2. Are you here today because…
• 1. You are looking to create a planned giving program (and want
to start off on the right foot)?
• 2. Looking for ways to identify gaps or friction in your existing
program that will bring it to the next level?
• 3. You are a nonprofit professional and are planned giving-
curious?
• 4. You like to soak in everything planned giving (like me!)
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3. What we will cover
• Common areas in the planned giving program that can be
reviewed for improvement
• Several ways to address each component
• Best practices and next steps
By the end of this session you will have learned several ways to
optimize your planned giving program.
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4. Reflection
• What do you know about planned giving best practices?
• What do you want to know?
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5. Opportunity #1
• Communication and marketing – is your planned giving marketing
effective in raising awareness and bringing in inquiries?
• Value based
• Consistent
• Frequent
• Stories
• Pictures
• Relevant
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6. Best Practices
• Marketing –
• Case statement – this will keep everyone focused and consistent.
Create it or revisit old ones.
• Use stories in your marketing that is relatable to your audience. If
they identify with the “character” it will be more effective.
• Make sure it elicits emotion (make them feel, not think)
• Send out frequent marketing touchpoints
• Donors have different giving cycles
• You may need to build awareness and build trust (stories work well for
this)
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7. Reflection (list 3 items)
• What did you learn about marketing best practices?
• Are there any tactics you can use?
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8. Opportunity #2
Setting appropriate goals
• Clearly defined?
• Purposeful?
• Measurable?
• Actionable?
• Accountability and support?
• You have the resources (professionals and budget)?
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9. Best Practices
• Know the WHY behind the goal (why is it important, etc.)
• Goals should be specific, actionable and measurable
• E.g., not bring in more gifts but bring in 10 gifts by having 30
conversations.
• Assign each action to a person and a deadline
• Build in accountability
• How will you hold yourself accountable?
• Meetings, project management tools, etc.
• Resources
• Know what you have to work with when setting goals
• E.g. you can’t spend a lot in marketing if you don’t have the budget
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10. Reflection (list 3 items)
• What did you learn about setting appropriate goals?
• What can you do to ensure your goals are set and met?
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11. Opportunity #3
Training
• Has everyone in the organization been trained in planned giving?
• Is the language consistent?
• Does the training relate to the professionals’ responsibility?
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12. Best Practices
• Set up regular training
• Lunch and learn
• Staff retreats
• Video library and resources
• Accessible materials
• Adjust the training to suit the professional
• Don’t waste professionals’ time – make sure the training related to
the job to be done (marketing, IT/data, operations, etc.) Solicitors
may want talking points for donors and operations may want your
workflows to process a bequest.
• Assign goals to track effectiveness
• When professionals are not reaching their goals then training needs
to be adjusted.
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13. Reflection (list 3 items)
What did you learn about planned giving training?
What tactics can you use?
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14. Next Steps
Review your existing program for:
• Goals
• Specific, Actionable and Measurable
• Create yearly goals and break them down into quarterly
• If your program is new, make certain your goals are actionable that
you can control them (send out 10 marketing pieces, not get 10
responses per marketing pieces)
• Set up a system for accountability
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15. Next Steps
Review your marketing and communications
• Case statement
• Will provide you with the value-based messaging
• Use stories in your marketing
• You don’t need stories about planned gifts; tell stories of people
• Survey your donors
• Whether a large survey or call 10 donors, speak with them about
what they care about – you will see the patterns (use them!)
• Update website first
• The website is the hub so it needs to build awareness, provide
information and lead your donors to the next step.
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16. Next Steps
Create your planned giving training program
• Share the case statement
• Provide relevant content via the method in which they prefer to
learn and can utilize.
• Templates, video, slideshare, etc.
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17. Questions?
This is where you can find me:
Lori Kranczer
www.linkphilanthropic.com
lori@linkphilanthropic.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori
kranczer/
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