Faircom New York is an expert at developing planned-giving programs as an important part of every client's long-range fundraising efforts. In today's giving environment, the old way of generating planned gifts is no longer sufficient. Putting a reminder on the reply card a few times a year or sending out a single mailing per year to donors is not enough to establish a sustainable legacy program.

The transfer of wealth requires that non-profits take more steps to make their donors aware of their giving options. Organizations need to establish an ongoing dialogue telling donors about creative giving strategies that can enhance their family's well-being and help advance the organization's mission.

The most efficient and effective way of keeping your donors informed of their giving options is by integrating that communication with an existing direct mail strategy. Oftentimes the only additional cost is the printing of the planned giving material itself. For example, Faircom New York created a planned giving brochure for our client, Montefiore Medical Center (see brochure on right) to include in their thank-you letters, which serves as a soft direct-mail approach. This brochure uses an integrated reply device that gives donors the most convenient way possible to express their interest in planned giving.

A planned giving newsletter, like the one Faircom New York did for Human Rights Watch, complements a brochure and provides a larger format to communicate about all the different vehicles for making a bequest. An effective strategy in the newsletter is to include a compelling donor story that pays tribute to the gift and creates an opportunity to further the relationship with the family.

Organizations need to diversify the planned giving message so you can effectively reach a wide range of potential benefactors. In addition to a brochure and newsletter serving as an anchor point for your planned giving campaign, a postcard is a cost effective way to continue the planned giving dialogue while diversifying the creative message in a simple but mindful way. The postcard we developed for IPPF is a key part in their planned giving communication and immeasurably improves the increase in bequests as well as general donations.