Marketing Charitable Gift Annuities

1. Marketing Charitable Gift Annuities

2. 1. Overview / Getting Started 2. Best Practices 3. What Works

3. Section #1 Overview / Getting Started

4. Overview – Getting Started • The Basics – before you begin marketing… • Follow American Council on Gift Annuities (ACGA) Guidelines and Best Practices • www.acga-web.org/

5. Overview • State registrations • Set minimum ages & gift amounts • Consider maximums if you are JUST starting • Have an updated Gift Acceptance Policy • Make sure Legal, Finance and the Organization are all on board and aware of the liabilities

6. Intro to CGA Marketing • CGAs are NOT bequests • More transactional • Common to have more than one • Many establish CGAs as an alternative to CDs • CGAs are a “gateway gift”

7. Where to Market • Specific mailings • Ads in newsletters/magazine/e-newsletter • Articles in newsletters (donor profiles, tips, etc.) • Flyers/buck slips with acknowledgements or other mailings • Emails • Social media

8. When to Market • When is the best time to market CGAs? • Year-round – consistency and frequency is important, never know when a CD might mature • April & November – tax time • In a good economy – depending on your budget, consider mailing or increasing quantities during strengthening stock and real estate market • When tax laws change, or when donors are thinking about money and taxes • When rates change

9. Ads and Campaigns • Keep it simple • Would you like to increase income? • Receive a tax donation? • AND support your favorite charity?

10. Ads and Campaigns • Having any ad is better than no ad

11. Ads and Campaigns • Having a donor-featured ad is better than a text-only ad (postcard, etc.)

12. Ads and Campaigns • Have a donor-featured ad with a reply/return is best • Privacy is key

13. Flyers and Leave-Behinds • Create a basic flyer to send in response to requests • Visits – leave behind, or Send as a follow-up

14. Flyers and Leave Behinds • Basic outline flyer

15. Flyers and leave behinds • Application form • Feels “official” • Cuts down on age “mistakes” • Ready to go when the donor is ready

16. Section #2 Best Practices

17. Know Your Audience • Step 1: Know Your Audience • Look at all these features of CGA donors in several slices: • Nationally, • For Similar Institutions, • For Your Institution Specifically (Use ACGA’s Survey of Charitable Gift Annuities)

18. Know Your audience • Demographics of CGA donors (age range, sex, couples, families, DGA/FDGA) • Volunteers • Consider targeting by age – starting no earlier than 60

19. Know Your Audience • Giving History • Loyal donors (have been giving for several years) • Current bequest donors • People who’ve already inquired about any type of planned gift • Motivation for making a gift

20. Know your goal • Step 2: Know your Goal – match your marketing efforts to your goal e.g. New program needs volume/Older program needs younger donors/gift sizes depending on your existing pool Hint: Smaller budgets will need to focus on the highest chance for success

21. Target your efforts • Step 3: Use Your Audience Demographics and Goals to Target Your Efforts • Feature an existing donor who is similar to your audience • Wide-reach: magazine/newsletter ads • More Targeted: specific postcards or e-mail/direct mail to appropriate age range/giving history • Most Targeted: Individual letters to prospects and existing annuitants

22. Target your efforts

23. Target your efforts

24. Target Your efforts

25. Manage Expectations • Step 4: Manage Expectations • CGAs just don’t appeal to as wide a range of people as annual fund gifts or even bequests. Recognize that your response rate will reflect this.

26. Manage expectations • Goal of marketing is to start the conversation, not close the gift – each lead is valuable. These are all major gift prospects.

27. Section #3 What Works

28. What to say • What do I say in my marketing materials? • It’s about bringing in the inquiries, not the gifts. Keep it simple!

29. What to say? • Share your mission – it is important to approach this as a gift, not an investment. Why do donors choose your mission? • Share the benefits and the mission: Create income for today and a legacy for tomorrow.

31. What to say • Thank you messages work! • Working with major gifts: “Enhance Your Impact” • Repeat, repeat – Over time and through different vehicles

33. Responses • How do I want them to respond? • Include a reply device (avoid postcard responses) • Prominently provide other ways to contact you • Send them online (back to privacy) • Track your success

35. Online marketing • Marketing CGAs Online (email, e-newsletter, social media): • Call to action: Contact Us! • Have an updated rate chart • Email: time with mailings • Consider leading with a donor story • Try including rate chart • Could personalize based on their age range.

36. Online marketing • Organization e-newsletter: donor story or advertisement • Social media: depends on the organization • Video

37. What Not to do… • What Doesn’t Work: • Oversharing - Too much copy (emphasize mission through photos) • Small font • Bad photos (hazy, bad lighting, unflattering) • Promoting legacy club/society as motivator • Promises of “guaranteed” income • Sounding like a financial institution

38. How did this do?

39. How did this do?

40. How did this do?

41. How did this do?

42. Questions

43. Thank you! • Nicole Engdahl • Special Olympics • Nengdahl@Specialolympics.org • Meg Roberts • The George Washington University • Mroberts@Gwu.edu • Stacy Raine • The Nature Conservancy • Sraine@Tnc.org