CONTENTS

Are You aBinge Marketer?

How Close isToo Close?

Planned Giving Placedon the Back Burner

Convincing Your Bossand Your Board

What’s Wrong WithSome Bourbon?

Ask For More andAsk More Often

What’s Wrong withthis Picture?

Using e-Marketing or“Spam” to Promote

Planned Giving?

Next Issue Bonus:Latest VirtualGiving

Survey Results.

About this newsletter:Page 4

How Close is Too Close?Jerry Rohrbach CFRE ChFC

We all know that connecting and building relationshipswith donors and prospects is a crucial part of our job.Over time some people will share with us just about

everything, including private and intimate information about family,health, and of course, their finances. We get to know some peoplevery, very well, especially if we have been working with them for anumber of years. In fact, there may be times when you may feel that youare closer to one or more of your donors than their own family members.Others may have outlived their family, and you become like a surro-gate son or daughter. This is when we have to be on guard, becausethis can lead us to circumstances when we are just too close.

What’s a Planned Giving Officer To Do?It’s a conundrum for us on occa-sion. At least it has been in myexperience. You want to be closeto your donors. Many becomegood and genuine friends. Youmay even spend social time withsome outside the context ofwork. I had one colleague tell meshe had become very close andpersonal with an elderly woman.The woman had a deceased sonand two grandchildren who livedfar away and never visited withher. Her husband passed awayyears ago. My lady colleague

(let’s call her Jill) told me thatshe had become like a daughter.“We go shopping together. Occa-sionally, I take her out to themovies. I have helped her withher gardening and house decorat-ing. She spends Christmas daywith my family.” This womanhad named Jill’s organization fora $ 1 million in her will and shewas a generous donor of severalsix figure gift annuities. It is onlynatural that Jill would want to beas close to this woman as shecould – she’s such a sweet oldlady too! But is Jill just a littletoo close to this woman? Per-

Are You a Binge Marketer? Katherine Fritz

“Oops... business is slow, I better send out a mailing.”

Sound familiar? It’s the classic cry of the binge marketer. If you findyourself in the middle of a quiet spell, thinking that a few actions, acouple of phone calls and a mailing here and there will get thingsmoving again, you need to rethink your strategy.

Reactive or Proactive?

The most successful planned giving programs (and all fundraisingprograms for that matter) maintain a consistent marketing approach.Those who try “a little bit of this, a little bit of that” are essentiallycreating a reactive campaign that’s disorganized and difficult to main-tain. Result? Sure, you’ll close some gifts, but you’re jeopardizing the

Convincing YourBoss and Your BoardJohn Foster

What fundraiser has not faced aboss who (a) doesn’t understandhow planned gifts work, (b)doesn’t want to learn, and (c)thinks that planned gifts are an“easy out” for donors who shouldhave made an outright gift?

Sorry. That boss is not going tosmack his forehead one day andexclaim spontaneously, “Wherehave unitrusts been all my life?”

Steady salesmanship on your partwill be required to get access toprospects and a sufficient budgetfor marketing and prospecting.Here are some techniques to try:

Partner with your colleagues.Share your expertise in joint so-licitations. Word of how yourplanned gift option salvaged asolicitation or increased a donor’scommitment will get to the boss.

A SURVEY YOUCAN’T RESIST:(Page 4)

What percent of your peersdislike beer?

Are they happy with whatthey earn?

How many plan for thenext day?

What’s their ethics whenpersonal gain is involved?

Would they unplug life-support to collect a bequest?

(We’re kidding, okay?)

Page 2... Page 2...

Page 6...

Page 5...

Planned Givingtomorrow

Planned GivingPlaced on the Back Burner, AgainPlanned giving is being placedon the back-burner because oftight budgets, smaller staffs andnot enough time.

Bull. There’san underlying reason that noneof us wants toacknowledge.

Four years ago we asked fundrais-ers whether they believed

NEWS FLASH

TM

Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2007

Publisher:PlannedGiving, Inc.

Contributors:

Viken Mikaelian

John Foster

Katherine Fritz

Joe Tumolo

Megan Palmer

Jerry Rohrbach

Bill Harrison

The views expressed in thispublication do not necessarilyrepresent the opinions of thepublisher or contributors.

Planned Giving TomorrowTM

is devoted to the art and science of marketing plannedgifts. That’s our specialty.

Feedback:

We’d like each issue to bebetter than the one before.For feedback please visit:

PlannedGiving.com/feedback

Article Submissions:

See announcement, Page 3.

Contact:

To contact us, write to:

editor@plannedgiving.com

Or, mail to:

PlannedGiving.Com LLC

3000 Valley Forge CircleSuite G12King of Prussia, PA 19406

800-490-7090610-672-9684 (fax)

Copyright © 2007PlannedGiving.Com

Did you know:

Most planned gift donorsgive small annual gifts yearafter year rather than one or

two major donations?

35% of CRTs are by those55 and younger?

15% of all planned gifts areby those 45 and younger?

The typical PG target is 200times a donor's largest

annual fund gift?

haps not, unless the donor wantsto do certain things for Jill, orshe asks Jill to help her withsome legal or financial mattersthat may be inappropriate.

Donor’s Interest or Organization’s Interest?We should always look out forthe best interests of our donors,but we must keep in mind thatour primary purpose is to repre-sent the mission and interests ofour organization. Shouldn’t thisencourage us to keep a certainarm’s length from our donors andtheir personal lives? Getting tooclose can lead to awkward orquestionable circumstances...

That Cash is for Me!I heard of a situation where adonor left a seven figure gift to acharity and when the plannedgiving officer received a copy of

the will, he learned that he wasalso named for a bequest of$25,000. What is this man to do?Should he refuse the gift? Or,perhaps he can accept the giftand donate it to his organization.Even then he would still gain in-come tax-deduction benefits thatmay likely be inappropriate. The other option is to take themoney and keep it – but thatmay put his job in jeopardy espe-cially if his organization has apolicy about employees accept-ing gifts as it relates to work.What if this gift were $500,000or even more? Take it and run?

Generous? Or Cheap Old Geezer...I’ll share three different circum-stances that developed fromclose relationships that I hadwith donors. In the first case, a

single elderly gentleman askedme to fill out and file his tax re-turn. He was too cheap to hire aCPA. He had made substantialmajor and planned gifts to my or-ganization. What was I to do? Ifelt I had the capability to helphim, but I am not a qualified pro-fessional tax advisor. In a similarsituation, another donor askedme to write him a detailed letterexplaining the tax impact of hiscash and gift annuity donations(funded with appreciated stock),but he also wanted me to calcu-late what tax deduction he couldclaim in that year, and then howmuch he could roll over into thefollowing tax year. I felt I coulddo this for him because I wouldsimply be utilizing the tax coderules that are clearly stated. So I drafted the letter and ran it bylegal counsel. They gave me an

How Close is Too Close? Continued from front page.

Suggest gift strategies in staffmeetings. Without making apest of yourself, offer planned giftsolutions in discussions about so-liciting major donors.

Remind people that plannedgifts are not as deferred as peo-ple think. The average time frominception to maturity for aplanned gift is 7-10 years – onlya few years longer than mostcampaign pledge periods.

Know where to get the facts. Ifthe boss wants to know the topincome tax rate, or how muchcapital gains tax a prospect is fac-ing, it helps if you’re his go-toperson.

Consider reporting “Costs perDollars Raised.” Planned giftscan be sizeable. Calculate theratio of your budget to your gifttotals, and, if it’s favorable, in-clude it in your annual report.

Don’t be shy about your suc-cesses. Let the boss know earlyon about a big bequest or a com-mitment from a previously reluc-tant donor because a planned gift

option was suggested. It’s goodnews that he can report to his su-periors, and, of course, it makesyou look good.

Conventional Marketing Wis-dom says that you have to getthe endorsement and active par-ticipation of your organization’sboard before you start full-scalemarketing. We don’t think so.

Most board members don’t carethat you are about to launch aplanned giving program. Most ofthem are solicited and stewardedfor their gifts by the head of yourorganization or the chieffundraising officer, so your solic-iting them for a bequest may beblocked politically.

Yes, in small organizations wherethe board members are wellknown and influential, their en-dorsement of your program cangive it a boost. A presentationto them, followed by a Q and A,can be a productive use of yourtime and give you valuable prac-tice describing planned gifts. Butdon’t ignore your broader base ofprospects for long.

Wondering why your old, tried-and-true planned giving market-ing has been generating less andless response?

Wondering why your plannedgiving newsletters and brochuresare not getting read?

Are your colleagues commiserat-ing that they too are seeing most

Convincing Your Boss and Your Board Continued from front page.

URGENT NOTICE

Your Planned GivingProgram Could be Promoting Death!Read our notorious

editorial at:

plannedgiving.com/4655

Planned Givingtomorrow

Next column...

2

TM

Factoids

DEAD WRONG MARKETING:THE SINS.

by Viken Mikaelian at theNational Conference on Planned Giving

Saturday, October , 2007

1313

Ask For Moreand Ask MoreOften

We hear it all too fre-quently: “I don’t wantto mail to my prospectstoo often because I mayannoy them.”

If you are that sensitive,perhaps you should notask for donations at all.

Take successful charitieslike St. Jude Children’sResearch Hospital orthe Red Cross – likeevery successful charity,they mail often.

Consider this story:

“I sometimes eat break-fast at a neighborhoodmom-and-pop coffeeshop near my home.There on the counternext to the cash registersit three different recep-tacles for donations ofcoins – one for Kiwanis,one for some organiza-tion for the blind, onefor disabled veterans.One morning, as Idropped my change intoone of the receptacles,it registered with methat I always plunkedmy change into thesame one. Why? I stoodthere for a few minutespondering my own be-havior.

Then it hit me!

The reason I always putmy change into the dis-abled veterans jar was:

• Not because I hadpreference for thatcharity over the others

What’s Wrong With Some Bourbon? Bill J. Harrison CFRE

Right or wrong?Good or evil?Proper or im-proper? Just dothe right thing!

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But whathappens when you run into an“ethical” quandary?

Good Ole’ GranddadYour organization helps teenagerswith substance abuse. One ofyour board members announceshe’s received a large inheritancefrom his grandfather and is goingto donate $50,000 in his grandfa-

ther’s name. The local paper dis-covers granddad made his moneyfrom the sale and distribution ofalcohol. Your policies and proce-dures state that all alcohol-re-lated gifts are unacceptable.

With any fundraising ethicaldilemma, you need to answerseven questions:

1. Have you accurately definedthe problem?

2. How did this situation occurin the first place?

3. What is your intention inmaking this decision?

4. Whom could your decision injure?

5. Can you discuss the problemwith the affected parties beforeyou make a decision?

6. Are you confident your deci-sion will be valid in the future?

7. Can you confidently discussyour decision with your boss,family or even the media?

See how this situation was handled.Visit: PlannedGiving.Com/6724

Bill is a nationally recognized fundraiser, anaward-winning author, respected teacher anddynamic speaker. More about Bill at:www.iteachfundraising.com

emphatic, “No! It’s too close toproviding professional advice,and you are not in a role whereyou can provide tax counsel.”

Me? Power of Attorney?No Way!Another elderly gentlemanwhom I know has no children,never married. We had devel-oped a pretty close friendship.When he came to the pointwhen he knew he needed helpwith his financial affairs he askedme to serve as his Power of At-torney. His will provides for aseven-figure gift for my charityand several other smaller gifts forother charities, but nothing forhis sister or his niece, his onlyliving relatives. What do I do?Do I put my neck out there andtake on this liability and respon-sibility? This is not illegal to do,

but you could argue that it maybe unethical. I may just be tooclose to this donor’s personalmatters than I should be.

The Dead Can’t Sue...Give legal advice? Well... I had adonor whom I had developed aclose relationship with who hadgiven me a copy of his will inwhich he made a bequest of$250,000 to my charity and an-other $250,000 to another. Atone point, he became angry withthe other charity and decided hewould like to give the whole$500,000 to us. Again, here is anolder gentleman who did not likelawyers and did not want to payan attorney to draw up a codicil.He asked, “Jerry, would you draftthe codicil for me and I’ll signit?” Again, I felt I had the capac-ity to draft the codicil for him.

But, dare I do it? I am not a li-censed attorney and even if Iwas, should I do it for him? Whoam I representing at this point,the donor or the organization?

Perhaps the dead can’t sue, butwhat if other family heirs learnedof this and then sued my organi-zation because they claimed I ex-ercised undue influence?

These are some of the dilemmaswe sometimes face as we get in-volved in the lives of donors.What would you do in these cir-cumstances? Perhaps you have asituation you could share and tell ushow you resolved it.

Email us today:editor@plannedgiving.com

Jerry has been in development for 27 years,including 17 years as the former Director ofPlanned Giving at Temple University,Philadelphia, PA.

SUBMITNO MAN BUT A BLOCKHEAD EVER WROTE,EXCEPT FOR MONEY. Samuel Johnson, 1776.

ETHICS CORNER

RUMINATIONS

of their marketing fail?

Feel that you’re working twice ashard and getting half the results?

You are not alone.

Chances are you’re suffering fromthe 13 Sins and you need ourSalvation. So attend our presenta-tion at the National Conference!Havn’t signed up yet? Contact:317-269-6274 / www.NCPG.org

3

Being published in Planned Giving Tomorrow will benefit more than justyour reputation. We believe you should be paid for writing, and we’llcompensate you well if your article is chosen.

No vanilla submissions, please... we’ll take poignant, opinionated, con-troversial, funny, passionate with a purpose, or technical with a twist!Visit: www.PGtomorrow.com or call us at 800-490-7090 for details.

!

Next column...

SURVEY: SURVEY: SURVEYWho Are We? And That Includes You ...

We’re embarking on a survey... with questions that have neverbeen asked before... a survey to discover Who We Are.

We don’t just want to know how many bequests you close, whatyour operating budget is, or how many people work in your shop.We want to know your personal likes, dislikes, ethics and opinions; whether youprefer beer or wine; if youvote Red State or BlueState; and just how far you’rewilling to go to close a gift.

Relax. The survey is completely confidential. Even we won’t knowwho the respondents are. Looking at some of the responses we’ve re-ceived so far, we’re glad we don’t. Visit: plannedgiving.com/survey.

• Not because of anyreasoned decision tosupport it instead ofthe others

• Not because of thegraphic design or appearance of thecontainers

• Not because of anysales copy on the containers

• Not because of theirarrangement on thecounter

• Not for any logical oradmirable reason

The reason, and onlyreason, I put all mychange into only one ofthese charity jars, eachand every time, is be-cause the hole in thetop of my favored jar isbigger than the holes inthe lids on the othertwo jars.”

Lesson learned? Make abigger, easier, and moreobvious ask.

– John Foster

Did you know:

If you are a non-profit, youare already in the planned

giving business?

No. 1 reason people giveis because they are asked

or presented theopportunity to give?

A city-dweller isinundated with over 3500

messages a day?

February-May andSeptember are the best

months to mail?

Planned giving nerdsor marketing geeks?

How thisnewsletter got started, and why...

My partner Viken and I decidedto take a break from the officeand set up a work station at ourlocal Starbucks in Valley Forge.Some of our best ideas havebrewed over coffee, or sharingour company Jeep over a day-long trip. (Viken hates to fly un-less he has to.)

“How about we put out anewsletter?” Viken asked.

I rolled my eyes and thought,“Not another harebrained ideafrom a partner who I swear suf-fers from Adult ADD. The lastthing we need is another paleimitation of Planned Giving Todayor the Journal of Gift Planning.”

“I know what you’re thinking,”Viken said. “But do you knowthat there’s not one source of or-ganized, credible, simply-simpleinformation just on practicalplanned giving marketing tips?”

Okay, he had a point. From my20+ years of experience, I’d saythat for each person who asks aquestion about the GenerationSkipping Tax, there are 347 oth-ers who ask for the best time todrop a mailing ... how to “hu-manize” their planned givingwebsite... how to choose themost-qualified prospects... whytheir planned giving newslettersaren’t working anymore...whether they should use “spam”to promote planned gifts, etc.,etc. & etc.

So here it is. You’re holding thefirst marketing newsletter with aplanned giving twist. Or is it theother way around?

Enjoy. – John S. Foster

PS: Please, we want yourfeedback. Visit:

PlannedGiving.com/feedback

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

I was calling on a prospectwhen he proudly showed me apostcard his vendor had de-signed to announce his newlydelivered planned giving web-site. The postcard lookedsomething like this (left).

What’s wrong with this card?

First, I couldn’t figure outwhether this was an ad forCompUSA or Circuit Cityselling LCD monitors.

Second, the rest of the card mentioned almost nothing about creativeways to support the prospect’s institution. All that held my attentionwas the monitor, overused in so much direct mail.

Third, the design was so pedestrian anyone could have put it togetherin Microsoft Word.

Don’t let your marketing communications look this bad. VirtualGiv-ing can show you what marketing expertise combined with award-winning design skills can deliver. – Joe Tumolo @ 800-490-7090

Network and Learn...

in the beautifulmountains

South Carolina Planned Giving Council2008 Kanuga Conference • May 6-7 • 843.574.6196 • scpgc.com/kanuga

4

ADVERTISEMENT

Factoids

Are You a Binge Marketer? Continued from front cover

Be carefulabout reading

health books. You may die of amisprint. Mark Twain

QuotableQuotes❜❜

❜❜

inherent goal of maintaining asteady stream of planned giftclosings, thus missing out on thelong-term benefits of a smooth,strategic and stable planned giv-ing program.

“Binge marketing” describes abehavior we see often, particu-larly in the small to medium sizeshop. Even some larger non-prof-its are guilty of it. Effectiveplanned giving marketing is notan activity to do in fits and startswhen you have time – it shouldbe ongoing. Think of marketingas an engine – it needs to beticking over steadily at all times.A quiet spell now frequently in-dicates a lack of marketing a yearago. It’s amazing how often wehear, “I wish we had pursued be-quests a few years ago. Our en-dowment would be much larger.”

Binge Marketing is Like theAmerican Diet.

Binge, then diet? In marketing,that leads to downturns and

quiet spells. Regular planned giv-ing (or fundraising in general, forthat matter) marketing may notmake you immune to an occa-sional lull – there are other ex-planations for a quiet spell or two– but it will certainly increaseyour flow of business opportuni-ties today and in the future.

Sure, there will be occasionswhere a particular marketing ac-tivity needs to take center stage.Perhaps you’ll want to launch aspecial direct marketing cam-paign to spotlight a particularplanned gift opportunity, or use aseries of advertisements to targeta particular part of your audience– but these are tactical actions,not a strategy.

It’s Not Rocket Science.

Let’s be really clear about this:basic marketing really is simpleand anyone can do it (yes, thatincludes you). But good market-ing takes time, and it takes timeto work. Frenetic actions done

defensively usually come acrossthat way, making you look likean organization in panic. What’sworse is that a lack of composurecan easily reveal itself to yourprospect in more ways than one.Most people get tired of donating toorganizations in perpetual crisis,and your appeal will simply notbe attractive, effective, or evenheard.

Unless there’s a hurricaneon the horizon...

So unless you’re a disaster reliefagency and there’s a hurricaneon the horizon, work ondeveloping a steady mar-keting effort. If you devisea program of consistentmarketing actions andstick with it and cultivateit, you will reap a strong, regu-lar and growing harvest ofplanned gifts.

Next time you find yourself con-fronting a lull and contemplatinga binge, try instead to translate

your actions into a regularprogram of activity. Or, ifyou already have a regularprogram, consider how youmight get the engine tickingover a little faster.

Your goal should be to havea worry-free marketing cam-paign that is on a proactivetrack and not a reactive one.Set schedules, create and or-ganize your mailings, de-velop and update yourwebsite, etc.

If you say,“I don’thave thetime,”that’s the

first signthat you’re

running a reac-tive campaign. And if that’sthe case, then outsource.Your return on investmentwill be worth it – not just foryour organization, but foryour peace of mind as well.

Next Issue:

Why Most Planned GivingMarketing Do you ever wonder why traditional planned giving marketingtechniques are producing little or no response? Because we’re stillusing the same old tools that were around when planned givinggot started.

This is why in our “new economy” many of us find ourselvesworking twice as hard, often with only half the results.

Our next issue will show why most traditional planned giving direct mail, such as planned giving newsletters and brochures, simply does not get read. Even e-marketing has issues (see page 6).

But it will also show you the tools you can use to succeed.

5

Feel likeyou’re goingdown thewrong path?Stuck with a cookie-cutter, pedestrianplanned giving website likeeveryone else?

Then it’s time to discover why we’re the smartfundraiser’s choice. We deliver customized gift-planning

sites that “speak” your mission and your vision, not canned

products a vendor thinks are best for you.

800-490-7090Ask for our free report: Planned Giving MarketingSecrets Revealed. Sent at no cost, no obligation.

ADVERTISEMENT

Fails

Bulk RateUS Postage

PAIDValley ForgePennsylvania

Any foolcan criti-cize and

complain, and most fools do. Benjamin Franklin

Using e-Marketing or “Spam” to Promote Planned Giving?

Whoa! Before youpress that

send key foryour nextemailblast, stop

and think. You can easily alien-ate your prospects here.

Ready for a quick quiz? Considerthe cost of non-responders:

A fundraiser sends an email blastto a list of 10,000 prospects at atotal cost of $1000 (a print ver-sion could easily cost $5,000).Assuming a 2% response rate(200 people) and a $100 gift perresponse, she raises $20,000 (200x $100). That’s a 20-times ROI(return on investment).

If you said, “Congratulations!”then you’re probably operatingunder the old rules of email mar-keting, which is what most peo-ple do, and that’s why most fail.

Now listen carefully to why:Non-response is not free.

Prospects create value for you intwo ways:

(1) Contributing today;(2) Resolving to contribute in

the future.

When the fundraiser sent theemail campaign above, she alsosent it to the 9,800 prospectswho had no interest in the“offer.” What if the email wasperceived as spam by a number ofhigh-value and high-potentialprospects and as an intrusion tothe inbox (consciously or uncon-sciously)?

If even a fraction of these an-noyed non-responders decide tocontribute less in the future, theloss in prospect value and profitsfar outweighs the short-termbenefits you received from thepromotion.

Worse yet, some non-profits, atthe advice of vendors or consult-ants who do not research asmeticulously as we do, send such emails on a weekly basis,and see only declining returns.

Clear, relevant and timely emailsnot only help boost short-term

returns today, but they also en-hance the lifetime giving poten-tial of current and futureprospects and donors. So youshould focus not on ROI, butrather ROP – Return On Prospect.This perspective (or should wesay paradigm) provides you witha more balanced picture of youremail campaigns.

ROP measures the prospect valuethat’s created or destroyed,which allows for a more accurategauge of the long-term effect ofmass email campaigns.

Viken Mikaelian is the Presi-

dent of VirtualGiving, Inc.,

helping over 400 non-profits

market planned giving in print

and on the Web. He can be reached at

vdm@virtualgiving.com.

QuotableQuotes❜❜

❜❜

planned giving’s “wherethe money’s at.”

A whopping 74% in thesurvey answered yes. Onthe next question, “Wheredo you spend your time?” alarge number (82%) an-swered “raising cash gifts.”

So if they know the an-swer, why do they placeplanned giving on theback burner?

Because most attendto the urgent, notthe important.An analogy can be madehere between a toothacheand visits to the dentist. Ifwe never attend to the im-portant (visiting the den-tist) one day we’ll have toattend to the urgent (aroot canal).

Same goes for retirementplanning. If you neverproactively build your re-tirement (endowment)you’ll have to reactivelywork after you’re 70 (likeraising annual gifts).

If fundraisers never attendto the important task ofbuilding a pipeline ofplanned gifts to provide astream of long-term sup-port, they will, year afteryear, waste time on the ur-gent task of picking upevery $100 gift they canfind to meet their quotas.

And, year after year,they’re missing the factthat those consistent $100givers make the perfectplanned giving prospects.

Considering the averagebequest is over $68,000I will stop right here andjust say... it’s a no brainer.

– Viken Mikaelian

Planned Giving Placed

on the Back Burner, Again

Continued from front cover

3000 Valley Forge Circle, Suite G12King of Prussia, PA 19406

a must-readarticle