Consistency is Key
Focusing on the basics will build your program

Consulting News
New clients and 2008 speaking schedule

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I’m interested in your opinion

“Prospects take time to become donors [and] you can use that time to advantage by strengthening your relationships.”

As we head into the end of the 4^th quarter with its rush to close last-minute-donors' gifts, I ask you to digress for a few minutes. Allow yourself to cease being caught up in the rush just long enough for a reminder that the most successful Planned Giving programs are those that promote giving regularly, consistently and frequently.

I'm not suggesting you could have avoided the 4^th quarter blitz. It's unavoidable. I'm simply asking for a brief pause so you can be reminded of the value of consistency.

I hope every week you work to get meetings with prospects and donors. How ever you plan your meetings, you should have a lot of them. I prefer meetings over meals for their congeniality, sharing of a physical space, structured flow and ease of conversation. The number each week or each month depends on the maturity of your program.

For a start-up Planned Giving program, one to three a month may be all you can get.

A mature program with one full-time employee devoted exclusively to your program should see 12 to 15 prospects and donors per month. (Administration takes a good deal of time from the meeting calendar of the solo Planned Giving officer.)

I hope meeting people is your favorite part of working in Planned Giving. Prospects take time to become donors. They consider their long-term estate and retirement plans; ponder their legacy with your organization; consult family; and, work with professional advisors. You can use that time to advantage by strengthening your relationships.

Seeing donors builds good will. Donors recognize those organizations which only pursued them when they were prospects and a gift was under discussion. Meeting the people who have already given to your institution lends genuineness, sincerity and credibility to your program. We call it stewardship and it is essential.

Spending consistent, regular and frequent time pursuing meetings, and other meaningful contacts, with prospects and donors will help you get the meetings you need to keep your Planned Giving program vibrant, growing and credible. And you will have more fun.

Consistency also applies to your broader outreach efforts. One cornerstone of Planned Giving is bequest marketing by direct mail. Whether you mail to 250 or 25,000 will determine the frequency, but I hope you're encouraging this most popular of planned gifts on a regular and consistent basis with the same message: it's important to have your estate properly planned, and when you do so consider including our organization.

If you have a nascent program, don't get discouraged in your early efforts if you receive only a small number of requests for more information. Direct mail takes time to yield results. That's why I advise regularity, consistency, and the appropriate frequency for your size list.

What applies to mail also applies to other promotion efforts. If seminars have been successful for your constituency, and they aren't for all, I hope you host them regularly and, most importantly, follow up with those in attendance.

Likewise, if you have a newsletter, magazine, bulletin or e-mail list, regular, consistent and frequent Planned Giving pieces will yield results.

You cannot predict the reply rate for any single instance of promotion, but if you keep at the basics you can successfully predict these outcomes in your overall program: the number of gifts will grow; reply rates will increase and over time level off; and, the number of planned gift prospects will grow.

The end-of-calendar-year (and end-of-fiscal-year) rush cannot be avoided. I'm not suggesting it can. I just wanted you to take a few moments from the madness for a reminder that consistent efforts in a few key areas will insure you always have gifts to stay busy with.

OK, now dive back into the end-of-year waters.

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• New clients
  We are very pleased to have begun work with The Diocese of Rockville Centre and the 133 parishes throughout Long Island in New York.



• Speaking engagements
  I will deliver a program at the Association of Fundraising Professionals' Fundraising Day on June 13, 2008 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
  
  For prospect researchers, I will speak at the Mid-Atlantic Researchers Conference (MARC) on June 11, 2008 at Bucknell University.

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I am always interested in your opinion of The Martignetti Report. You can reach me through the company website

Best regards,

Tony Martignetti, Esq.
Managing Director
Martignetti Planned Giving Advisors

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