports• Annual Report with Honor Roll
of Donors• Access to Leadership• Etc.
Full stewardship activities
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YOUR ENLARGED POOL – PROACTIVE STEWARDSHIP
• Everyone who requests planned giving information
• All board and committee members
• All professional-level staff members
• All employees of 10 years or longer
• Volunteers
Self-Identified Suspects
• Donors who have made gifts at any level for 10 or more years or have given your organization 25 or more gifts including recurring/monthly gifts
• All donors who have made single-year gifts of $10,000 or more
Engaged Suspects
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STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM COMPONENTS
• Be grateful; say “thank you” in the most personal way possible• Use the least amount of template language necessary• Include language that is specific to the donor’s gift intention or
desired outcome• Speak from the heart
• Consider additional acknowledgement from key players• For example: a faculty member, VP of Programs, a student
Written Acknowledgement
• Voice-to-voice begins a relationship• Face-to-face cements the relationship
Spoken Acknowledgement
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STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM COMPONENTS
• Share the impact of similar gifts that have been put to work• Donor stories• Testimonials
• Report impact of legacy program as a whole• 3 to 5 year information• Program’s longevity and growing “membership”
Reports and Communications
• Activities that denote their special status as an “insider”• Reports from the President, CEO, etc.• Tours, events• Telephone updates with the Dean, Director of Research, Program
Specialist
Access to Leadership
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SAMPLE STEWARDSHIP COMPONENTS
New member welcome packets• Fulfill the expectations of donors• Sound business practices• Timely receipt and acknowledgement• Not sharing their names• Detailed information on effectiveness• Full disclosure of financial statements
Handwritten/Signed Cards• Birthday • Thanksgiving, Heart Month, etc.• Anniversary cards• Date of gift or notification
• Near graduation• Date of building dedication/naming
Recognition Gifts• May vary depending on
commitment size• Consider low- to no-cost gifts for
revocable gifts• Consider major gift level gifts for
irrevocable commitments
Annual event to recognize legacy donors, surviving family members, etc.• Consider folding this donor group
into your established donor events• Provides cross-marketing and
messaging the right people
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SHARE THE IMPACT OF PLANNED GIFTS
• Provide financial information that shows impact
• Give donors a sense of “membership”
• Even if their membership is a secret
Programmatic Information is Important
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PUBLIC RECOGNITION AND STEWARDSHIP• Offer recognition that is appropriate for
each donor
• Thank you listings and Donor Stories
• Some donors want to be anonymous or “almost anonymous”• Others want more
Show the Impact of Planned Gifts
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OTHER STEWARDSHIP COMPONENTS
• Think about social media avenues
• Especially with younger planned gift donors
Use technology
• Every donor is unique
• Ask what they want
• Use coding in database to assist
Get Input
• Use any reason you can think of as an opportunity to start saying “Thank You”
Inquire early on
• Remember, the desire to be anonymous does not equate to lack of stewardship
Recognize EVERYONE
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THINKING STRATEGICALLY
Engage the donor
immediately
Don’t mix messages; i.e.
a thank you with an
enclosed request for a
gift
Carve out a budget for
stewardship that includes
personal outreach
Keep your stewardship in
line with organizational
image
Determine what kind of involvement your planned giving donors want outside of making the
donation
Use current legacy donors
to convey message to
potential legacy donors
11 Stewardship Principles, Beyond Fundraising, Kay Sprinkle Grace
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THINKING STRATEGICALLY
Nothing speaks more volumes than
a satisfied donor
Tie stewardship program to the
mission
Focus on intangible rather than tangible
benefits – turn donors into investors
Maintain stewardship even if
planned gifts donors/suspects decrease or stop
giving
Keep all donors in your database unless they tell you otherwise• This allows you to
track some efforts and results of your planned giving effort
Establish relationships
between donors and program staff
11 Stewardship Principles, Beyond Fundraising, Kay Sprinkle Grace
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BONUS PRINCIPLE!
Stewardship begins and ends with
personal outreach
Tweets
Texts
Face-to-face visitsPhone
Personal email
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Activity
Personal visits
Telephone Conversations
Letter
Effective Rate of Contacts
30%
20%
5% - 10%
EFFECTIVENESS RATES
• Face-to-face visits are, by far, the most effective way to cultivate, close and steward planned gifts
• Mail produces the smallest results, is the most time-consuming and is the most costly method
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If your conversion rate from call attempts to completed calls is 4:1
You will need to attempt
576 calls per year
That’s equal to 12
calls per week
Or 2.4 calls every day
If your conversion rate from completed calls to appointment is 3:1
You will need to talk
to 144 people a
year to get 48 appoint-
ments
Example Goal: 48 personal meetings
4 per month x 12 months
FROM “OK” TO “OMG!”
Set aside a minimum of 30-minutes per day for these calls
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• Close your door or reserve a meeting room
• Post a friendly note or door tag so that others will not disturb you
• Schedule phone-calling time as a meeting on your daily work calendar
• Choose differing times during the week
- Early morning, early afternoon, late afternoon, evening hours 2-3 nights a month
• Consider using an outline to get the conversation started
- Read the Blackbaud white paper: How to Talk with Donors about Planned Gifts
#1 PRIORITY
Purchase these door tags at www.askingmatters.com/store
May 23, 2012 Strategic Stewardship for Planned Giving Programs 35
SIMPLE SAMPLE PG PROGRAM STEWARDSHIP PLAN
Timing Stewardship Activity
January “Informal Annual Report” – letter describing annual accomplishments and impact on your constituency
February Phone calls to all known planned gift donors
April Annual Planned Giving recognition event
May School year-end “Thank You” letter and photo from a graduating student
June Phone calls to Loyalty Club members
July Annual Report and Donor Listing with hand-signed letter from President
August Update report(s) from Program Director, Dean, VP Research, etc.
October Invitation to Annual meeting
November Holiday Card (consider appropriate national holidays)
Ongoing Anniversary cards, birthday cards
Monthly New Legacy Society member packets
Weekly Visit with 1-2 members of the Legacy Society and/or Planned Gift Suspects
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ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE TODAY
Gather your materials
• Evaluate ALL of the materials you use for your planned giving program
- Use the checklist to ensure that you satisfy each component
• It’s okay to satisfy a component more than once
- Get onto other organizations’ planned giving mailing lists
• Steal great ideas – reject bad ones
Create a Gratitude Team and invite everyone to join
• Board, committees, volunteers, program staff, etc.
• Ask them to make “Thank you” calls to your highest rated planned gift prospects – you’ll engage and inform your insiders about planned gifts while they help you reach out!
Tomorrow
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Are you meeting donor’s expectations?
• Acknowledge the gift in a very timely manner• For both current and planned gifts
• Thank the donor immediately• Write in a very personal style to show your sincere
appreciation
• Provide accountability on donations’ uses
• Report that the gift was set to work as intended
CHECKLIST
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Are you meeting donor’s expectations?
• Provide assurance that the gift is having the desired effect
• Provide access to leadership
• Invite contact – create a two-way communication stream
• Provide “special friend” treatment
• Include additional information on what the organization is doing
CHECKLIST
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Determine the # of actual and potential planned gift donors you have
Create a written plan with both reactive and proactive components
Include written, phone and in-person outreach
Dedicate a budget for stewardship activities
Be on a constant lookout for better ways
Get face-to-face as often as possible! It’s the best stewardship activity by far
NEXT STEPS
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Real recognition [thus stewardship] is not something you do at certain intervals in your relationship with donors, nor is it a momentary thing. It is pervasive. [Stewardship] is between the lines in the newsletters
you write, it is in the tone of your voice, it is in the welcoming handshakes of the members of your
board. [Stewardship] is inseparable from the people who give it.
From Donor Centered Fundraising, Penelope Burk
THINK ABOUT STEWARDSHIP ALL THE TIME
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Thank You!
Katherine Swank, J.D. Blackbaud (Target Analytics Division)2000 Daniel Island DriveCharleston, SC 29492(Katherine is located in Denver, CO)
843-670-7278 (Mountain Time Zone)
Twitter: @KatherineSwank
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/katherineswank
More about Target Analytics @
http://www.blackbaud.com/targetanalytics
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RESOURCES
• Download the electronic copy of the book including the White Paper on this topic:
- Cultivating Lifelong Donors: Stewardship and the Fundraising Pyramid @ http://www.blackbaud.com/bb/desktopreference/boostgiving.aspx
• 2010 State of Nonprofit Industry Survey: Global Comparison
- http://www.blackbaud.com/files/resources/downloads/Research_SONI_GlobalComparisonUS.pdf
• Analyzing Your Planned Giving Program, PG Calc
- http://www.pgcalc.com/about/featuredarticleoctober10.htm