Planned Giving: Unlocking the Full Strength of Planned Gifts with an Active Approach
Case Study: BC SPCA
BACKGROUND:
The BC SCPA Gift Planning portfolio brings in revenue of $8-14 million each year. Capacity has not allowed for the active acquisition of new expectants. BC SPCA intended to launch a campaign to identify potential and actual planned gifts amongst their existing donor base and look to an external agency for assistance. Only 17.6% of received legacies had been previously identified.
The vision for the gift planning expectant identification campaign is that it moves away from a more traditional approach to legacy marketing to incorporate significant donor centered learnings from direct response campaigns.
The BC SPCA had potential to significantly grow its Gift Planning portfolio but was limited by staff capacity from engaging in active identification of existing and new expectants.
Their passive expectant identification included tick box options on direct mail pieces, a website presence, limited advertising in publications including Leave a Legacy supplements, Canadian Donor’s Guide, the Scrivener, and features in BC SPCA electronic and print publications.
BC SPCA chose to partner with Artsmarketing Services to provide direction and conduct donor base analysis to prioritize strong prospects for expectant identification and to use a combination of direct mail and telephone to reach out to many great supporters of BC SPCA to ask for an Estate Gift.
PARTNERSHIP OVERVIEW
AMS began its partnership with BCSPCA in 2018 conducting a Legacy Builder™ Campaign. The first campaign consisted of 3 major areas; Data Mining, Development, and Design, and Expectant Identification. Because BC SPCA has such a large pool of donors ready to be asked for a planned gift, AMS decided to utilize a mail-only campaign consisting of 12,000 pieces as well as an integrated mail and phone campaign consisting of 3,000 households. Based on the success of the inaugural campaign, BC SPCA incorporated the bequest identification program as an annual activity since our first campaign to further expand their planned giving portfolio.
In 2019, we conducted a second Legacy Builder™ campaign. Using the data mining, development and design, and the results of learning from 2018, we identified an additional 3,000 donors for an integrated mail and phone campaign.
In September of 2020, we launched our 3rd campaign with 5,800 donors of which approximately 600 households are Stewardship calls to legacy prospects from the first two campaigns that have not yet identified their bequest.
DATA MINING:
AMS applied the RFM distribution of BC SPCA donors against the AMS Metadata files of some 60,000 + recent planned giving outreach projects to select not only those most likely to make a planned gift, but to do so with an enhanced response profile for maximum return on investment.
RFM stands for three dimensions:
Recency – How recently did the donor give?
Frequency – How often does the donor give?
Monetary Value – How much do they donate?
DEVELOPMENT & DESIGN:
With the intent of launching an internal gift planning expectant identification campaign, BC SPCA developed a Forever Guardian brand and logo, video and donor survey. AMS incorporated the Forever Guardian brand into the design of direct mail pieces that include a letter, brochure, post card, and envelope.
Our creative director worked collaboratively with BC SPCA to hone the message and identify a case for support for the telephone script along with fulfillment and stewardship pieces.
EXPECTANT IDENTIFICATION: LEGACY BUILDER™ OUTCOMES
In 2018, the campaign included 12,000 direct mail households resulting in 96 positive responses, a 0.8% response rate. In subsequent years, it was determined that resources were better allocated to a more targeted and integrated direct mail and phone campaign.
In 2018 we exceeded overall projections by 215% and identified a combined total of 773 Bequest Commitments and Considerations. Of the 773 identified, 568 were brand new Bequest Considerations.
In 2019 we met overall projections and identified another 140 Bequest Commitments exceeding projections by almost 100%.
In 2020, we launched the campaign in September. To date, we are on target to exceed expectations and have already identified another 360 Bequest Commitments and Considerations mid-way through the campaign.
Overall, the potential return on investment for all 3 campaigns to date is over $80 Million Dollars.
SUMMARY
The BC SPCA LEGACY BUILDER™ campaigns have exceeded Bequest Commitment expectations by 336%. Over the course of our 3-year ongoing partnership, we have been able to unlock the full strength of BC SPCA’s planned gift potential that direct mail alone was unable to do.
ABOUT BC SPCA
The mission of the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA) is to protect and enhance the quality of life for domestic, farm and wild animals in British Columbia. The BC SPCA is the only animal welfare organization in B.C. with the authority to enforce animal cruelty laws under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA Act). The BC SPCA is the largest animal welfare organization of its kind in North America and the largest animal sheltering society in the world. Click here to learn more about the BC SPCA.