3 Proven, Personalized Planned Giving Marketing Strategies

3 Proven, Personalized Planned Giving Marketing Strategies

Learning from the Marketing Geniuses at Facebook

Is Effective Marketing Just Luck?

Have you ever wondered if there are any truly effective planned giving marketing strategies—or if donor engagement comes down to pure luck? As a fundraiser, you’ve heard it all. You know different planned giving marketing companies disagree on what really works, so I wanted to take a moment to tell you there IS a good marketing strategy out there that’s been PROVEN to work.

The best place to look is to those who are wildly successful at marketing. And who is more successful than the marketing geniuses at Facebook. The point of this blog isn’t to start a debate about data privacy. The point is that Facebook is a great example of effective marketing. And what is the secret formula for Facebook? They make the messages personal.

Personal Messages Are Instinctive

Good fundraisers instinctively know to do this, too. Think about how you approach donors. You review donors’ giving history and then leverage that data to present the individual with an ask that’s slightly higher than what they’ve given in the past. When you do this, you’re using data to guide your personal message so you can pre-suade a targeted donor to respond favorably.

So, wouldn’t it make sense to use the same personalization in your planned giving marketing strategy? Why is there a push to send a generic ask for planned gifts when we know impersonal content is always less effective?

I’ll tell you why: because generic, prewritten planned giving marketing material is cheaper and easier to produce. The industry is dominated with providers who sell the same content, in the same format, to as many nonprofits as possible. That’s a profitable business model for them. But is it good for you?

Strategy Means Response

At PGM, we recommend 3 planned giving marketing strategies. All of these strategies have been proven to get donors to respond:

1. Leverage Data: Data is a powerful way to stop guessing and start knowing. When we leverage data, we’re able to segment the intended audience by a variety of factors.
2. Target Your Message: Once we’ve culled the data, we are equipped to write targeted messages to different segments of our supporters in a way that is far more meaningful to them.
3. Make it Personal: With a person receives a message that is personalized to them, they feel a personal connection. They feel known and valued.

How To Use the 3 Proven Planned Giving Marketing Strategies

Practical Applications:

• Legacy Society Member/Non-Member Segmenting: Imagine receiving a letter that invites you to join the Legacy Society when you’re already a member! Use your data to make these messages more personal. Smart planned giving partners advise against sending Legacy Society members the same materials you send to everyone else.
• Class Year/Reunion Versioning: Rather than a broad-based message inviting everyone to consider a planned gift in honor of reunion, create versions of the invitation to personalize it by class year. Include an “Honor Roll” of alumni that recognizes classmates who have already made a commitment.
• Age-specific Charitable Gift Annuity Illustrations: If there is one type of planned gift where age does matter, it’s the charitable gift annuity. This is where it’s important to cull your data by age and avoid sending out a generic rate chart. Running calculations for your donor file requires additional effort, but the results speak for themselves.

Make it work for you

You don’t need to be Facebook or Google to create data-driven marketing campaigns that get results. Take your planned giving marketing to the next level by using the data you have. Creativity and a little effort will go a long way. At PGM, we partner with planned giving fundraisers to produce top-performing programs. If you want better results than you’re currently getting from a generic, boilerplate marketing, give us a shout.