I am reading a wonderful book titled, How to Raise Planned Gifts by Mail. It is by Larry Stelter, an experienced planned-giving consultant and CEO of The Stelter Company. The book is part of the "Mercifully Brief, Real World Guide" series by publishers Emerson & Church (2008).
I love this series of books because they are short, readable in one sitting, and they focus on real-world solutions to the real problems experienced by nonprofit professionals.
Never Underestimate a Woman
I was struck particularly by the chapter in this book about women donors. Here are some facts about women that Stelter points out:
- Single women are more likely than single men to make a philanthropic gift.
- Married men are more likely to give and to make larger gifts than single men...suggesting that women influence their husbands when it comes to giving.
- Women who participate in donor education programs are more likely to give larger gifts, to give unrestricted gifts, to develop long-term giving plans, and to hold leadership positions on nonprofit boards.
- Single women make up a big portion of donors age 65 and above. More than 75 percent of women aged 85 are widowed.
The primary strategy that Stelter suggests for marketing to this key group of donors (from knowledge gained through focus groups) is to produce materials that closely mirror how women view themselves...in age, physical appearance, financial status, interests, and values.
Focus on Focus Groups
In other words, segment your mailings so that you can match the self-images of your women donors. Stelter suggests that you pull together a group of women who represent the audience you are trying to reach, and ask them what they would most like to see in your planned giving mailings. Provide lots of examples to show the group, including newsletters, postcards, and brochures. What types of pictures appeal to them? Which design styles do they find most attractive? What turns them off?
Stelter warns that you must set aside any preconceived ideas about what this audience requires. Instead, listen carefully to their preferences and to the specific language they use. He cites one example where a woman said, "I'm not rich. I want to feel like my gift, no matter how small, can make a difference." Stelter used that phrase in a newsletter later.
Another example that Stelter provides is how one development officer divided her mailing list into two groups. One list consisted of single women donors age 45 and older; and the second included all other donors, male and female, age 50 and older.
The women-only list received a special gift planning newsletter. The other group received a traditional, gender-neutral newsletter. After sending the newsletters three times, the woman-oriented one pulled seven to eight times more leads than the gender-neutral one.
Probably very few nonprofits follow a segmentation model such as this, but it could pay off with happier women supporters and more donations.
Stelter's book is full of such examples and case studies. In addition, he includes many images of real fundraising materials where he points out the bad and good aspects of design, copy, and orientation.
How to Raise Planned Gifts by Mail should take a place on your bookshelf right next to the other "Real World Guides" from Emerson and Church.
