publication date: Oct 11, 2012
Say a
nonprofit is planning to invite 100 prospects to join its "Legacy Society",
targeting people who have made a planned gift or say they would like to. On
average, how many would welcome such an invitation?
According to
The Stelter Company's latest national study on planned giving, conducted in the US: a
whopping
three! Ninety-seven percent of those polled expressed no interest in
joining a recognition group.
This finding
underscores an underlying shift in the preferences and demographics of future
planned givers, the company says.
"Our
research reveals a bright future for planned giving," says Bev Hutney,
Stelter's director of innovation and research. "Upcoming generations of donors
appear to be ready and willing, but in order to resonate with this group,
nonprofits may need to reinvent the ways in which they steward members. Now's
the time to start thinking about experiences that would encourage greater
participation and, in turn, offer greater benefit to the organization as a whole."
Loyalty not a prime characteristic
Among
current planned givers, more than one-fifth say they had never donated
to the charity at the time of their gift. And 20% say they had been donating to
the nonprofit for less than five years. Bottom line: The annual giving patterns
of 41% of current planned givers defy the traditional loyalty model.
"This was
one of the findings that we think is key to unlocking success for nonprofits -
for example, just introducing the topic of planned giving much earlier in the
conversation and targeting a wider group of people than they do currently could
really make a significant difference for a charitable organization," Hutney
says.
Findings
Some key
discoveries from the 2012 Stelter Study include:
- Keep
the conversation moving. People make the decision to make a planned
gift quickly. From the first serious thought of making a planned gift to
finalizing the documents, 53% of respondents took less than one year.
- Focus
on a wide variety of donors. Best
prospects (those who say they will definitely or probably make a planned gift
in the future) are decidedly young. Sixty percent of these best prospects are
between the ages of 40 and 54, while only 10% of people aged 70 or older meet
the criteria.
- Connect
outside traditional outlet. Higher than average proportions of major
donors, current planned givers and best prospects in their 40s (24% of each)
express interest in connecting to a charity via Facebook.
- Mindset
matters more than means. Income
does not dictate whether a person is or will be a planned giver.
For the
purposes of the study, the phrase "current planned givers" was defined as
people who already have a planned gift in place, and "best prospects" was
defined as people who say they will definitely or probably make a planned gift
in the future. It is based on a telephone study of 401 adults aged 40 and over.
