Starting a Bequest Program is Easier Than You Think!

How Many of us Have Wills?

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• Approximately 50% of New Zealander's have a Will (less have up-to-date Wills)

• Only 7.5% of those with Wills have made a charitable gift

• Surprisingly for many NFP’s bequests still represent 30% of their income stream

The Statistics

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Is a Bequest Program Right For You?

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• If you answered “yes” to at least seven of these questions, you are more than ready to start a bequest program

• If you answered “yes” to four – six statements, you may be moving toward marketing bequest gifts to your prospects

• If you answered “yes” to fewer than four statements, you may want to create or enhance your strategic plan so that your organisation takes deliberate steps toward starting a bequest program

Are You Ready to Start a Bequest Program?

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Now Begin, and be Persistent!

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Everyone associated with your organisation has the capability of making a bequest.

But the most important element of a bequest program is not really the marketing — it’s marketing the right message to the right supporters.

You will maximize your chances for success by identifying and target marketing to your most likely prospect segments.

Segmenting your database based on who responds to what

type of solicitation will improve your response rates and save your organisation money.

Breaking it Down into Manageable Pieces

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Your Segments

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Knowing which prospects within your constituency are most likely to include your organisation in their wills or trusts is the key to running a successful and efficient program. As is having an up-to-date donor database.

Research is Key!

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PROSPECT RESEARCH

No matter how large or small your database of donors is, you

probably have limited time and resources to focus on planned

giving prospects.

• Keep your message simple

• Cultivate relationships

• Make an anniversary date for solicitations and/or check-ins

Remember, your best planned giving prospects are charitably inclined donors; if you are not communicating with them, or meeting with them, another non profit probably is!

Start with the Basics

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Regularly asking your donors why they support your mission will assist you in developing your bequest marketing techniques.

• Advertisement (annual reports, newsletters, magazines)

• Workshops/seminars

• Targeted contacts

• Direct mail

• Website

• Articles

Thank them, thank them, thank them

Marketing Tools

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Overcoming the Roadblocks

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Many people don’t believe their estate is large enough to make legacy gifts because they plan on giving all of their assets to their family. Others simply are not inclined to do so. So how to you overcome these objections?

Overcoming the Roadblocks

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The Good News

• New Zealanders are amongst the most generous in the world – second only to the USA

• Bequest marketing programs continue to provide the biggest “bang” for the marketing dollar among all types of fundraising programs

• Even a basic program will yield results

• The 2015 Giving New Zealand report is due to be re-released by Philanthropy New Zealand, supported by Perpetual Guardian and BERL Economics

Q & A

15 18/05/2015