Just Do It!

I love a good Tagline!  The Nike Swoosh inspires me to run that much faster even though I wear Asics.  If you can tell me what "Where's the Beef?" advertised, then you and I are likely close in age.  Good taglines help us remember and move us to action.  So what are some good planned giving taglines?

I make it no secret that I am not particularly enamored with "Remember United Way in your will or estate plan and tell us when you do."  In my humble opinion (which is worth all you've paid for it), this statement is passive, reminds me too much of dying, and a will is an estate plan (but not necessarily vice versa).  I could go on, but point expressed and if you want to know more of my reasons or would like to tell me I'm wrong, just give me a call.  The real question is - what's better?

My current tagline comes from a college website with a few modifications. 

Legacy Gifts.  Shape the Future... Build Tomorrow with United Way! 

Call me today to begin.

I also use...  Legacy Gifts.  It's Forward Thinking Philanthropy Beginning Today.  Call 205.458.2022.

Planned Giving Today calls them "blurbs" and posted several of their favorites in the Marketing Reprintable of their July edition.  I added United Way to each of them. 

• Please Consider....  including United Way in your will.  For a free Bequest Information Kit, visit www.uwca.org or call us at (205) 458-2022
• Is United Way in your Will or Revocable Living Trust?  If not remember that your bequest can make a difference! 
• You can help us serve the next generation.  But only when you remember to include United Way in your will.
• Your legacy is ready to start...  when you name United Way in your will, trust, or life insurance.

The first 2 don't excite me much, but I like the 3rd and 4th examples better.  I don't think I have come across one yet that really works like "Just do it!" or "Think different."

Rachel Sellers in her blog, The Compass, has an excellent post from 2011 on taglines.  You can find it HERE.  She includes the following checklist for creating a good tagline....

 

She has a total of 10 pieces of Branding Advice on her blog and they are worth reading as you consider how to market your planned giving program.  Have a good weekend.

Giving 2.0 & Whoodl

Thanks to a WSJ article, I found a wealth of information on Laura Arrillaga-Andressen's website at giving2.com.  Laura teaches Philanthropy at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and her bio alone is worth reading.  But don't stop there!  This website has a wealth of information including "project u" where she has uploaded her class lectures, syllabi, and case studies.  It will take several hours of exploring to get all the valuable resources you can find on this site.


Also, I love Apps.  I am not sure how I ever got along without my iPhone or iPad, but I am definitely glad I have them now.  A while back I found an App that is helping me remember names and how I know people.  Whoodl lets you enter a name and then an almost unlimited amount of reminders, facts, data, whatever it takes to jog your memory.  Then when you run across someone and you can't remember their name, annual gift, or why you know them, just put in anything you know about them in the search window and up comes all the possibilities.  It's great for those moments when you see that big donor and draw a total blank on their name and all the details you would just love to know at that very moment.

5 Easy (and Good) Steps to Start a PG Program

Starting a Planned Giving program at a small (or any size) United Way can be a rather daunting task.  There are any number of "How-to" resources that can leave you with that glazed over look and the absolute certainty that it will never work.  Don't give up!  Today I came across a really good blog post that makes it all seem possible.

Go to The NYSARC Blog and there you will find an article by their development consultant, Judi Taylor Cantor, well worth reading.  Planned Giving doesn't have to be complicated and Judi's article illustrates this idea so well.  It might be a while before you are ready to offer your donors Charitable Gift Annuities (step 5), but when you reach that point, remember the United Way Worldwide Charitable Gift Annuity program as well as United Way Life.  These 2 programs offer your United Way all the benefits without many of the administrative  headaches.  Finally Judi's concluding comments on patience should be taped to everyone's wall and read daily.

The entire website is also excellent and a few minutes spent following the links will offer even more valuable resources for starting your program.  There is a link on the right side of the page that will take you to more of The Fundraising Files written by Judi.

  

7 Ways to Build Rapport with Donors Using Creative ‘Thank You’s

This morning's PPP group email from LinkedIn referenced this article from the blog "Clairification" which you will find by clicking HERE or you can get there by Googling the article title.  Claire Axelrad has some good ideas about simple ways to say "Thank You" to our donors.

If you aren't "LinkedIn" I would recommend you open an account.  It's free and it is an easy way to stay connected with other PG folks and your donors.  I have found that donors typically update their LinkedIn accounts fairly quickly when they change jobs and you will receive notice of their new position.  The groups can be valuable resources as well.  Register for LinkedIn and then "Link" with me.

Have a good Monday and if you have a good way to thank donors, send it to me.  I'll post it and give you all the credit, honors, and accolades.

Crescendo Interactive

I will readily admit from the very beginning that we are Crescendo customers and I really like their resources - and there are a bunch.  The company is out of California and you can find their website at CrescendoInterative.com.  It would take way too long to go through all they do and I would hate to deprive you of the chance to spend sometime exploring their website, but I will point you in the direction of 2 of their tools worth considering.

The first is The Planned Giving Blog by Kristen Schultz Jaarda.  Kristen is the Senior Vice President and an Estate Planning attorney.  Her blog focuses on social media and its many uses in promoting planned gifts, but you will also find a wealth of information on specific vehicles.  You can access her blog directly from the Crescendo webpage, friend her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter. 

The second is GiftCollege.  If you want to know about bequests and trusts, real and personal property gifts, and just about any other type of planned gift that some donor could possibly even think of giving to United Way, GiftCollege will teach you all about it.  These are online courses with reading materials, lectures, and even quizzes.  The last time I checked, there were over 100 online courses you can take through GiftCollege and if you are really obsessive compulsive, you can earn your certification as a Certified Gift Planning Associate (CGPA) and then as a Certified Gift Planning Professional (CGPP).  I went for the whole enchilada and it was well worth the very low cost.  I now am quite confident that I can handle gifts of fine artwork, closely held stock, and dairy cows!!!

I am sure there are other companies that offer similar products that may be just as good.  However, Crescendo is what I know so if anyone wants to offer a review of another similar service, just let me know.

More Retreaded ideas yet to come!

David

No Point in Reinventing the Wheel!

Finding a great idea is a whole lot better than trying to invent a new one.  So, inspired by my friend Bryne Lewis from United Way of the Wyoming Valley in Wilkes Barre PA and her blog, "Apples to Oranges", PG Retreads is dedicated to good ideas and resources from the world of planned giving that you just might find helpful.  

That said, the first resource I am going to recommend is ....

Apples to Oranges

 

Bryne Lewis is the Vice President of Resource Development at UW of the Wyoming Valley and she is chronicling their move to a new way of thinking when it comes to RD work.  Apples to Oranges is a new blog, so you can get in on the ground floor reading about their progress. You will find it at
 

"wewantoranges.blogspot.com".

 

For the next couple of days, I will add other websites, resources, and good ideas I find useful in our work. When I've posted everything I know currently, I will do my best to find and post at least once a week the best idea I think worth sharing. If you have a good idea, send it to me at dhall[at]uwca.org. You can contribute a blog post, get full credit, honors and accolades from your fellow planned giving searchers.

I am going to avoid using hyperlinks, actual email addresses, and other tools that make it so easy for phishers and spammers to send us garbage we don't want.  If you want to know how to get in touch with someone (like Bryne) email me and I will send you her contact info (she says I can).