The PGM Blog

It’s Not About Tax Law – It’s About Your Donors Refocusing Planned Giving on Values and Legacy Planned giving has always been part relationship building and part technical expertise, but the technical landscape has shifted considerably. Major tax law changes since...

Redefining Success in Planned Giving Embracing Change and New Realities A Fresh Perspective for Fundraisers Forging a New Path Forward Whether you’re new to fundraising or have recently taken on planned giving responsibilities, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the...

Understanding Cultivation Theory in Planned Giving How Marketing Shapes Donor Perceptions Have you ever heard of a theory of communication called the "cultivation" theory? The cultivation theory has been around since the 1960s, and it holds that "long-term exposure to...

Harnessing the Power of Unity in Planned Giving A Lesson from Cialdini's "Pre-Suasion" The Principle of "Unity" Unity fosters a sense of shared identity. In the book Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade, author Robert Cialdini speaks of Unity:...

Leverage Your Planned Giving Legacy Society Making Donors Feel Valued and Appreciated The Power of Gratitude You've heard the quote: People don't remember what you've said, they remember how you made them feel. You've seen it in fundraising. When your donors feel...

A Deferred Gift Leads to Outright Gifts How Focusing on Impact Strengthens Donor Relationships Stories That Strenthen Donor Relationships JEFF: Greg, you were telling me stories about donors who, once you kind of get into the concept of impact and what is possible,...

Wealth Screening for Small Organizations Wealth Screening Lists vs. Marketing Lists It's important to discuss why some of these screening tools and prospect identification is important for very large organizations, but why it's not an area to focus on so intensely if...

Marketing a Planned Gift During a Recession Lessons from the 2008 Financial Crisis Donor Science Consulting released a very helpful report that analyzed a group of 72,000 charities to see what we could learn from the “great recession” of 2008. Some highlights:...

The Most Important Parts of a Planned Giving Website Is Your Website Truly Connecting with Donors? The most important part of your planned giving website is to make sure that it is reflective of the strategy of your marketing program. It goes back to what we talked...

How Prospect Identification is Different for Small Organizations Rethinking Wealth Screening for Smaller Nonprofits I think it’s important to discuss why some of these screening tools and prospect identification tools are important for very large organizations—and why...

What's the Secret to Effective Planned Giving Marketing? Lessons Learned from the Covid-19 Crisis The Impact of Pausing Donor Communication In talking with fundraisers and other nonprofit professionals, we’ve seen a consistent and clear pattern: Organizations that...

The Job of Planned Giving Marketing Getting Your Donor's Attention at the Mailbox A donor goes to the mailbox, right? They're not looking to get educated about the latest and greatest of the Cares Act. They are not going to their mailbox to find out exactly how a...

What Makes Marketing a Planed Gift Effective? From Education to Invitation A New Perspective for a New Era Our lives have changed a lot in the last few months, but we've had the chance to evaluate what's working and what's not. Professionally, you've learned new...

How to be a fly on the wall (and identify planned giving donors!) Using Data to Find Your "Shy Donors" Are Your Prospects Interested? Wouldn't it be great if your planned giving prospects called you every time they found your marketing interesting? Of course it would...

Donor Story Remix: The Importance of Repetition Why Your Best Testimonials Need to Be on Repeat The Fear of Repetition We love interviewing our clients’ donors to get their planned giving donor stories. We hear some pretty remarkable things—things supporters are...

Let Your Hero Do the Talking The Ripple Effect of Authentic Planned Giving Stories A Marine's Powerful Appeal A few years ago, we interviewed a supporter of the Marine Corp Heritage Foundation. He had made a planned gift to the Foundation and was appealing to other...

The Easiest Way to Explain Planned Gifts Unlocking Powerful Donor Stories The Problem with Most Testimonials Powerful donor stories are extraordinarily valuable because they make planned gifts so EASY to understand! Unfortunately, most donor testimonials aren't...

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?...

Effective Donor Communication is Personalized The Power of a Name Personalize, Personalize, Personalize Dale Carnegie once said, "A person's name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language." That's why, after thirty years of studying what...

5 Things to Keep in Mind about Planned Giving During a Capital Campaign Moving from a Silo to a Holistic View of Giving To Pause or Not to Pause? You're ramping up for a Capital Campaign and want to avoid donor fatigue, so you decide to hold off on talking about...

3 Ways to Connect to Planned Giving Donors Finding the "A-Ha Moment" in Your Conversations Three Sides to Every Story Have you ever heard the saying, “There’s three sides to every story: his side, her side, and the truth”? Personally, I’ve always found that humorous....

Planned Giving Website Assessment Is Your Website Helping or Hurting Your Efforts? A Look Back at Website Evolution Let's do a mini planned giving website assessment. First, we'll start by looking at how websites were used in the past, and how websites are used now....

Your Planned Giving Website Is a Warmup Band Getting Donors Excited Before the Main Event Setting the Stage I used to be a big Van Halen fan, so when I learned they were coming to Scranton, I bought a couple of tickets. But on the day of the concert, I wasn’t excited....

Planned Giving Stories Make People Feel A Guest Post by Michelle Martin, Messaging Strategist Elena's Story Please join us in welcoming our guest author, Michelle Martin, Messaging Strategist and a Trained StoryBrand Guide. We hope you enjoy this guest post in...

Guest Post: Photography for Nonprofit and Planned Giving Marketing (Part 1) Tips from a Pro for More Compelling Campaigns The Power of a "Good" Photo In developing your planned giving marketing campaigns, have you ever wondered: What is a “good” photo? How do I take...

Guest Post: Why Should I Hire a Professional Photographer for my Nonprofit Marketing? (Part 2) Expert Advice on Finding the Right Visual Storyteller Introduction Please join us in welcoming our guest author, Naomi Liz for the second of our two-part series on...

6 Reasons to Hire a Planned Giving Marketing Company (Instead of Trying to DIY) Avoiding the "High Cost of Low Cost" Weighing Your Options Have you ever wondered if you could save your organization money by writing your own planned giving marketing and sending it...

8 Reasons Why Your Organization Needs a Simpler Planned Giving Website Introducing the PGMicrosite A New Solution for a Common Problem Does the fundraising industry really need another planned giving website solution? Our clients told us yes, so we created the...

You’ve read plenty of amazing donor stories … and some that aren’t so good. But do you know what sets them apart? Use this mini-assessment to increase reader engagement and donor response.

Why Does the World's Largest Online Advertiser Use Direct Mail? Lessons for Planned Giving Marketing from an Unlikely Source Google's Old School Approach Google owns my inbox, my browser, my search engine. They know my every digital move. And even when I’m not on...

Planned Giving's "Magic Words" Unlocking Donor Conversations with a Simple Phrase Searching for the Right Words A lot of people claim key fundraising phrases work with donors, but we think we've found planned giving's magic words--words that improve both your planned...

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...

10 Tips for Email Marketing for Planned Giving Programs Connecting with Your Most Loyal Donors The Role of Email in a Multi-Channel Strategy As part of a broad-scope multi-channel marketing strategy, email marketing for planned giving is a timely and cost-effective...