Legacy Fundraising: The Best of Times or The Worst of Times by Russell James and Michael Rosen.
When Russell James speaks (or writes, as the case may be), I listen. And when Michael Rosen speaks with him, I listen twice as hard. When they are discussing the biggest challenge now facing my field of legacy fundraising and marketing? I drop everything. Their new white paper, sponsored by my agency, Mal Warwick Donordigital, is required reading.
Download it here: https://michaelrosensays.wordpress.com/2020/04/10/legacy-fundraising-the-best-of-times-or-the-worst-of-times/
I’ve been in fundraising – and legacy giving in particular - through recessions, natural disasters, and terrorist attacks. But for the first time in many of our lifetimes, every single one of our donors is facing a global pandemic that will inevitably take some of them, their family members, and friends. At the same time, the economic impact of this pandemic is placing many of our organizations and missions at severe risk. Add in the fact that all of us are facing the same scary circumstances as our donors, and there’s a perfect storm of fear in the legacy fundraising world.
People are racing to update their estate plans and advance directives. It’s a fact that facing serious illness is a big trigger for planning. Since a huge barrier to legacy fundraising is that fact that people delay and procrastinate in their planning, this should be an important time for legacy giving. Yet…how can we ask donors to include our organizations in their plans, when they are making those plans in the grip of very real fear and anxiety at a situation far beyond their control? Is it inappropriate, distasteful, or unethical to encourage legacy giving at this time?.
Can you disseminate legacy giving messages during a pandemic? YES. If you do it right.
If you are a client of mine and read this paper, you’ll likely see that you’re already doing the right thing. If you’re up to date on Dr. James’ research and have embraced the idea that if we avoid “death” language, speak to donors’ needs, and focus on engagement rather than blunt solicitation, then you’re already in good shape.
In the white paper, the authors remind us that when facing reminders of death, people react in two ways: They avoid it completely and when they can’t avoid them anymore, they transform the reminders into a desire for symbolic immortality and lasting social impact. This should always be front of mind for legacy fundraisers, especially now.
Of course, death reminders are front and center right now in a very dramatic way. People are experiencing emotional stress, financial stress, fear at a very high level. The authors point out:
“In addition to people living in an environment that stimulates greater levels of death avoidance, current conditions cause individuals to feel less of an emotional sense of wellbeing … The more autonomous, connected, and competent people feel, the greater sense of personal wellbeing they will feel. Conversely, when people feel those qualities eroding, they will feel a decline in wellbeing.”
Recognize that with strong opposing instincts pulling donors in opposite directions (well-being through planning vs very heightened sensitivity to death reminders), you may not completely avoid pushback. Please don’t let that stop you. No matter how carefully you craft your messages, you may receive some negative reactions. That’s okay and normal, even in less dramatic times. Ideally, you’ve already been keeping in mind donor needs in crafting your legacy giving messages. Ideally, you’ve embraced the idea that being of service to your donors and supporting them in their planning process while meeting their needs will naturally lead to more legacy gifts, you already know what to do.
The marketing plans I create for my client organizations have no blunt “asks.” We understand that the planning process for donors is complex, and we offer resources and support for their process, rather than focus on the gift. We weave in reminders that as part of the planning process, including gifts to the charities that reflect their values can be empowering and meet their needs to make a difference, but we don’t lead with that. We highlight values, we encourage them to relate to the stories that other supporters share with them and us, we hold out a hand and engage them personally when they want to engage. We believe that the donor leads the relationship, and we walk beside them.
Because of this, my clients are moving forward with personal outreach – offering expressions of care, concern, and support, and they are finding that their donors are welcoming these calls. They are also moving forward with marketing. As the authors suggest, we are surveying donors, offering resources (workbooks, legacy journals, publications with support for planning under specific circumstances – such as when a family member has special needs, or information for donors who want to plan for the care of their companion animals), sharing donor stories in newsletters, ensuring that important information is available on websites, etc.
Please don’t let fear keep you from being there for your donors. But if your current messages and marketing don’t reflect care, connectedness, engagement and value, do some hard thinking about what needs to change. And feel free to get in touch if you’d like some ideas.
Please take care of yourselves – fundraisers are under enormous stress personally and professionally right now. I’m in awe of how you are all rising to the occasion.