For donors and development officers alike, summer involves spending time with family and friends, enjoying outdoor activities (or the latest summer blockbuster in an air-conditioned theater) and even taking a well-deserved vacation. Summer can also be an excellent time to plan your year-end strategy for planned giving and set goals for your funding efforts for the remainder of the calendar year.
Strategy: Evaluate your planned giving marketing.
Objective: Build an ideal donor profile showing who is choosing to make planned gifts to your charity and, just as important for many, when they are deciding to do so.
If your program is established and you have good records, research the donors who made matured gifts such as bequests, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, etc., and fine tune your marketing strategies. Determine:
- Their age at the time they established their planned gift.
- How old they were at death.
- Their giving history over the course of their life.
Consider these questions: Is there a pattern evident in number of gifts or years on file? Are donors making the decision to include you in their estate plans while in their 70s? Are these donors dying in their 80s?
The answers to these questions will help you build a profile of likely prospects among your constituency and help you in deciding how to market to the donors who fit this profile.
Strategy: Finalize plans for year-end.
Objective: Make sure the details of your marketing communications are in process.
For many donors, the end of the year is a time to review financial affairs. It can also be a time when compensation bonuses representing a significant portion of annual income are received. Virtually anyone planning a gift this year can benefit from a reminder to have the gift completed by Dec. 31.
For instance, you may send a printed year-end piece focusing on noncash gift options to your major donors while sending a larger audience a comprehensive year-end giving communication.
Strategy: Contact special donors and prospects.
Objective: Take the opportunity to engage with lower-priority contacts you may have missed during the busiest months of the year.
Calling and visiting prospects and donors is, of course, an important year-round activity. While some of your major gift prospects and donors may be on vacation or otherwise occupied during summer months, there may be others who may be more receptive to a call or visit during this time.
Strategy: Review your acknowledgment system.
Objective: Be sure to thank even the smallest of donors, as long-term donors of relatively modest amounts are often among the best bequest prospects.
Your acknowledgment system is the foundation upon which future gifts will be built! Use every opportunity to say thank you: in your telephone conversations, your visits and in letters and notes. Consider setting up a system to thank family members and professional advisors when estates mature and notifications are received.
Time to debrief
By spending the next few months focusing on activities that are generally “put on the back burner” most of the year due to limited time, you may see benefits for many years to come. ■
