Major donor fundraising and legacy fundraising are at the top of our classic donors pyramid. Often lonely.<\/p>\n
Despite the fact that legacy and major donor fundraisers often find themselves on the same team, there are still considerable opportunities to REALLY work together.<\/p>\n
A few years ago, at a conference, I talked to a group of major donor relationship managers and asked them how important it was to speak with major donors about the possibility to leave a gift in their will.\u00a0 “Very important!” while everyone nodded. “Great, who of you does that?” Then it fell silent and from then on we talked about the barriers of not bringing this subject into conversations.<\/p>\n
The reasons are many:<\/p>\n
“I find it difficult, I don’t know how it works legally and am afraid I cannot answer correctly”<\/em><\/p>\n “I want to keep the relationship good, I secretly think this subject is ruining the atmosphere”<\/em><\/p>\n “I focus on an ask, am afraid that this will have a negative influence on my cultivation towards the ‘big’ ask”<\/em><\/p>\n In other words, there is quite a task for legacy fundraisers and managers to break down barriers to realize a proper integration. Because, how reasonable these arguments all sound, we are missing big opportunities if we don’t.<\/p>\n An average legacy to a charity is already around 40.000 euros.\u00a0 The average legacy of a major donor quickly runs into tons and sometimes even millions. Don’t forget that most of their future legacies are now into real estate, but also securities and investments. All have increased significantly in value in recent decades.<\/p>\n Interesting in this sense is the higher ratio of giving. Major donors are more likely to leave a gift in their will than regular donors and vice versa; legacy relations have a bigger chance of giving a (middle-)high donation. Almost everyone can leave a will, but not everyone can leave a big gift. On the other hand, the group of legacy-relations (pledgers, intenders, considerers) is often much larger than major donors. And because of their higher engagement, it is undoubtedly a logical fishpond to look at potential for giving larger during life. Win win. In both groups there is a ‘sweet spot’ that can be mutually enormously promising.<\/p>\n Therefore, take a good look at the overlap of the major donor profile versus the profile of a legacy relationship. Then, if you have not already done so, create personas from which you see similarities in needs, ideals and wishes. And from there, consider which program elements there are to merge or mutually reinforce from a synergetic perspective.<\/p>\n Below five tips of win-win opportunities:<\/p>\n 1. Events:<\/strong> It is an open door, but that doesn’t mean that everyone walks through it. In your intro-talk: Always state why we do what we do and say that this is only possible thanks to small gifts, larger gifts and legacies. Do not forget to conclude with an invitation to contact the relationship manager with any question whatsoever.<\/p>\nSo if you want to make a significant impact for your organization effectively and efficiently: this is the sweet spot to be!<\/h4>\n