1.
32 Tips To Persuade
Legacy Prospects To Give
Fraser Green, Chief Strategist & Smartypants
Good Works
fraser@goodworksco.ca
www.goodworksco.ca1

2.
Start with WHY
• Bequests are the single biggest
revenue growth opportunity in
today’s philanthropic market.
• The early adopter and early
majority charities are in.
• The horse will have left the barn in
about 5 years – it’s getting urgent!
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3.
Has anyone NOT met Jacqueline?
• Everybody’s ‘going
younger’ in search of
donors
• Stay with the old folks if
you’re searching for
money
• CIVIC revenue still
growing (annual + legacy)
3

4.
Civic cohort giving by mail
1,200
$ (in millions)
1,000
800
600
Mail
400
200
0
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023
4

5.
Same cohort – charitable bequests
1,600
$ (in millions)
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
Legacy
600
400
200
0
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023
5

6.
Don’t throw the Civic baby with the bathwater!
2,500
$ (in millions)
2,000
1,500
Combined
1,000
500
0
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023
And we’re rushing to ‘replace’ these donors why?
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7.
Next comes, WHAT
• Iceberg principle of all those
‘everyday’ donors.
• Direct mail preferred annual
giving method.
• Older, female, modest,
churchgoer.
• Marketing (rather than tea &
banana bread) = answer
• Print preference (Gen Pre-TV)
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8.
This session is about HOW
•
•
•
•
Research-based
Road-tested
Nothing complicated
Used synergistically – the more
links, the stronger the message
chain.
• No rocket science here – in
fact, a lot of common sense
when you think about it.
8

9.
So buckle up:
9

10.
1. Wills ONLY please!
• 90% or more of the
money is here for
everybody
• It’s what donors
already understand –
and are prepared to
consider.
• Everyday donors want
to do good – not reach
for the Tylenol.
10

11.
2. Paper!
Phone is fast, phone gets numbers.
Phone is self-indulgent &
not donor-driven in most cases.
11

12.
3. Residual FIRST,
then percentage,
then fixed amount
Which gift amount
makes my dad gulp.
5% of his estate?
or $50,000?
12

13.
4. Talk to her like
she’s a purple cow
13

14.
1. Acknowledge
quickly
2. Thank sincerely
(purple cow!)
3. Show real results
4. Ask for opinions
5.
Offer deeper connect.
5. Set the stage with 5-step stewardship.
14

15.
6. Keep showing results today of money donated yesterday.
(Donors are SO skeptical about what we do with their $)
15

16.
7. Speak to shared beliefs
• What God said to Neil
David Walsch
• “the crazy glue of
human relationships”
• are your beliefs on your
web site?
16

17.
8. Identify – don’t solicit.
• ‘Where are you today?’ is
different than ‘Will you
please give this to us?’
• We like to wait 1 year
before asking to I.D.
• You NEVER come right out
and ask the donor to
make the gift.
• Donors are highly
sensitive to feeling
pushed.
17

18.
9. Go back to the beginning
What ‘care package’
means to my dad, me and
my daughter.
Talking about your
founding answers why.
Gets the donor thinking
over a long time frame –
both back and forward.
18

19.
10. Have someone else tell her
net worth surprise story.
19

20.
11. A donor (not you!) must be the
teller of the kids and charity decision story –
a story that must be told.
story that must be told.
20

21.
12. Use an everyday bequest donor
to say ‘you don’t have to be rich’.
Bill Rahmes
Joan Kroc
Which one of these
made international
headlines? Why did
I use the other one?
21

22.
13. Use Shakespearean eloquence
in a Wal-Mart package
United Way donors in Ottawa reacting to the legacy info kit.
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23.
14. Promise – and deliver – zero pressure
• Persuasion by mail is fine
• Donors are so on guard for
phone calls/visits.
• Give them name, address,
phone, email & invite them
to get in touch when (and
if) they’re ready.
• Regional planned giving
reps in Ontario and direct
mail responders.
23

24.
15. Demonstrate future relevance
(10-20 years out)
• don’t need to predict
the future
• do need to offer a vision
of the world and your
role in it
• speak to both the cause
and your mission
24

25.
16. Use social proof – messengers who
look and sound like the prospect
prospect
profiled in newsletter
25

26.
Fraser’s book club
26

27.
and a couple more
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28.
17
Use testimonials to connect the prospect:
- living bequesters
- surviving loved ones

29.
18.
Demonstrate care
with donated dollars
(this is the scarcity generation)

30.
Storytelling is your
most powerful tool!
19

31.
20
90 seconds won
an Oscar for
Meryl Streep
in 1982
Create
your
magic
moment

32.
21
The bequest decision comes from a different part of the brain.
Dr. Russell James and the MRI – thanks Simon Trevelyan!

33.
Push emotional triggers
22
afraid
sad
happy
the anthropology of 85%
angry

34.
23
The donor gives to the cause – you are just the channel.
60:40!

35.
24
use
80 year old eyes
allow 20% light
clean photos
big
fonts!
dark type on white background
keep design simple

36.
25
NEVER
tell the
donor
to make
a will!
1. it’s unnecessary.
2. They feel lectured to.
3. Who ARE you to give advice like that?

37.
26
Use oblique angles.
Third party stories are often
more effective (and less threatening)
than getting straight in their faces.
(Never talk directly about the money!)

38.
27
Think twice about the phone:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Good ID tool (but re-confirm)
Persuasion? Not so much
Mail’s the great persuader
Do you call donors already?
Have you found GREAT callers?

39.
DON’T tell them how to manage their own money.
DO tell them how you manage the
money they’ve given you.
28

40.
Get in line – behind the kids and grandkids.
(but remember, 40% don’t name spouses, and 30% haven’t named children)
29

41.
Don’t be that guy!
Ask the prospect to consider a bequest.
Ask the prospect to share her current thinking.
Never actually ask her to make a move.
This is no place for SALES-THINK.
30

42.
31
You can be a great
legacy persuader
and NEVER talk
about taxes!

43.
Do you REALLY need to do this?
Your donors don’t need it!
32

44.
Fraser Green is Canada’s authoritative voice on the
art of persuading donors to make legacy gifts. If you’d
like to work with him – or ask him a question – feel
free to get in touch!
Fraser Green
Chief Strategist & Smartypants
Good Works
fraser@goodworksco.ca
613.612.4232 (direct line)
www.goodworksco.ca