Claudine A. Donikian, JD, MBA (bio) (speaking engagements)

Take advantage of the expertise of vice president Claudine A. Donikian, JD, MBA.

We invite you to submit a question, or call Claudine directly at
(317) 875-0910, ext. 300.

Below is a sampling of some of the questions Claudine has answered for our clients.

• What are some tips for driving traffic to my planned-giving Web site?
  

  Your planned-giving Web site is likely becoming an increasingly important resource for communicating your message to potential donors. To drive more traffic to your site, try the suggestions listed below. Remember though that the ultimate goal is to get the potential donor to contact you directly via the Web or otherwise. A Web site’s main function is to serve as a place to do research, which donors of all ages will do before making a gift. Another function is the ability to monitor increases in traffic to your site after a mail campaign, a metric for the success of your marketing efforts.
  
  1. Include an article on the Life-Stage Gift Planner™ in your next planned giving newsletter. Write your own, or ask your Pentera account executive for help.
  
  2. Add the URL of your planned-giving Web site to your e-mail signature.
  
  3. Encourage people to visit your site by giving the URL on your voice mail recording. For example, when people call to leave you a message, they could hear you say, “Please leave your name and number; and also don’t forget to visit our new planned giving Web site to learn about ways you can leave your legacy, at [your URL].”
  
  4. Send a postcard announcing your new site. For added impact and interest, consider featuring the monthly article or the Life-Stage Gift Planner™. This gives potential donors something specific to investigate, unlike a simple, generic invitation.

• What are the best months to mail?
  

  It’s a common misconception to think certain months are either better or worse for mailing. Direct marketing success is based on four factors: list, offer, creative, and seasonality. While there is a positive correlation between an increase in response during months that have less daylight, it is still wise not to write off mailing in months with longer days (summer), especially if the “seasonality” of an offer calls for it.
  
  For instance, if you were a company selling school supplies for children, you would mail in the back-to-school months, July and August. Similarly, most people mailed donors about the gift annuity rate drop that went into effect on July 1 of 2008 right after they heard about it—in late April to early June.
  
  So, just as the school supply company wouldn’t do a back-to-school campaign in February, a planned giving department wouldn’t do a mailing on Tax-Time Checkup in November or Year-End Giving in January.

• What are the best ways to reach your marketing goals of building awareness, educating potential donors, and ultimately getting a response in the form of increased traffic to your planned giving site?
  

  First, market your Web site consistently and frequently in your print materials and include multiple effective calls to action directing readers to visit your planned giving Web site. You will most probably see spikes in your Web site traffic after mailings. Contact Pentera to find out about some new strategies to use in your next print newsletter to drive readers to your site.
  
  Second, incorporate a 100 percent custom eNewsletter into your marketing mix and you’ll be able to see which individuals are opening your e-mails and clicking through to your planned gift Web site. This level of interest is a very effective way to know whom to move from “just on my mailing-list category” to “prime planned-gift prospect.” As you can see, Web site traffic is an excellent metric for monitoring the results of your planned-giving marketing.

• When is it advisable to use reverse type (white type on top of a dark background or image) in a publication?
  

  It is generally advisable to restrict the use of reverse type to headlines, titles, or similarly large and/or brief instances of copy, such as in the table below.
  
  Use of reverse type in body copy or, similarly, large instances of copy, causes a dramatic loss of reading comprehension, resulting in a diminished response rate.
  
  

  Comprehension Level: Reverse Type for Body Copy

  	Good	Fair	Poor
  Black on white	70%	19%	11%
  White on black	0%	12%	88%
  White on deep purple	2%	16%	82%
  White on French blue	0%	4%	96%