In a world of WHY, sometimes a little HOW makes a BIG difference!
If you know me much at all, you’re probably aware of two things:
1. I read books. I read a LOT of books. I blog about books. I do conference lunchtime plenaries about books. I talk to colleagues and clients and friends about books. And one of the most important books I’ve read in the last five years is one by Simon Sinek called ‘Start With Why’. To summarize it in a sentence or two: Sinek tells us that leaders can talk about the why, the what and the how of things. He convincingly argues that the important stuff always has to do with WHY. I’ve drunk his Kool-Aid in a big way. I’m a believer in WHY.
2. In my almost fifteen years of evangelical preaching about planned giving, I’ve argued that telling your donor WHY she should consider a bequest is way more important than telling her HOW to do the financial transaction. If I’m working with a client on a new legacy brochure or a legacy web makeover, I usually recommend that 80-90% of the words should be devoted to the WHY – in other words, inspiring the donor to want to make the gift. As I learned listening to donors in focus groups many years ago, they want inspiration from their charity and not instruction.
Now, I haven’t lost my WHY religious faith. Not in the least.
But I have discovered one very powerful HOW issue that is incredibly important.
I have learned that it’s worth taking a half-page in the legacy section of your website to talk about three types of bequests – and how one in particular can be very donor friendly.
That one special way of leaving a bequest is the residual gift. At first glance, this type of bequest is like having shown up to someone’s house as a dinner guest, you say to your host: ‘Don’t bother with a plate for me. I’ll just have whatever the others don’t finish on their plates.’
But, here’s the rub: Those leftover gifts are by far the biggest bequests you’ll ever get!
Let me share two examples with you:
Here’s a little challenge for you:
Pick the four or five charities that you admire most. Go to their websites and see if they actively promote residual bequest gifts. I’ll pay five dollars to anyone who finds such a charity.
Now, go visit the website of a little charity you’ve probably never heard of. It’s called Catholic Missions in Canada. Check out their legacy web pages – and specifically, find the section that talks about residual, percentage and fixed amount gifts. These guys have nailed it!
If you make this one simple HOW change in your legacy marketing, it could mean millions of dollars to you over the years.
You’re welcome…
FRASER GREEN
Fraser Green is a passionate organizer/campaigner/evangelist who believes that we connect with each other by listening closely and telling kickass stories. Fraser has been an owner (and bigtime smartypants) at Good Works since 1996 – and he’s still listening a lot and telling way too many stories for his own good. Fraser believes working in philanthropy and living a great life are one and the same thing.
Fraser is the author of ‘3D Philanthropy’, the co-author of ‘Iceberg Philanthropy’ and a contributing author to the new book ‘MeVolution’. He is a sought-after speaker at fundraising confernces in Canada, the USA and Europe – and he’s frequently published in fundraising blogs and journals. Despite his advanced age, Fraser is fast becoming an accomplished webinar guy too!