Define Your Marketing Goals
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In a recent blog post Seth Godin remarked on a marketing topic near and dear to my heart --marketing goals. His comments are at the core of advice I give all my marketing clients.
“The opportunity to move forward,” is why marketing is so important to the success of any planned giving program and yet it is a main source of client frustration. Planned giving marketing is typically the second largest budget item after staff so it warrants careful annual examination. One question that is often asked about it is, “What is the return on my investment? “
I think the answer is best illustrated by this story. One of our longstanding clients had a small planned giving program that brought in $2 million to $4 million annually, primarily in bequests. One day, the development officer, who managed this program as well as major gifts, left the organization. Senior management decided to shift the major gift responsibilities to another officer and stop the planned giving marketing efforts. At first, everything was fine. The charity continued to bring in planned giving revenue at the usual pace. The thinking was that this money would continue to come in over the transom indefinitely. After three years, however, planned gifts started to decline. By the seventh year, there was no planned giving revenue at all. Thinking of marketing strictly in terms of a 1-year or even 3-year return on investment has its drawbacks. Marketing “continues the conversation” with those you cannot reach in person. It may take years for them to respond with a gift and by then it may be difficult to measure the return on your marketing dollars. Sometimes we have to accept that just continuing the conversation is also a return on our investment.
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“The opportunity to move forward,” is why marketing is so important to the success of any planned giving program and yet it is a main source of client frustration. Planned giving marketing is typically the second largest budget item after staff so it warrants careful annual examination. One question that is often asked about it is, “What is the return on my investment? “
I think the answer is best illustrated by this story. One of our longstanding clients had a small planned giving program that brought in $2 million to $4 million annually, primarily in bequests. One day, the development officer, who managed this program as well as major gifts, left the organization. Senior management decided to shift the major gift responsibilities to another officer and stop the planned giving marketing efforts. At first, everything was fine. The charity continued to bring in planned giving revenue at the usual pace. The thinking was that this money would continue to come in over the transom indefinitely. After three years, however, planned gifts started to decline. By the seventh year, there was no planned giving revenue at all. Thinking of marketing strictly in terms of a 1-year or even 3-year return on investment has its drawbacks. Marketing “continues the conversation” with those you cannot reach in person. It may take years for them to respond with a gift and by then it may be difficult to measure the return on your marketing dollars. Sometimes we have to accept that just continuing the conversation is also a return on our investment.