Start your bequest program

transcript

Start Your Bequest ProgramStart Your Bequest ProgramFiona McPheePareto Fundraising New ZealandThe practicalities of starting a bequest program.

Where to start and what is possible with limited resources

Fiona McPhee

Where are we all at?• Bequest budgeting• Bequest resources• Bequest strategy• Bequest pledge tracking

The Reality1. Very few people leave bequests2. Bequests can accounted for over 40% of income

from individuals in NZ in 2012*3. Bequests account for millions of dollars given to

charities every year4. Traditionally there has been a low correlation

between regular donors to a given charity and individuals who leave charitable bequests^

I Believe• Bequests are received from people who either:

• Have an emotional connection with the cause unrelated to their experience with you as fundraisers OR

• Have had a valuable and authentic long-term relationship with you• Best return on investment from bequest marketing efforts will be

seen when a bequest strategy is focused on how you can best utilise your available resources and capacity to:• Provide a compelling reason to leave you a bequest• Facilitate and maintain supporters relationships in the way they

want them• Provide a compelling reason for these supporters to leave you a bequest and ask

them to do so

What we will cover

WhoHowWhat

Diversify

Current Best Case Scenarios

Who Leaves Bequests?

*www.EncourageGenerosity.com

People with no offspring currently

leave around 7 times more than those with

children

• When asked, 30% of people say they’d be willing to leave a gift in their will once family and friends had been provided for.

The “Family First’

concept

• When asked, 30% of people say they’d be willing to leave a gift in their will once family and friends had been provided for.

• The trouble is only 7.5% actually end up doing that.

Who Leaves Bequests

* Stats from Prof Adrian Sargeant, Indiana University

Who Leaves Bequests

Drive enquiries for conversion – shallow prospecting

Start Somewhere

Real Person• Bequests and Planned Giving• Leaving a gift in your will to The Lost Dogs’ Home means you will continue to provide support

to dumped and lost cats and dogs for years to come. Bequests are primarily used towards capital projects, such as new buildings and facilities, or animal ambulances. Recently the Home was able to build the Stan and Helen Moore Sick and Injured Shelter, The Lost Cats’ Home, Thelma Hoult Training and Education Centre and begin construction of the Frank Samways Veterinary Clinic through the generosity of supporters who left a gift in their will.

• The Home can also provide peace of mind for you and your pets with our Pet Bequest Program.

• For more information please contact Tracey Anderson, Bequest Officer: 03 9321 8746 or tracey.anderson@dogshome.com.

• If you decide to leave a gift in your will to The Lost Dogs’ Home, please let us know as we would appreciate the opportunity to thank you!

Real Person

Proposition

A gift in your Will could help us achieve our vision - to own and protect, or assist others to protect, more than seven million hectares or 1 per cent of Australia's land, water and wildlife by 2025.

Let the protection of Australia's precious natural environment be your legacy for the future

Pets give us so much love and companionship and ask so little in return. Here is your chance to give something back, a chance to help literally thousands of animals.Gifts in wills help the Lort Smith Animal Hospital to:1. Provide surgery and medical care for pets of people with limited means.2. Care for surrendered animals in our shelter and find them new loving long term homes.3. Promote responsible pet ownership.4. Foster an awareness of animals and the positive benefits they bring.

Proposition

Promotion

• Stories of impact (big and small gifts)

• Written• Video

• Testimonials (why / thank you for)

• Written• Video

Stories of impact• Frank Samways never set foot in the shelter that he would later donate millions of

dollars to. This generous, big-hearted and charismatic man loved animals more than anything, and couldn’t bear the thought of seeing abandoned cats and dogs incarcerated. However when he sadly passed away three years ago, at age 82, Frank left behind the ultimate gift – a better future for the animals he cared so much about.

• The Lost Dogs’ Home is extremely humbled to have received the largest bequest in our 100 year history; a $3 million donation left to us in Mr Samways’ will. Managing Director Graeme Smith said that, before he died, Mr Samways had confided that the Home would be a beneficiary, but didn’t specify to what extent.

• “He’d said, ‘I’m worth a bit’, but he didn’t indicate to me how much,” Dr Smith said. “We were all truly gobsmacked when we heard the figure.”

• The money has been put towards purchasing an old building, 50 metres from the Home’s Gracie Street headquarters, and converting it into a new state-of-the-art private veterinary clinic. The current clinic brings in around $1 million per year of income, and with the new clinic around three times its size, staff at the Home are hoping it will draw a larger customer base.

• “The new clinic will incorporate a car park, five consulting rooms, two operating theatres and a waiting room, “ Dr Smith said. “The income gained from this new facility will go right back into funding the Home’s various services and programs.”

• The City of Melbourne approved plans for the new clinic last week. It will be named in honour of Mr Samways. The old clinic will be converted into a dog and cat adoption centre.

• “Frank his given us the gift that will keep on giving,” Dr Smith said. “Dogs and cats will be benefitting from his kind donation for years to come. We will forever be grateful for his generosity.”

• For more information on leaving a gift to The Lost Dogs’ Home in your Will, please don’t hesitate to contact our Bequest Officer, Tracey Anderson, on (03) 9321 8744 or via email tracey.anderson@dogshome.com.

TestimonialsMaking a difference with a bequestWhen the late John Stringer was diagnosed with primary-progressive MS in 2002 his family found it ‘almost inconceivable’ that the cause of MS was not known and there was virtually no treatment for his form of the disease.

John was unlucky to have a very aggressive form of this debilitating disease which caused a very rapid decline and he died just six years later.

‘Research into MS was John’s wish,’ said his father David Stringer, who believes medical progress in auto-immune diseases lags far behind other diseases and that research into MS needs a huge boost.

Both David and his wife Carmel, have given meaning to John’s wish and have generously pledged half of their estate to MS Research Australia (MSRA).

This promise honours John’s memory. His wife Michelle, who cared for him, and the rest of his family are supportive of this heartfelt instruction.

‘With the current progress in genetics - and stem cell research in particular - it is clear that the cause, treatment and cure for MS are attainable,’ he said.

John’s family believes MSRA provides the focus necessary to unlocking the mystery of MS.

‘Supporting research facilitated by MSRA seemed by far the best way of giving some real meaning to John’s wishes, which my wife and I both shared.’

‘It’s of primary importance to me that the disease that took the young man, who was my son, best friend and golf buddy, in the prime of his life be beaten. We will do all we can so that others do not have to go through what he did and what we did.’

John, who was a nurse at Melbourne’s Lort Smith Animal Hospital, is survived by his father and sister, Sharee, who will be executors of the family estate in future.

Promotion

• Repetition• Clear, concise

messaging• Focus on

impact (not just how to)

• Make it easy to pursue

Promotion• What about solicitors?

– Consider who you are, where you audience is and how much influence you can have with the resource you have.

Promotion - Solicitors•Share a SIMPLE message with them•Most significant factor increasing the incidence of charitable bequests in the UK and the USA - the mention of charities by a solicitor at the time a Will is being prepared.•UK study has shown solicitors are making a difference by asking the question about philanthropic gifts in Wills:

• the number of charitable bequests included in Wills increased from 4.9% when the option was not mentioned by the solicitor to 10.8% when the question was asked.

Enquiry Brochure• Is it from a real

person?• Does it provide

contact details?• Does it present

your proposition?• Does it ask?

• Could a more personalised approach aid conversion?

Asking• Someone has expressed interest:

• Ask them to do it• Face-to-face, phone, mail

• Ask them to seek more info / support• Ask them to tell you

• Why?• Us: so we can steward them• Them:

» Most common: so we can plan ahead» More honest:

Asking

• Someone has expressed interest:• Ask them to do it

• Face-to-face, phone, mail• Ask them to seek more info / support• Ask them to tell you

• Why?• Us: so we can steward them• Them:

– Most common: so we can plan ahead– More honest:

Why Oxfam suggest you tell them:“Its really helpful if you could let us know that you have included us in your will – that way we know that we needn't ask you again. We can also update you with aspects of our current work, and areas of work that are particularly interesting to you”

Key Messages• Proposition (why you)• Family first• Tell your family

• Over 70% of planned bequests are not realised by people with a surviving spouse, this drops to 50% for those without a surviving spouse

• Tell us

After the ask - Follow Up

Did they receive the letter /

remember previous

conversation / visit?

Did their lawyer find the

wording useful?

Any further information

needed?Have they had the opportunity

to make the addition / changes

After the follow up - Converting

Start Somewhere

Diversify Assumes you have your person, your proposition & your

wording

It’s Ongoing

Follow UpYou should re-confirm their status at least once a

Follow Up Questions:• Are you still considering a bequest?• Have you been to the solicitor?• Would you like help finding a solicitor?• Would your family be interested in seeing X, Y or Z?• Can I share with you a story of the impact of a recent bequest

Ongoing Stewardship

Distinctive Recognition?• Not everyone wants to be publically

recognised• Not everyone wants to be ‘part of the

club’• Everyone wants to feel remembered,

valued and respected

Ongoing StewardshipThe Love• Treat them

differently – like VIPs

• Don’t change what you do now – add to it

The Understanding

• Research them• Ask them

questions• Check in

Some Benchmarks - Confirms

Research suggests around 40% of confirmed

bequests are realised

Start Somewhere

Thank YouFiona McPhee

fiona.mcphee@paretofundraising.com Twitter: fimcphee

Phone: +6421 336 905Web: www.paretofundraising.com

Can I Help?• Establish a new program• Review a current program• Audit your program, processes and resourcing• Develop your proposition• Build capacity – training & mentoring• Facilitate prospecting• Materials review & development

• Surveys• Bequest Appeals• Conversion programs phone & mail• Online journey & collateral• Promotion stories

Start your bequest program

Government & Nonprofit