Do you want to make your planned giving program the best it can be?

We do too. That's why we feature current successes our clients are achieving with the planned giving marketing strategies we've developed. We also feature our general planned giving marketing tips that have proven successful for our clients for over 30 years. Please contact us to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy for your organization to achieve maximum results with your gift programs.

• DePauw receives a wealth of information surveying readers of newsletter
  
  "During the final quarter of fiscal year 2006, we produced and mailed 14,500 surveys to the readers of Financial Planning Perspectives, the newsletter that Pentera produces. We received back just over 1,000 usable responses from identifiable alumni, for an overall response rate of about 7 percent. From the survey we learned:
  
  "134 respondents indicated that DePauw was included in their estate plans, and of that number, 42 told us of this good news for the first time. We will send thank-you letters from the National Gift Planning Chair to the 42 who self-identified for the first time that we are in their estate plan. These individuals also go on the list for a face-to-face visit to further test their interest.
  
  "282 respondents said that they might consider including DePauw in their estate plan. We modeled those respondents' survey answers to the key-indicator responses of the 134 who said DePauw was already in their estate plan. This analysis identified 252 'might consider' respondents whose profile statistically matched the responses of those who have already included DePauw University. We will attempt structured interviews with the 252 ' might consider' people, geared toward qualifying them as prospects, and to further pinpoint their areas of interest in supporting DePauw."
  
  —Stephen K. Gauly
  Director, Office of Gift Planning
  DePauw University

• Bequest newsletter gets results for YMCA
  
  Jane Hamilton, director of planned giving, YMCA of Greater Richmond, writes: "I am so thrilled! We have received 34 responses so far to the bequest newsletter [Keeping Your Assets Under Control]. We have never had such a positive response—this is our best response rate ever!"

• Coordinated Newsletter/Postcard/E-mail Strategy Reaps Benefits for Babson
  
  "Wanted you to know that the e-mail blast was sent today and quickly we received one person calling in to seek details about a deferred gift annuity for himself and wife at ages 66 and 62 when he withdraws from his IRA $100,000. It was an exciting moment for me and Sara and we wanted you to know. Thanks for your encouragement and help bringing this marketing piece together."
  
  —Peter J. Ticconi Jr.
  Senior Gift Planning Advisor
  Babson College Advancement
  
  
  

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  "Oh yeh! Got another call this morning…Sara and I have an appointment tomorrow morning in the donor’s office. Good stuff!"

• Pete Ticconi, Babson College
  
  " I am pleased to say that Babson College has had success learning about estate gift intentions from 23 alumni and friends with stated values at $2.8 million. This information resulted from our fall newsletter focusing on estate gift opportunities and a planned giving survey.
  
  "Our second newsletter focused on gift annuities, with five people asking for follow-up information with illustrations. When we used a second trailer 5 x 8 postcard, also focusing on gift annuities, one person was ready to make a gift based on our illustration provided.
  
  "Thanks to these mailings, one estate gift has been accounted for directly relating to the fall bequest mailing and a second alumnus has contacted me to arrange a seven-figure bequest for Babson.
  
  "Please let your colleagues know how grateful I am for their help with these three mailings."
  
  —Peter J. Ticconi Jr.
  Senior Gift Planning Advisor
  Babson College Advancement
  

• Familiarity with Life-Income Concept Results in More Gifts for San Diego Zoo
  
  The San Diego Zoo has enjoyed great success with its new gift annuity program. The first CGA was issued in March of 2005, and ten annuity agreements totaling over $750,000 were issued during the 2005 fiscal year. Two more gift annuities totaling $250,000 were issued in 2006, bringing the grand total—in less than a year—to over $1,000,000.
  
  "The success of our charitable gift annuity program to date has to be, in part, related to the fact that we have had a very successful pooled income fund for 20 years," says Pam Whitaker, gift planning manager for the zoo. "People were already used to the idea of making a gift that would produce income for them before we started our gift annuity program."
  
  Pam has noticed a trend in the amounts of the gift annuities: "We have heard that while the market for CGAs used to be more in the $10,000-$25,000 range, today there are more and more in the $100,000-$200,000 range."
  
  For instance, the bank that manages the zoo's gift annuity account brought zoo officials a $400,000 gift annuity and is working with them on a life-estate gift annuity with the same donor.

• Sam Samuels, Antioch New England Graduate School
  
  Sam Samuels, director of development, Antioch New England Graduate School, Keene, New Hampshire: "We had an interesting response to our first Pentera newsletter. Just two replies—but one of the 'call me' requests came from a 50-year-old whose wife was having open-heart surgery. They had no kids and realized they needed to get their estate plans in order. After the newsletter arrived, he decided to include us in his will. Unless this couple's situation drastically changes, the bequest will likely be $1 million or more—which would increase our endowment tenfold. Needless to say, we're very happy with Pentera. With this one gift, we've justified our investment several times over."

• Marv Kelley, Northfield Mount Hermon School
  
  Marv Kelley, senior gift planning advisor at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts: "We were extremely pleased with the response to our first newsletter with Pentera. From a mailing of 4,200, we received 39 inquiries seeking more information, through either the response booklet or our office. Through those contacts, we eventually received 12 gift annuities. Our Pentera newsletter has already proven itself a great investment."

• Ed Evert, St. Ignatius College Prep
  
  Ed Evert, relations/major gift officer, St. Ignatius College Prep: "The reaction to our Pentera newsletter featuring 'Caring For Your Parents and Yourself Through Charitable Planning' was very positive. Several people said it was the best newsletter we've ever put out. It's a hot topic; people sandwiched between kids and aging parents wonder how they're going to finance taking care of everyone. People were so enthusiastic that we scheduled two workshops on the subject."

• We have seen interest and activity pick up in the area of planned gifts this year...
  
  "We have seen interest and activity pick up in the area of planned gifts this year. From July 1 to December 31, 2005, 28 proposals totaling $2.2 million had been sent out. Many of the requests for proposals were responses to the planned giving newsletter that is sent out two times per year. Also, during the last six months, gifts for seven irrevocable contracts totaling $603,400 have been secured with other additional possible contracts close to being finalized."
  
  —Kimberly Tanner '90
  Associate Vice President for Institutional Advancement
  Earlham College

• Our Pentera Babson newsletter titled Capital Strategies...
  
  "Our Pentera Babson newsletter titled Capital Strategies... For Alumni and Friends from Babson College was mailed on the Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving along with a planned giving survey. Yesterday, we received our first four replies. While two of these were address adjustments, the two others made the mailing worth the effort, notifying us of estate gift plans of $500,000 and $100,000. This is good stuff on any account! I will keep you posted with a more complete breakdown of the survey."
  
  —Peter J. Ticconi Jr.
  Senior Gift Planning Advisor
  Babson College Advancement

• Promote the gift vehicle with a familiar face, and repeat, repeat, repeat.
  
  Dallas-based Southwestern Medical Foundation supports medical research, medical education, and patient care at UT Southwestern and its affiliated institutions. To market its fledgling gift annuity program, the foundation profiled its first annuitant, a professor emeritus at UT Southwestern, in a recent issue of its Planning Matters newsletter, produced by Pentera.
  
  "That helped put a face to the technique and type of gift," says Planned Giving Director Randy Daugherty. "Since she is a professor emeritus, a lot of people knew her and were interested in the story."
  
  On the heels of Planning Matters came a full-page story about gift annuities in the foundation's magazine, which is sent to a broader range of prospects. Since then, most of those who have inquired about setting up gift annuities said they got the idea from the newsletter or magazine article.
  
  Within a year of offering gift annuities for the first time, Southwestern Medical Foundation had received gift annuity assets totaling $11.3 million.
  
  "Repetition is key," Randy says. "You can't assume that people are seeing your information the first or second time you send it out. Send it out in a variety of formats, and frequently."

• Try alternate formats
  
  Summertime, and planned giving ain't easy. At least it isn't at Scott & White Memorial Hospital, where Planned Giving Director Glen Cosper says the months of June, July, and August are traditionally slow in terms of receiving gifts.
  
  "Usually in the summertime we're pretty dead," says Glen. "But the card worked great."
  
  "The card" was a 3.5" x 8.5" postcard prepared by Pentera that Scott & White sent out in the summer of 2003 to promote new gift annuity rates. Shortly after the mailing, the hospital closed four gifts and had several other proposals outstanding.
  
  The format was so successful that Scott & White did a postcard about the tax advantages of year-end gifts in late 2003 and another gift annuity postcard mailing in 2004, in addition to its regular newsletter mailings.

• IRA-PPA 2006 Success Stories using Pentera's strategies to get the word out—postcards and target mailers
  Congress enacted legislation as part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA 2006), which offers individuals the opportunity to make gifts from their IRAs and exclude the amount of their gifts from gross income.
  
  We created timely marketing materials to allow our clients to tell their constituents about this opportunity. Read about a few of their successes:
  
  University of Wisconsin Foundation received 73 gifts in 2006…
  
  
  • 73 gifts received in 2006, totaling $1,296,015
    
    
  • 4 gifts of $100,000 each (maximum allowable)
    
    
    
  DePauw University reports gifts flowing in daily, ranging from…
  
  
  • Gifts from $250-$20,000 flowing in one or two a day
    
    
  • $400,000 from just 4 gifts
    
    
  • 25 gifts in so far, totaling $823,000
    
    
    
  The Ohio State University has received 51 gifts to date…
  
  
  • 51 gifts received to date, totaling over $1,030,000
    
    
  • Gifts range from a couple hundred dollars to the maximum contribution permitted under the law
    
    
    
  "We believe a lot of our success with the charitable IRA rollover gifts is a direct result of the postcard created by Pentera, which we mailed early after the legislation was signed into law. Our donors have commented that the material in the postcard was very clear, concise, and most helpful. We are thrilled with the number of gifts we received as a result of this new giving incentive."
  
  
  Amherst College reports 7 gifts so far with many more in the works…
  
  
  • 7 gifts confirmed, totaling $267,000
  
  
  • 2 of the 7 were the maximum of $100,000, paying off pledges earlier than scheduled, which provides a good cash flow for Amherst
  
  
  Colorado State University has received over $400,000…
  
  
  • Over $400,000 received on IRA rollover gifts since mailing Pentera's postcard
  
  
  
  
  The window of opportunity for IRA gifts under PPA 2006 closes at the end of 2007. Do not miss this chance to inform your donors!
  
  Click to view our postcard and target mailers.

• Indianapolis Zoo relates, "Pentera's IRA-PPA 2006 materials elicited responses and contributions far greater than imagined"
  Thanks to the providence of Congress, the Indianapolis Zoo and several of its friends have benefited greatly from the Pension Protection Act of 2006. For those qualified individuals who were facing compulsory distributions from their IRA, PPA 2006 afforded a welcome avenue to redirect unneeded income toward philanthropic endeavors.
  
  Within days following the enactment of PPA 2006, Pentera offered the Zoo a variety of mediums to convey this news, including an outstanding topical postcard that the Zoo mailed to a select audience. Shortly thereafter, the Zoo received several telephone and e-mail inquiries from postcard recipients to obtain further information. Before the conclusion of last year, the Zoo received five IRA gifts totaling in excess of $100,000.
  
  Not only does the Indianapolis Zoo greatly appreciate its generous and caring donors, it is also extremely grateful for the friendly and professional services provided by Pentera. It was enlightening to learn that each IRA donor was contributing his/her IRA gift in response to the Zoo's postcard and subsequent planned giving newsletter, which is also produced by Pentera.
  
  The Indianapolis Zoo is excited to collaborate with Pentera again in 2007 to plan further opportunities to share this valuable message.
  
  Respectfully,
  
  J. Edward Sandifer
  Planned & Major Gifts Officer
  
  The San Diego Zoo has enjoyed great success with its new gift annuity program. The first CGA was issued in March of 2005, and ten annuity agreements totaling over $750,000 were issued during the 2005 fiscal year. Two more gift annuities totaling $250,000 were issued in 2006, bringing the grand total—in less than a year—to over $1,000,000.
  
  "The success of our charitable gift annuity program to date has to be, in part, related to the fact that we have had a very successful pooled income fund for 20 years," says Pam Whitaker, gift planning manager for the zoo. "People were already used to the idea of making a gift that would produce income for them before we started our gift annuity program."
  
  Pam has noticed a trend in the amounts of the gift annuities: "We have heard that while the market for CGAs used to be more in the $10,000-$25,000 range, today there are more and more in the $100,000-$200,000 range."
  
  For instance, the bank that manages the zoo's gift annuity account brought zoo officials a $400,000 gift annuity and is working with them on a life-estate gift annuity with the same donor.