Passive Prospecting: How to Transform Annual Givers into Legacy Donors
A System to Nurture Donors Over Time
The Fundraiser’s Number One Responsibility
If I asked you the number one responsibility of your job as a fundraiser, what would you say?
- Building relationships?
- Engaging prospects?
- Finding money?
- Discovering legacy donors?
Could you describe the system you use to accomplish this? The answer would vary based on your organization and goals, but one thing is true of the entire nonprofit world.
Every fundraiser needs a process that moves prospects along the continuum from “uninformed” to “interested” to “committed”
In other words, from check writer…to yearly giver…to major gift prospect…to legacy donors. We often refer to moving donors through these stages as “moves management.”
MOVES MANAGEMENT
Moves management is the practice of building a social profile of a prospect and leveraging your understanding of that individual to identify, nurture, and steward him or her along the path from someone who cares about your cause to someone who makes a significant gift. Most of the time when we talk about “moves management,” we’re referring to high-potential donors. They are typically assigned to major gifts officers who are tasked with managing the relationship.
But what happens to all your faithful annual donors who don’t fall within the “high-potential” spectrum?
Your future planned giving prospects are hiding in that pool of prospects.
How are you going to identify them? What if I told you there is a way to pinpoint them? And what if I showed you a way to passively prospect to them consistently so that, when it’s time to make a choice, you are the nonprofit they select for their legacy gifts?
IDENTIFYING Legacy Donors
The idea of moves management isn’t specific to fundraising. It follows the same logic as “engagement marketing,” when brands get to know their customers better by studying their interaction and purchasing habits. The better a brand knows the consumer, the more targeted the marketing. This works in fundraising, too. Technology helps us compile data and build a comprehensive and well-informed donor profile.
But there’s a problem. Effective moves management takes time. It takes intent. It takes consistency. And it takes a lot of resources. The demand on resources causes most organizations to track and manage only a small segment of their database. But there is a way to track your prospects, build a profile, and nurture these donors without depleting your resources.
The Long View on Legacy Donors
What about donors who aren’t assigned to major gift officers – the ones whose affinity is just as strong, and their giving just as loyal, but who’ve not demonstrated major gift capacity? I’m talking about your annual donors. Without a clearly designated relationship manager, how will yearly donors transform into legacy donors?
Nonprofits with the most successful gift planning programs layer communication in such a way that it keeps donors moving along the continuum. But the industry’s high turnover rate makes it hard to stick to an intentional plan. Think of the break in communication that happens with a new fundraising hire.
Is it even fair to expect fundraisers to sustain relationships that keep donors on a giving continuum?
Whether fair or not, planned giving fundraisers are often judged on their ability to cultivate and maintain relationship and secure these gifts. There is a better way. And it starts with taking pressure off front-line planned giving officers.
A BUILT-IN RELATIONSHIP MANAGER
Instead of depending so heavily on front-line fundraisers, the answer is to create a self-sustained relationship management system that builds profiles for a much larger segment of your donor pool. I’m talking about a passive prospecting system that creates, builds, and sustains the donor relationship in the background.
THE FUTURE OF RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
Many planned giving departments feel the pressure to act as quasi-salespeople. But the role of a fundraiser shouldn’t be reduced to closing a sale. The psychology of persuasion teaches us it’s much easier to retain a customer than it is to acquire a new one. In the nonprofit world, this means you’re much more likely to receive gifts from people who already donate than you are to receive first-time gifts.
That’s why “following the data” is so important. Everyone connected to your organization reveals whether they’re your “buyer.” They volunteer. They open your emails. They attend events. They donate every year. These indicators build data that create a prospect profile.
Just because we think it’s a good offer and the timing is right, it doesn’t mean it’s right for the donor.
Like accomplished major gift officers, savvy marketers take the long view and develop marketing continuums that continue a conversation. Think about how much more powerful it would be to target loyal annual fund donors nearing their 70th birthdays with a message about IRA QCDs—and then to deliver continuously evolving messages for as long as it takes to convert them.
THE PROVEN PLANNED GIVING SOLUTION
A marketing continuum is essential to your success. In the middle of the “great wealth transfer,” everyone is vying for your donors’ attention. Passive prospecting uses marketing and technology to identify your most likely prospects so you know exactly who to call and when. This is the future of relationship management. But you don’t have to wait for the future to get started.
Schedule a demo to see how it works.
Who? What? When? How?
4 Questions that make your marketing more effective so you can have more conversations with donors interested in making a planned gift even if you can’t meet with them in person.