Numbers That Count in Planned Giving
Simon Trevelyan: President, S.T. Legacy Group
Presentation to CAGP/ACPDP Conference, April 2012
Number that Count in Legacy
Marketing
Legacy Conversion Ratio (LCR)
% of donors or stakeholders who have made a
legacy commitment to your organization
Legacy Conversation Ratio
The LCR is your program’s most important statistic.
• What that figure is…
• What plan you have to increase that figure…
will largely determine the financial success of your
organization and your success as a professional.
Legacy Conversation Ratio
The LCR is an expression of your ‘market share’.
If you do not have plans to increase your market
share, it is extremely unlikely that your program will
grow significantly.
Legacy Conversation Ratio
Most charities:
• Have an LCR well below 1%
• No long-term plan to increase their LCR
Some of the charities I have worked with:
• Have an LCR between 3 and 10%
• Have long-term plans to increase their LCR
Legacy Conversation Ratio
• The traditional donor
pyramid is misleading
• Charities can convert
many more donors to a
legacy gift than can to a
major gift
• 36% of donors will
consider a legacy gift
You can convert more donors to
legacy giving than to major giving
BC SPCA results in 2007
Number of gifts
120 legacy gifts received
250 legacy commitments
Under 20 major gifts
Value of gifts
$5.5 million
$12 million
under $1 million
Successful Legacy Conversion
BC SPCA (30,000 active donors)
LCR Goal
Results
Donors converted
10% in 10 years
7.5% reached in 8 years
2,500
Estimated future value $150 million
Successful Legacy Conversion
Seva Canada (2,200 donors, one fundraiser)
LCR Goal
Results
Donors converted
Estimated future value
5% in 5 years
3% in 3 years
70
$4.2 million
Characteristics of programs that
under-perform
Charities with LCR under 1%, no long-term plans to
increase LCR
• Main focus: providing gift-planning advice
• Promotional collateral focuses on how planned giving
vehicles work, little on what gifts will do
• A lot of time spent visiting donors with no clear
outcomes or objectives
• Few legacy leads and commitments generated
Characteristics of programs that
under-perform
• Allocate few resources to marketing
• Do little to promote their program beyond:
– advertising in planned giving supplements
– estate planning seminars or newsletters
• Work in isolation from other departments
• See planned giving as almost identical to major
giving
Characteristics of successful
programs
Charities with LCR of 3% or over, or with a long-term
plan to increase LCR:
• Generate legacy leads and commitments by asking
donors for their advice
• Focus on what legacy gifts will do, not on how they
can be made
• Spend less time visiting individual donors, but a
large amount of time connecting with donors
individually (asking for legacy gifts far more
frequently)
Characteristics of successful
programs
• Open a dialogue with individual donors about the
charity’s vision and their interest in supporting that
vision
• Get large numbers of legacy leads and commitments
• Allocate more resources to marketing
• Work in collaboration with other departments
• See planned giving as being quite distinct from
major giving
• Do a lot to promote their program
• See gift-planning as irrelevant to most legacy gifts
Successful legacy promotion
How do successful programs promote legacy giving
and engage their donors?
Successful legacy promotion
Legacy Branding (if you don’t have a brand, you
should)
To see more legacy brands go to www.stlegacygroup.com
Successful legacy promotion
Legacy Surveys (on-line and hard-copy)
Opens a personal dialogue between the legacy officer
and the donor about the organization vision, the
donor’s values and the donor’s interest in supporting
that vision with a legacy gift.
Seeking a donor’s advice is the best way to secure a
legacy gift.
Returns from Legacy Survey
System
We recently designed a legacy survey system for Seva
Canada. (Both on-line and mail surveys). It was sent to
200 Seva donors.
• 80% completed the survey
• 36% asked for legacy information
• 6% had already made a legacy gift
Legacy Video
Donors who were sent the on-line survey were asked
to watch a legacy video.
To see more legacy videos go to
www.stlegacygroup.com
Case for Support
Anecdotally, we know that donors are turned off by
legacy information packages that are highly technical
and dry.
Information packages should:
• Provide a compelling reason for leaving a legacy
• Be attractive, engaging and inspiring
Case for Support
Is the cornerstone of any legacy program
• a portfolio of your organization’s achievements
• your current and future needs
• your vision for the future
• the importance of legacy giving to achieve that vision
• a summary of your financial accountability
• a guide for donors to leave legacy gifts
It’s the key document that will inspire and engage your
donors or stakeholders
Cost-Effectiveness of Your Program
and Marketing Tactics
On an annual basis everyone should measure their:
Cost per Lead (CPL) and Cost per Commitment (CPC)
•
•
Globally – for you whole program
For each individual marketing tactic
If charities did this, and shared their results, the sector
would have baseline data that could inform investment
decisions.
CPL for Different Marketing Tactics
Cost to generate a legacy lead
Advertising in supplements
Estate planning seminars
Estate planning newsletter
Direct mail appeal for legacy gifts
Legacy formvelope
Customized legacy survey (via mail)
Customized legacy survey (on-line) + video
$2,000 - 10,000
$1,000 - 5,000
$1,000 - 5,000
$400 - 3,000
$100 - 1,000
$80 - 250
$40 - 200