I started my journey in Planned Giving in the summer of 1992 – 32 years ago!!! I even had a little hair on my head back then.
While King Solomon’s statement that there is “nothing new under the sun” has to be true (look into who he was….), if our careers and businesses don’t evolve, then we’ll go the way of the typewriter or tv repairmen, or the telex salesmen, or the mainframe computer guys, and so on.
So, is the Planned Giving guru/consultant a thing of the past? Complex gifts (CGAs, CRTs, etc..) – the bread and butter of guys like me – are just not happening enough to keep us afloat.
So, I changed. I realized that marketing and talking about legacy giving was where it’s at and that’s 95% or more of what I currently do.
But still, there was a problem. Results. ROI – the dreaded Return on Investment mentality. ROI is certainly important for fundraising but for Planned Giving, it’s skewed because the real ROI can be years, or even decades, away!
So, I changed again – focus on immediate measurable results. Numbers of respondents to surveys, conversations, events, etc… (dollars will eventually come but at least I can hand my clients hundreds of vetted, self identified prospects for outreach).
Now, I’m at another crossroads! Is it time to take the results I get for clients and then finish the job?! (i.e. get on the phone or zoom with the prospects myself or my team and close the gifts and report back the total dollar amounts confirmed? )
I think that’s where I am heading. Leading clients to the water just isn’t enough if they drink (i.e. don’t aggressively pursue the leads I get them).
What do you think?? Please comment!
Also – if you are a fundraiser and need to get started in planned giving, check out my next webinar program – click here.
