Planned giving (also called legacy giving in many places) is one of the most important things you should be working on. It's also one of the hardest of fundraising challenges to think clearly about.
Two reasons it's so wrapped in confusion:
- The number of donors who participate is small. So small, that on a statistical basis, it's pretty much zero. But on a revenue basis, it's huuuuge -- bigly huge!
- Years, often decades, can go by before your activity pans out in the form of revenue. And often, you don't even know you've made the "sale" at the time you did it.
Here's some help from the Smart Ideas blog on getting your thinking (or, more likely, the boss's thinking) straight about planned giving: The Single Worst Way to Evaluate Your Planned Giving Marketing Program.
Bottom line: The revenue generated from your planned giving program today is a direct result of the efforts your organization put forth years ago ... even decades ago.
If your legacy giving numbers are down this year, it's not because of what you did or didn't do this year. It's what you did or didn't do many years ago. It also might be statistical noise, a rea hazard with the small absolute numbers of planned giving.
Having a bad year in your planned giving program is not a signal that you need to change everything. If it happens, look back at previous years -- then decide if you are still doing something that you were doing back then that you need to change.
Planned giving is a long game, and there's nothing you can do to speed it up. (Nothing that isn't immoral and illegal, anyway!)
from Future Fundraising Now http://ift.tt/2nA6HIS
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