Tag Archives: philanthropy

Avoid Planned Giving Schemes

Avoid courtesy of Thomas Hawk on Flickr.
This is related to my post two weeks ago, “It’s Planned Giving, Not Product Giving.” I said some financial product salespeople don’t have your program’s best interests at heart when they offer to “help.”

Occasionally, those offering specious help come bearing innovative, cutting-edge programs. Most of the ones I’ve seen have life insurance at their core.

Their hallmark is a paper or slide with a score of arrows connecting six or eight boxes. There’s a box for the donor and one each for your charity, the life insurance policy, the trust that owns the policy, the trustees of the trust and the AAA-rated company selling the policy. Arrows are shooting in and out of boxes and around corners.

They’re always convoluted. I ask three times how the programs work, and I can’t regurgitate the explanations 30 minutes later.

A lot of times the plans’ advocates aren’t salespeople, but well-meaning board members or committed donors.

I’ve been in Planned Giving since 1997, as a program director and consultant. I’ve never passed on one of these as something to offer donors. They might be appropriate for huge charities with highly mature programs, though I’m skeptical.

How do you protect your charity and your donors–without sounding ungracious–when offered what I’m describing? Ask two questions.

  1. What other nonprofits are executing the program?
  2. Is there a private letter ruling from the IRS?

I confidently predict the answers you’ll hear.

  1. A and B are looking at it.” – That’s meaningless. You’re looking at it too. In their next pitch meeting, you’ll be “C.”
  2. No” – Without IRS’s imprimatur, I recommend you pass on the ground-breaking innovation.

I don’t feel like a curmudgeon, though you may think I sound like one. In 15 years I’ve seen a lot of bad practices seeking refuge under the Planned Giving umbrella.

Protect your charity from dubious ideas that don’t add value for donors.

My Three Month Prediction

Wilmington Trust quoted me in its Quarterly Trends Update about the state of Planned Giving fundraising. You can find it in the, “Planned Giving is Still an Important Fundraising Option” section on page two.

I’m comfortable making three month predictions. Come August, a wiser and more august prognosticator will take my place and readers will have forgotten my forecast. That feels safe.

Nonprofit Radio, May 4, 2012: Survey Savvy & Content Marketing

Big Nonprofit Ideas for the Other 95%

Listen live or archive:

My Guests:

Paul Gearan
Paul Gearan: Survey Savvy

Paul Gearan, a partner at Professional Survey Group, explains how surveys are cultivation tools for your donors. You can increase awareness of your work; gauge willingness to support; heighten sensitivity to challenges; and get feedback on how you’re doing. But you have to do it right if you want reliable results.

Please take a moment to take the survey for this week’s discussion with Paul. You’ll find it here at the end of the guest and segment descriptions. Thank you! If you could also share it with other nonprofit professionals, I would appreciate it.

Scott Koegler
Scott Koegler: Content Marketing

Scott Koegler is our long-standing technology contributor and the editor of Nonprofit Technology News. This month he encourages you to give away high quality, interesting content through your blog. You are blogging, right?

 
 
 
 


Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

Here is a link to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CXHJPHR


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No. Welcome to tony martignetti non-profit radio for may fourth twenty twelve big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent i’m your aptly named host i do hope you were with me last week, i couldn’t stand knowing that you had missed, get monthly givers and strategic organizations, raised more money, get monthly givers was bob wesolowski the president of caring habits, and he helped us get habitual monthly donors through electronic funds transfer. A lot of people know that as ft that was pre recorded, a tte philanthropy day two thousand eleven and strategic organizations raised more money. My guest was starita ansari, president and chief change officer at msb philanthropy advisors. She encouraged you to organize thoughtfully around your mission, looking strategically at your inputs, outputs and outcomes to boost your fund-raising revenue that was also pre recorded at philanthropy day last year. This week, survey savvy paul gear in a partner at professional survey group explains how surveys are cultivation tools for your donors. You can increase awareness of your work gage, willingness to support it, heightened sensitivity to challenges and get feedback on how you’re doing. But you have to do it right if you want. Reliable results and content marketing. Scott koegler is our long standing technology contributor, he’s, the editor of non-profit technology news, and this month he encourages you to give away high quality, interesting content through your blogged you are blogging, aren’t you between the guests, tony’s take to philanthropy jargon, do you speak and write in terms that people can understand? You can use hashtag non-profit radio to join the conversation with us on twitter were also on linked in i’ll say more about that later on, tony’s metoo right now we take a break, and when we return, i’ll be joined by paul gearan for survey savvy. Stay with me. Yeah, you’re listening to the talking alternative network. No. Are you suffering from aches and pains? Has traditional medicine let you down? Are you tired of taking toxic medications, then come to the double diamond wellness center and learn how our natural methods can help you, too? He’ll call us now at to one to seven to one eight, one eight, three that’s two one two, seven to one eight, one eight, three or find us on the web at www dot double diamond wellness dot com way. Look forward to serving you. Is your marriage in trouble? Are you considering divorce? Hello, i’m lawrence bloom, a family law attorney in new york and new jersey. No one is happier than the day their divorce is final. My firm can help you. We take the nasty out of the divorce process and make people happy. Police call a set to one, two, nine six four three five zero two for a free consultation. That’s a lawrence h bloom two, one, two, nine, six, four, three, five zero two. We make people happy. Hey, all you crazy listeners looking to boost your business? Why not advertise on talking alternative with very reasonable rates? Interested simply email at info at talking alternative dot com dahna durney welcome back with me now is paul gearan. He is a partner in the professional survey group. He has extensive experience in survey design, online surveying market research and social science research. His career has been focused around research and data analysis for the past twenty years, and i’m very pleased that his practice brings him to the show. Paul garin, welcome. Thanks, tony. Thanks for having me. It’s. A pleasure to have you how useful are surveys for small and midsize charities? You know, i think for a lot of organizations, they really provide some core informations that oftentimes people within organizations kind of our internal debates about and there’s not always great clarity with what some of assumptions are being made. And i think research with particularly donors and stakeholders, but also uses of charitable charitable services give you a lot more specific. Clary on whether your fulfilling the elements cia mission that are most critical to you and most critical tier donors. So i think in that regard, you know, this becomes critical information not only to kind of get a sense of an evaluation on how you doing now, but also if you’re involved in long. Range planning and trying to look toward the future of how you should evolve on dh. Part of what you said is you could resolve some internal differences about the way things might be going or the way things should go. So maybe some of those internal arguments can be resolved this way. Yeah. I mean, i think that’s one thing that, you know, it’s funny, because when you work with people who say what we know all this we know we know we know exactly, you know how people feel about us or you know how we’re doing, and we know what our strengths and weaknesses are, and then you start to talk to different people in the organization. You find out very different assumptions with many people. So part of part of the problem might be unwillingness toe do the survey because then you have reliable information and your opinion might end up being the wrong one. Yeah, and that becomes a challenge for us is outside consultants and how to be able to do the research that they get away that’s not biasing any particular perspective and be able to present it in a way that people understand and take, you know, internalize that taking an understanding and continue to to think about things because we were we don’t have an agenda, we want to get to what what reality is and i think that’s one benefit of sometimes of having another group that’s outside your own organization do the research because you don’t have a kind of bias voice, right? That objectivity just you have to be willing to recognize that your side of the argument might be the loser exactly and, you know, like with everything we try, destruction is not, you know, presented that there’s winners and losers, but there are certainly times when you come down on a certain side and things are unambiguous when you, when you survey people and, you know, eighty percent say they don’t they don’t think you’re doing a very good job of this particular element of of your portfolio of services that you know, that that’s meaningful, that that’s pretty undebatable and one of the survey questions that we ask and i want to thank you for designing our first professional survey. Thank you very much. It’s usually it’s usually the hack job that i do, thank you thank you for for lending your services to the to the survey before the show, and one of the questions we asked is how satisfied are your key donors and stakeholders with the performance of your organization? Currently and three, two thirds said either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied. But then roughly one third, about twenty nine percent said i’m not sure, so they’re not there there’s some uncertainty there about what their donors and stakeholders think about how they’re doing. Yeah, and i think that’s, you know, that’s where we you know, where we come down in terms of how important this is, if, you know, a third of people really don’t have a good sense of that, you know, how do you move forward and know that the measures you’re taking the programs you’re supporting, the way you’re administering it all the way you’re going out and trying to get external support for our right and are going to be solid going forward? It’s certainly difficult to know if you don’t have some kind of reed and even the kind of very, very southside, somewhat satisfied, you know, that kind of comparison, although i think when you just research you find most people are somewhat or very satisfied, but, you know, is the bigger bucket very satisfied? Because those are the passionate people, supporters, those of the people that, you know, i really going to stand by you in the long term, somewhat somewhat satisfied, you know, they’re going to be the kind of people that i got more loosely affiliated affiliate in terms of long term, long term support. So you know, those those ki kind of things we bring to the table and be able to kind of say, you know, hey, yeah, eighty percent of your people your donors or somewhat are very satisfied, but, you know, only thirty percent of very satisfied and that you want to see flip, you want more people that kind of passionate what’s called top box, okay, right, i got you so yeah, so so don’t be so satisfied with somewhat satisfied, exactly what’s outside it is you’re doing fine, but in a world where, you know, people have a variety of different ways where they could distribute this support and all, i’m sure deserving causes, you know, being in a somewhat satisfied bucket doesn’t really distinguish you. Got, you’re ok, and in our survey was about forty three percent were eyes felt that their donorsearch stakeholders were very satisfied, there’s about twenty nine percent somewhat satisfied we have just about a minute before break, you can also be surveying people outside your donors and stakeholders, right? Amore amore, broader audience, maybe just your community? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, i think, whether it be local community, if you can, a local organization or we’ve done work for international organizations that we’ve done national studies forward to get kind of general population awareness. So for example, if you’re, you know, organizations say your aa group focused to its animal protection there’s a lot of those kind of groups out there, you know, where do you fall in terms of visibility compared to those other organizations? And what could you do to perhaps increase that? Where do you need to? Kind of kind of do your messaging? You know, what were the vehicles for communication and also one of the important messages that you need to get out there you can connect with? Ah, wider population. That may be more supportive of your group when there’s other competition. Come on. I hate to say competition, but not-for-profits. But obviously there’s people in the same space, all doing great work and believing in the organizations you know, that want support. We’ll take a break. Paul. Paul here is going to stay with us. We’re going to continue talking about surveys and survey savviness, so stay with us. Co-branding think dick tooting getting depicting you’re listening to the talking alternate network, get in. Nothing. Good. Are you stuck in your business or career, trying to take your business to the next level, and it keeps hitting a wall? This is sam liebowitz, the conscious consultant. I will help you get to the root cause of your abundance issues and help move you forward in your life. Call me now and let’s. Create the future you dream of. Two, one, two, seven, two, one, eight, one, eight, three, that’s to one to seven to one, eight one eight three. The conscious consultant helping hunters. People be better business people. Hi, this is psychic medium. Betsy cohen, host of the show. The power of intuition. Join me at talking alternative that come mondays at eleven a. M call in for a free psychic reading learned how to tune into your intuition to feel better and to create your optimum life. I’m here to guide you and to assist you in creating life that you deserve. Listen. Every monday at eleven a, m on talking alternative dot com. Are you feeling overwhelmed in the current chaos of our changing times? A deeper understanding of authentic astrology can uncover solutions in every area of life. After all, metaphysics is just quantum physics, politically expressed, i and montgomery taylor and i offer lectures, seminars and private consultations. For more information, contact me at monte m o nt y at r l j media. Dot com talking alternative radio twenty four hours a day. I’m leslie goldman with the us fund for unicef, and i’m casey rotter with us fun for unison. You’re listening to tony martignetti non-profit radio big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent. Welcome back to tony martignetti non-profit radio. The ladies said it for me, so i don’t have to say big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent. Paul, we were just talking about maybe surveying beyond your immediate donors and other stakeholders. But when you, when you do survey dahna people who are committed to you, it sounds like i mean, there could be some value around helping you to focus your mission in your core. Yeah. No, i think when you, when you talk about people that are closest to you, there’d be a core donors or donors in general or other stakeholders like, you know, people in the legislator that might legislative that might be supportive of you. You know, other advocates in the area that the different kinds of stakeholders beyond just a donor base, too. Yeah, but i think that’s where, you know, you really get a sense of people that know you well that care about the cause that are a little bit more discerning. And even the research you might be able to split those people out to where your core people, who were the people that know you best and who are kind of people providing regular donations cubine may not be tracking his services in consul here’s the core people were, and i’ve done that kind of research before. We’ve is it? Okay, here’s, the stakeholders that really know you well, what do they think of you? What does the kind of broader base of support think ofyou and kind of look at that? But i think that’s where you really get are we on our mission? Are we feeling the promises that we were making to the community that we’re serving into the people that supported think that if if they don’t, then you’re in real trouble? So if you find out that you they think you’re kind of falling short on a couple critical pieces of your mission, well, it’s, time to reflect and see is that a statement of messaging in information? Or is it truly a deficit in the services you’re providing? This could also be valuable in doing strategic planning. I mean that’s basically everything you’re saying could could contribute to a strategic planning process. Absolutely, because i mean that that’s the element we’re dahna only checking on how you’ve been doing, but what are the existing are you keeping up taste with the existing needs of the community, the population just serving so you may have done a very good job continue to do the job in your basic mission, but are there new challenges in us space that air coming up that maybe you’re not keeping apace with fast enough that, you know, for five years down the road, you that’s going to be the critical area that they would like you to see serving? So, you know, it’s a matter of how we doing now, but, you know, looking forward, one of the critical issues moving forward that maybe, you know, obviously you just think about the last he isn’t changing economic landscape suddenly the needs of people and in the nation at large, in the world at large have changed quite a bit, so you can imagine tryingto strategic plan five years ago when everybody the economy was hail and going full steam and and how that changed so dramatically and how you might need to change your kind of perspective and outlook long term as an organization, if you’re gonna serve people that now might be having additional challenges that didn’t. Exist a few years ago. What about just surveying aboard? I mean, could you use this as a way to anonymously gather opinions of just your board members? Absolutely, you know, always tricky because, ah, few key comments on they reveal their name, but that’s kind of one thing that again sometimes using outside organizations helpful because we can kind of get that and not only kind of, you know, clean the data such that, you know, we present things back to people so we can be sure indemnity, but also kind of educate, like, how do you use this information? But absolutely, we’ve done that kind ofthing, not boards employee research is are the people in your organization believing that you are on on on the beam with what your mission is with what your services? And sometimes we done both rose, since we’ll survey kind of outside populations donor, and then inside populations are those consistent, you know, people seeing problems that the outside world is seeing that are a sign of future issues are going to struggle with or vice versa, you know, you guys think, you know, internally, we think we’re doing great, but externally there’s a gap there, and perception and let’s talk a little more fund-raising too, you could use this tio test some different fund-raising messages, couldn’t you? What resonates best with donors protection? Actually, you know, one of the key kind of components in determining your messaging and fund-raising whether you’d be even if you think kind of educational institutions, colleges, secondary school, things like that. Um, do you kind of lead in your messaging with what makes you distinctive and unique, or do plead with the messaging that will have a broader appeal to a wider audience in the example sometimes uses, imagine that you’re either an all women’s college or a college with a long a particular religious tradition. And are you trying to kind of narrowly focus on people who value those things above all else, or you trying to kind of go out to a broader population and get a bigger, more diverse set of people in your in your school with which those lead messages might not be the most buy-in including and appalled, but how can a survey be used specifically in that example, then? Well, you can do is you can put out a variety. Of different messages and test the desire ability so say we describe a certain organization in certain with certain keywords and messages. He’s, how desirable would be that organization terms of you supporting in donating money for that organization? Then you have on the group of messages which both of which may be true about this organization again if it’s done anonymously and people don’t know the organization’s even more helpful than that. So i’m thinking, okay, so if you don’t know, the organization has done kind of blind like that, you know, to what degree and that’s kind of more talk more general population study, uh, how desirable these other set of descriptors? And then you get an idea about for my example for you, you’ll find out, is that the quality of faculty and staff and teachers and ability to develop your own individual kind of curriculum and and, you know, looking at the social and personal development that person will be the things that test out best and things about a particular religious affiliation although may not test our poorly aren’t going to be the core values of the wide group of people you can use those secondary messages to say because we have this tradition, we are unique position, so so then you can even use surveying toe helpyou sequence is your messages exactly, and so that’s what we’ve done, that exact thing with the you know, imagine the front page of your website or the front page of your of of of your kind of guide book, or whatever written materials you produce being those upfront primary messes, and then you think about what the secondary and we’re the tertiary ones because you don’t want to run from your uniqueness, either. I think it’s important to feel like you have unique ways to contribute, but you need to tie them into the core values of the population just serving, or the people that made support you in order to truly make a connection with a wide audience if you want to get to a very narrow base, well, that’s a different story, but for the most part, people are trying to exit chadband their scope and expand their flexibility in terms of either who they serve or who supports them just going back. Teo mission focus. One of the questions you asked in the survey was, how confident are you that your donors or other stakeholders are clear about your mission on dh? Everybody said either completely confident or moderately confident, but teo related to the point that you made earlier. How does brooke break out the first and second, only about a third were completely confident in two thirds were just moderately confident that people who know the organization are clear about what the organization does, right, and that’s and that’s, you know, going a key difference. We’ve done the research study for, you know, a local organization in new england that was doing prodding a variety of different services to local community, including, um, shelter and providing food services, heating and utility helped and things like that and, you know, they were kind of known for two key things, and they had a suite of fourteen of fifteen services that they were really proud of and and felt like that gave them a unique kind of very wide based impact on the community, but when you surveyed their donors, they were known for a couple key things and, you know, i think they want to feel like they had a much broader on. Understanding among the people that are supporting them and their stakeholders of what they really do. All right, paul guerin is a partner at professional survey group. You’ll find their sight at professional survey group dot com and we’re talking about survey savvy let’s talk a little about some of the nuts and bolts. What? What are the variables that go into determining how to do your survey? Well, you know, i think this, you know, there’s three major kind of modalities actually collected information that’s phone based research, online research and paper surveys come in person interviewing as well, but paper serving as kind of died out a little bit, but phone and online being the biggest and online, certainly in the last decade, really taking course. So one of the kind of determines is, well, how can we get to our population? Do, for example, do we have pretty good e mail, pop penetration or accessibility so that we could do something online? Do we not? Then we’re going to have to do a phone based survey will i’m sure phone his phone is quite a bit more expensive exactly that, you know, we do a lot of online, because, again, we’re trying to build on south getting, you know, a broad base of information for people with costs issues, and one thing i do kind of tell in organizations is there’s there’s a difference between sophie was well, if we go out to online that’ll bias up sample because the only people that are online a lot, our people check their email. Well, that may be true, but what are we trying to achieve here? You know, we can actually do this study for, you know, a fifth of the cost if we go online and are you really going to get that different information? Are you trying to pinpoint whether a certain question is seventy percent of seventy five percent or you’re really just trying to understand that here, the things people think we’re doing well, what is the kind of top bucket of things here’s? The things we’re not doing so well on the actual specificity of the data is not particularly critical in terms of well, yeah, maybe it’s a little bit biased in one way or another, but you can actually pull off the research financially by using your online they upleaf except with were also in that example. Isn’t it relevant whether the email using the active email using population is going tio have some some bias toward the objectives of the survey? I mean, does it really matter that a lot of people check the email? Eso they’re going to be the ones who will have a greater propensity to answers that really matter to the purposes of your survey and your charitable work and that’s kind of one of the first things we talk about with you, let’s, let’s talk through the ratification. So if i find out, for example, a group says, you know, we have about fifty percent emails, i said, well, who do you have e mails? Well, it’s, mostly people, you know, younger, ok? So then age could be a legitimate buy-in factor. And so then i said, well, you know, given that, you know, if we look at your donor and then the actual kind of looked at the percentage of monetary support you’re getting, you find out that eighty percent of the forty and over well, we’re not going to want to exclude them from the study in that particular case, it’s worth saying okay, maybe we do a mixed methodology of phone and online. Or maybe we do phone it’s worth that. So there’s certainly a circumstances where i would say, you know, in this particular circumstance is biased and there i was i would say, you know what? For what you want to know, it’s. Fine to get read elearning online population that’s that’s. Okay, what’s the i gotta move on a little bit. Paul what’s the reliability across you mentioned phone, email and and paper surveys are they do they vary in terms of reliability. They vary in terms of kind of, i think what i found actually study on several years ago in a previous lifetime, but that phone research people tend to be, well, one thing briefer because you in-kind getting getting them stirring the phone researches it’s more active and you’re actually pursuing people to prove spade in the research. The downside that is that sometime you’re catching people that’s a very narrow window, which is kind of catch them on the phone and do this as on online or paper, they could do it at their own leisure. So sometimes you get very truncated responses, particularly if you asking kind of open ended items about that require commentary? We’ve also found that people tend to be nicer on the phone, so if they’re rating you on a scale of one to five it’s harder to say something bad, it’s harder to be a negative on the phone. Yeah, so not that it doesn’t happen, but you tend to see the scores being slightly higher on the phone, an online or paper where you don’t have that what’s called a demand characteristic, you know, social expectation of being nice, okay, so that that’s a big difference i’ve seen between phone versus the other two methodologies is this is this something? And we have just, like three minutes or so before before we have to end all this talk about serving, but is it is it something that charity khun i could do on their own? If we’re going to a short survey, can they can they do this and be successful? You know, you know i at they can, you know, i think there’s always caveats about making sure that you have, you know you’re asking questions in the right way you’re not biasing your questions in a way they’re going to get you information. That is what you want to hear and not necessary. What these actuality but there are tools out there like surveymonkey and bloomerang that are going online. Survey tools that are relatively easy to use if you just have a short survey it’s not that complicated you want to get a bunch of yes, no questions or some commentary you khun go use those those were relatively inexpensive. Certainly this free virgins of them. But even the kind of pay versions they are very, very inexpensive her month way you surveymonkey for the for the show’s a sze yu know exactly. You know that, you know? And for a lot of needs, they can solve them. You know, if you want to get a quick read on you can pop out a survey monkey auras bloomerang survey tia population. You could certainly do that yourself. They’re fairly easy tools, tio. Okay, but then if you’re going deeper like this is part of a strategic planning process or you’re not sure about the mission focus that you should be you should be engaged in for the next over the next five years. I mean that is more detailed, and you want to probably have someone professional helping, so you’re eliminating biasi? Yeah, i think if you’re going to get into that depth and really talking about shaping the way your organization is currently are going to operate in the future, then you need to really we’ll get somebody to kind of look atyou survey and like what we do with lot of they will say, hey, what what role do you want us to play here and what you know? And we could do that with what, what? But you have? And at minimum, let’s, look over your survey and say, well, you know, that question isn’t going to get what you want, it’s going toe it’s going toe secure the issue more than going to clarify all i have to stop because we have just a minute and i want i want to talk about getting feedback, is it? Is it wise to share survey results or to tell people that you’ll share the your your findings with them like everything it’s, context dependent, i bias towards sharing? Yes on i think thinking on how you’re going to do that because i think especially when you’re you’re serving people close to you, either your own employees or donors. They’re gonna have an extra day. Shinhwa what happened with this information? What did you do with it? What did you find? And what is he going to be? Action. So i’m very biased whenever is appropriate. Find a way to share the information. The main information, the survey, maybe you don’t need to share everything. Maybe something’s a kind of nuance that you wantto kind of work on internally. But i think some of the main things not only what you found, but what you’re going to do with it. I think that is a great power. It makes people feel like, well, there’s a reason i did this research and i contributed because now the organization i care about is utilizing an unproductive went. Paul garin is a partner in professional survey group. You’ll find them at professional survey group dot com. Paul, thank you so much for being a guest. No problem, tony. Have a nice day. Has been a pleasure. Thank you. Take your right. Now we take a break when we returned. Tony’s take two on philanthropy jargon. Stay with me? You’re listening to the talking alternative network. Geever are you feeling overwhelmed in the current chaos of our changing times? A deeper understanding of authentic astrology can uncover solutions in every area of life. After all, metaphysics is just quantum physics, politically expressed on montgomery taylor, and i offer lectures, seminars and private consultations. For more information, contact me at monte m o nt. Y at r l j media. Dot com are you stuck in your business or career trying to take your business to the next level, and it keeps hitting a wall? This is sam liebowitz, the conscious consultant. I will help you get to the root cause of your abundance issues and help move you forward in your life. Call me now and let’s. Create the future you dream of. Two, one, two, seven, two, one, eight, one, eight, three, that’s to one to seven to one, eight one eight three. The conscious consultant helping conscious people. Be better business people. Dahna hey, all you crazy listeners looking to boost your business? Why not advertise on talking alternative with very reasonable rates? Interested simply email at info at talking alternative dot com welcome back before scott koegler joins me it’s time for tony’s take to my block this week is philanthropy jargon. If you google philanthropy jargon generator, you’ll see what got me thinking about jargon in the non-profit community it’s a random collection of now nhs verbs announce adjectives and verbs, but not in that order, though thinkit’s, verbs, adjectives and now nes andi it’s a little disconcerting. I think that somebody, somebody thought there’s so much jargon in philanthropy that they should create a generator to help you create, create your own if create something, if you if you’re at a road, block your mental block and you just can’t think of the right phrase, put in a random jargon phrase and and you don’t have to define it because people don’t define jargon so that’s little disconcerting. Um, got a lot of comments on this on this post over a dozen some people use it. Teo, i think some people use jargon to sound smart, which is unfortunate, but there was one comment or someone uses jargon to screen for expertise because hill, he’ll ask people what they’re lie. Bunt and sideburns rates are and leibrandt is someone who donated last year, but not this year and a side bunt is someone who didn’t donate it in some year, but not this year, keeping myself out of jargon jail, of course, so he uses it to sort of screen that’s interesting, but generally i think you want to communicate so that people understand what you’re talking about. The jargon generator, i think, is fun, but you wouldn’t want to use it as your dictionary as your when you’re writing to donors or ah, potential funders. So post is called jargon. The post is called philanthropy jargon it’s on my block also on my block is a connection is a link to our linked in page we’re now on linked in. You can communicate with us there. Tell us what you like about the show don’t like about the show, maybe some show ideas or some guest ideas, please share that with us on our linked in page, and you’ll find all of that on my block at tony martignetti dot com that is tony’s take two for friday, may fourth, twenty twelve, the eighteenth show of the year, and i hear the phone buzzing. There is scott koegler scotty. How you doing? I am here, tony, how you i know you are doing well, scott koegler, of course, is our long standing tech contributor and the editor of non-profit technology news. We’re talking this week about content marketing. Scott, what is content? Marketing? Uh, content marketing. You know, i actually don’t like that particular title gave it to me. Okay. I know. I gave you the guy stabs me in the back in the first sentence. What can i say? All right, well, i’m calling you out. It was your type. He changes. Mind you’re entitled change minds. Go ahead. What do you what is this thing that we don’t have a name for? Well, we have we actually have many names for it. I prefer using something like authority marketing because the point of this kind of thing is that you write stuff and you you send out articles that our authoritative in your particular space authority marketing says has such gravitas to it. It does. It does. Actually. Sounds like it should be jargon. No, but the point is that what you want to do is you want to give people something to read that that’s not anything new that’s, you know, newspapers and everything else that’s been published forever. I want to do that, right? So we’re encouraging people to block is that? Is that where we’re headed? That’s part of it? Yeah, that’s, uh, we’re encouraging people to put out information that the people that they want to talk to are interested in knowing about that’s, that’s it, or whether it’s blogging, uh, whether it’s, uh, you know, paidcontent, uh, whether it’s, maybe even aggregated content, which we can talk about also, which is actually pulling information from other locations, and then writing about it. Okay, thank you for defining that keeps self out of jargon, general. So we’re very jargon sensitive this week. You can tel i i hear that. All right, i get the get the keys. I’m i’m on the trigger. I’ve got a hair trigger. So, content marketing authority marketing. Um, let me just talk a little bit about what i think content marketing is okay. It’s actually been a bad name for me because it’s, uh, it’s really it’s being used by what’s called content farms, which are sites that, like examiner dot com maybe to a smaller degree, but they they pay very little to their their authors. And the and the point of little writing is to get keyword rich maybe keyword overblown articles, because then then they sell advertising space, right? They shall advertising space against those. And until recently, google, you know, could be fooled into paying a lot of attention to a site that had a whole lot of appropriate word. All right, but not great content and cheating the writers. And that sounds terrible. Alright, that’s not a terrible, especially since i’m late i’m against. All right, um, good. So the other side of content marketing, which i call authority marketing, is creating articles. However you do it, whether it’s yourself, blogging or whether you actually pay somebody to write for you what co-branding information and putting it out there for people that you know, something, they’re interested. In actually reading, not just the google will find it and bring it up in search results because it’s much better people actually go to your site because they want to go to your sight because he has a reputation on dh that is not stuff that’s necessarily touting your good work. Oh, i mean, it could be stuff that’s valuable in because it’s related to what you do write an interesting that way? Yeah, think of it as a cz yourself, if you’re mean, you know, we know what you do, and we know well, i know some of the things you do, and so what are the things that people would write about and publish that would bring tony martignetti to a website, you know, on it may it may be about non-profit but it may also be about creating, uh, creating audio’s shows that draw audiences and maybe that’s related to non-profit or not. So you really need to know your audience that’s really big key, okay? And i want to say that generally i’m an example of what not to do so i appreciate you using man’s example of what should be done or who could. Be done could be let’s, not goes for us should, but generally people would be wiser to take the course opposite mine and self deprecation is one of those things that comedians really like to get into. I do that’s true, but we know that most charities don’t blogged, right, isn’t you have an article sixty nine percent don’t block and yes and that’s true. And you know what? I think what happened is that over time and i’m talking about the last now ten, twelve years blogging got to be, you know, everybody blogged, um and so, you know, it was your block and your mom read it and that kind of stuff, and it turned out to be pretty useless for most people because they may have written something, but nobody cared. Yeah, and so i think that the blogging that name blogging got a bad lap for a while. And so whether let’s just talk about content creation rather than block. Yeah, because there are other ways to do it to youtube and other ways that you mentioned before, lots of ways and content, as you just kind of alluded to is not necessarily their word it could be what you’re doing right now. The audio shows it could be video, it could be animation, even it could be a whole bunch of things, but the point is to get something that’s that is interesting to to the people you want to talk to so that they then say, g i and, you know, wonder what tony’s got going on today. I think i’ll go over and check in sight, right? Right? And then they’re rewarded at least at least fifty percent of the time that they find something that they like. You don’t have to hit one hundred percent not going to hit on percent, all right, all right, okay. And a way of just tow bring the show. That sort of full circle may be a way of finding out what your stakeholders may be interested in is to survey them and also to find out where they are, whether they’re whether they’re active in social media or more active. Just an email. Yeah, exactly, right, exactly. Because the way you’re going to deliver it goes to your point of knowing your audience, right? And just because you have an audience that you talked to primarily by let’s say email doesn’t mean that you can or should ignore the social media. I’ve got a couple of websites that i managed and i do content creation for them, you know? So so i’m kind of in the business and every time that we publish an article, we also sent out a tweet and a facebook update and they linked in update and those go automatically so anybody who’s looking at us from any of those locations in addition to the weekly email that we send out, has the opportunity to see what we’ve done and you know their choice. They come read more about it or not, but at least they’re getting notified, right? And the interconnectedness between all these social media properties, the one you need, the ones you’re named and you might put flicker in there also can be very much automated, right? Right with a with one exception of google plus which is not yet still released their their a p i that allows automated system’s supposed to for them? Yes, jack, you are shows social media manager regina walton doesn’t outstanding job of knowing how to do all those interconnected ah messages. But it’s it’s really not very hard now and then, but that’s the key is sometimes you can’t automate everything. Sometimes you just have to have, you know, somebody put in the time in order to do what’s, right? Absolutely. I just i don’t want to discourage people thinking you have to have a social media manager in order to make these interconnections it’s valuable because i’m producing so much, but you can’t do it on your own, too, right? Absolutely. Let’s. Talk a little about aggregated content you mentioned. What? What? What does that mean? It sounds like way. Don’t have tio write everything on our own. Yeah, they were produced everything or whatever aggregating content and stealing stuff. Okay on dh aggregated, aggregated content. Basically what? Here’s the here’s. What happens? You get a google news feed on our ss feed, you monitor somebody’s block that you know, has good stuff that you like and let’s say that tony wrote a block that i really, really like. It makes a lot of sense for us. My my leadership would probably like to read that. So i got a choice. I could just copy and paste it into my sight, which tony probably wouldn’t appreciate, right? That’s very bad. And not only that google. Well, actually, uh, take us down for that now it won’t take us down, but they’ll they’ll decrease our popularity because they say, hey, this is already than publish whyyou republica interested? Okay, they know they don’t really care about the fact that you plagiarized um, but they do care about the fact that it’s not original. Okay, so what i would do with that is i would write, you know, maybe a couple street who’s that tony martignetti wrote this really interesting post about jargon this week on his block. If you want to read it, click here. So what that does is it gives me something to comment on, and it lets my readers say, cheese. Not only does scott put out this stuff that’s interesting to me, but he’s also bringing me things that i may not have known about from other sources. So this is really a good way snusz to be to find out things that i want to know and what it does for tony, of course, is it brings another reader to tony site it’s really a good wayto work, aggregated content understand very, very organic way of bringing people to your site on give it back by by giving them value. Right? Excellent. Scott taylor, of course. The editor of non-profit technology news, which you’ll find at n p tech news. Dot com in which at which point we actually do all of those things that i just described. Okay, you conceive an example of it there. Thank you. For ah, what had been a segment called content marketing but became authority marketing. Thank you very much, scottie. Thanks very much. My thanks. Also to paul garin for being a guest this week. Next week. Five bullets to a better oh, we, uh oh, my. Cutting him off a little. Scott, you still there? I’m still here. Okay, uh, i’m i’m wrapping up the show five minutes early, so you and i still have time to talk. I’m still grateful to paul garron, but it’s, i’m looking at the wrong segment, so we’re going to take a break and hope everybody stays with us and scott you especially, i’m here. Talking alternative radio twenty four hours a day. Hi, this is psychic medium. Betsy cohen, host of the show. The power of intuition. Join me at talking alternative dot com mondays at eleven a. M call in for a free second reading. Learned how to tune into your intuition to feel better and to create your optimum life. I’m here to guide you and to assist you in creating life that you deserve. Listen. Every monday at eleven a, m on talking alternative dot com. Hi, i’m carol ward from the body mind wellness program. Listen to my show for ideas and information to help you live a healthier life in body, mind and spirit, you’ll hear from terrific guests who are experts in the areas of health, wellness and creativity. So join me every thursday at eleven a, m eastern standard time on talking alternative dot com professionals serving community. Hi, this is nancy taito from speaks. Been radio speaks. Been. Radio is an exploration of the world of communication, how it happens in how to make it better, because the quality of your communication has a direct impact on the quality of your life. Tune in monday’s at two pm on talking alternative dot com, where i’ll be interviewing experts from business, academia, the arts and new thought. Join me mondays at two p m and get all your communications questions answered on speaks been radio. This is tony martignetti, aptly named host of tony martignetti non-profit radio. Big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent. Technology fund-raising compliance. Social media, small and medium non-profits have needs in all these areas. My guests are expert in all these areas and mohr. Tony martignetti non-profit radio fridays, one to two eastern on talking alternative broadcasting. Talking. Welcome back to the show, and as i’ve made the point earlier, we i definitely an intern on this show, so i have somebody to blame from steaks like the one i made right before our break. S o if you know someone who wants to be blamed constantly for my mistakes, please have them send me their resume, and that sounds like a really great appeal. I’m sure i’ll get a ton. Um okay, scotty let’s see, i’m here. Yeah, different the different platforms that we might use different properties that we might use for our authority marketing have different personalities, right? I mean, you might not necessarily do the same thing on twitter that you would on facebook on dh versus linked in certainly, although the social media platforms have a whole lot of commonality to them, but right, twitter is only going to take, you know, a sentence and maybe a picture where is facebook could take more than that lengthen could take more than that. Google plus could take significantly more on that. Actually, you can publish directly on google. Plus, i don’t particularly mentor recommend that, but it’s people have done it on the menu. That’s interesting. I’m sorry. I just ask, why? Why do you say that about google? Plus what? Why not putting fresh content directly on google? Plus, um, google plus is like a hyper blogged in that the content rules by very quickly and so it’s very difficult to them find something of interest down there if it’s kind of rolled off of your screen. So okay, so not like, uh, it’s like a regular blonde or an online publication where you’ve got a nice kind of a content management system, brings things to the front, keeps him there for some starita time and then actually could be found easily in the published right. And and i think the length of articles is a big differentiating factor. If you have anything longer than a few sentences, you really don’t want a post directly on social media. Okay, you want your own, you want your own space, you want your own space, and then you wanna leverage the social media that has the first paragraph, maybe or on a link back to your your own content site. Okay? And sort of wrapped up in everything we’re talking about. Is that the same? Content can be used in different ways. I mean, on dh lynette singleton, who is on twitter often retweeting the show on dh lynette, thank you for doing it today she is at s c g the number four non-profits on lincoln on twitter if you wanna follow her, um, makes the point that, you know, one one piece of content can be used across lots of different platforms in different forms. Absolutely. I’ve even multipurpose, um, that has gone, taken an audio podcast like yours and has transcribed it into text. Oh, interesting on and then what? And then they just post that really? Okay. That’s interesting. Yeah, i can either be edited, so that was more of on article or serious of articles or can be just posted as it as it goes. I think they successful way to do that would be split it up in the articles, post them as content and maybe even link back to the recording of the show. So there’s, somebody prefers to here, they can still hear it, and i could see a value. And that would be you’d get some search engine value from the transcript because search engines can’t. Search audio. But all those words that are in the transcript would be searched if that’s exactly right. And there there are many ofthe offshore overseas services that will transcribe at an unbelievable rate. So, you know, i may not be perfect, but it’s it’s enough to get to get online and get it, maybe useful enough for someone to say. Yeah, i see what he’s saying, but i prefer to hear it so they click onto the the audio stream. Got it right. Okay, but again the point, multi multi purpose ing your your content coming and going back to the earlier guest ball. Gearan a survey could be something that is used as authority marketing. Absolutely. Because what you doing in that place is getting your readership to become the authority. And people like, you know, they have there. They’re their word and their opinion. I would caution we do surveys for some of my properties as well. And there is there’s a survey burnout where you just continue asking people for their opinion and well, you know, at the first couple of times they really like it. Especially if you give them feedback and write an article. About what? What they said. But if it’s too long or more continuous or too frequent, you’ll notice, uh, extreme drop off your respondents. Yes. Okay. Okay. We’re going to leave it there for for for real this time. Scott koegler as you heard multiple properties he’s, a land baron on the web and again the editor of non-profit technology news, which is that n p tech news. Dot com that’s one of his property. Scott. Thank you very much. Thanks, tony. Talk to you later. It’s been a pleasure. Let’s. Try again next week. Five bullets to a better budget. Paul connick stein. Principle of mission first finance knows how to create a budget that is aligned with your work and is a useful planning tool and he’s going to share what he knows that’s, that’s important doesn’t really matter much what he knows he’s gotta share it and he’s going to do that next week. You can check us out on facebook. You can check us out on linkedin. We’re on youtube also the youtube channel name israel. Tony martignetti because some young guy from boston stole the the tony martignetti so i’m real tony martignetti and you’ll find a lot of interviews on that youtube channel. Khun, listen, live our archive for the archive, you goto itunes, which is non-profit radio dot net. You can listen there, and you can subscribe so that you can listen any time on the device of your choice. On twitter. You can follow me, i’m at tony martignetti and the show’s hashtag is non-profit radio. Our creative producer is claire meyerhoff. Sam liebowitz is our line producer shows social media is by regina walton of organic social media, and the remote producer of tony martignetti non-profit radio is john federico of the new rules on our first remote will be starting in june next month. I hope you’ll be with me next week. Friday one to two p, m eastern, at talking alternative broadcasting, which is always at talking alternative dot com. Co-branding think dick tooting. Good ending. You’re listening to the talking alternate network, get him. Duitz good how’s your game. Want to improve your performance, focus and motivation? Then you need a spire athletic consulting stop. Second guessing yourself. Move your game to the next level. Bring back the fun of the sport, help your child build confidence and self esteem through sports. Contact dale it aspire, athletic consulting for a free fifteen minute power session to get unstuck. Today, your greatest athletic performance is just a phone call away at eight o one six zero four zero two nine four or visit aspire consulting. Dot vp web motivational coaching for athletic excellence aspire to greatness. Are you suffering from aches and pains? Has traditional medicine let you down? Are you tired of taking toxic medications, then come to the double diamond wellness center and learn how our natural methods can help you, too? He’ll call us now at to one to seven to one eight, one eight, three that’s two one two, seven to one eight, one eight, three or find us on the web at www dot double diamond wellness dot com way. Look forward to serving you. You’re listening to talking alternative network at www dot talking alternative dot com, now broadcasting twenty four hours a day. Looking to meet mr and mrs wright but still haven’t found the one want to make your current relationship as filling as possible, then tuning on thursdays at one pm for love in the afternoon with morning alison as a professional matchmaker, i’ve seen it all with distinguished authors, industry coolers and experts on everything from wine to fashion. Join us as we discuss dating, relationships and more on talking alternative dot com. Are you fed up with talking points, rhetoric everywhere you turn left or right? Spin ideology no reality, in fact, its ideology over in tow no more it’s time. Join me, larry shot a neo-sage tuesday nights nine to eleven easter for the ivory tower radio in the ivory tower will discuss what’s important to you society, politics, business and family. It’s provocative talk for the realist and the skeptic who want to know what’s. Really going on? What does it mean? What can be done about it? So gain special access to the ivory tower. Listen to me. Very sharp. Your neo-sage tuesday nights nine to eleven new york time go to ivory tower radio dot com for details. That’s, ivory tower radio, dot com every time. I was a great place to visit for both entertainment and education. Listening. Tuesday nights nine to eleven. It will make you smarter. No. Talking.

It’s Planned Giving, Not Product Giving

Warning courtesy of Martin Deutsch on Flickr
Planned Giving practitioners and theorists stress donor-centered fundraising. But some with an interest in Planned Giving are out to push products, irrespective of whether they’re right for your donors. Don’t let your charity, your program–and your donors–be compromised by these folks.

This has been bothering me for nearly four years, when I started to see it trending upward. The “it” is people who sell financial products calling themselves “planned giving consultants” or something similar.

In fact, they aren’t consultants at all. They’re salespeople. Typically their products are life insurance or commercial annuities, but the menu may vary. Some sell multiple products.

What offends me most about this community of salespeople is that “donor-centered” to them means “Your donors all need the financial product I sell.” It’s just amazing how a seminar led by a life insurance specialist of this ilk will conclude that everyone in the audience needs more life insurance. I’ve been in such programs.

Amazing too that in meetings with a charity’s leadership, life insurance forms the basis of the “planned giving” program these “consultants” pitch. I’ve been in such meetings, screening for self interest to protect my clients from those offering to help the Planned Giving programs I’ve created. This kind of help my clients don’t need.

What I’m describing does not impugn all financial product brokers. Most are ethical and don’t purport to be any type of fundraising consultant. I regularly include a life insurance broker in panel programs I manage for clients.

Life insurance and other commercial financial products certainly have their place in the discussion of estate and retirement plan charitable gifts.

Here’s my point: those who sell the products are not Planned Giving consultants.

Protect your charity’s reputation. Protect your program’s integrity. Protect your donors’ plans. Give a gracious “No thank you” to specious offers of help from people whose real interest is selling financial products.

Nonprofit Radio, April 20, 2012: The Law Of Attraction & Doyenne Of The Day

Big Nonprofit Ideas for the Other 95%

Listen live or archive:

My Guests:

Melanie Schnoll Begun

Melanie Schnoll Begun: The Law Of Attraction

To attract major gift prospects and potential board members, you have to put your best foot forward to get what you’re seeking. Melanie Schnoll Begun is managing director at Morgan Stanley private wealth management. She helps her ultra high net worth clients make charitable gifts and get on boards, but she has practical and valuable advice that applies to any charity soliciting a major gift or recruiting a board member.


Melanie West: Doyenne Of The Day

Melanie West writes the Donor of the Day feature for the Wall Street Journal and covers philanthropy. She’ll explain how she likes to be pitched story ideas, giving you the best chance of getting major coverage for your donors. Also, what she sees trending.


Top Trends. Sound Advice. Lively Conversation.

You’re on the air and on target as I delve into the big issues facing your nonprofit—and your career.

If you have big dreams but a small budget, tune in to Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio.

I interview the best in the business on every topic from board relations, fundraising, social media and compliance, to technology, accounting, volunteer management, finance, marketing and beyond. Always with you in mind.

Sign-up for show alerts!

“Like” the show’s Facebook page, and join us on LinkedIn too.

Make sure to tune in at 1pm ET on Friday and you can share your observations on Twitter by using the #NonprofitRadio hashtag on Twitter.

Here is the link to the audio podcast: 088: The Law of Attraction & Doyenne of the Day.
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Metoo hello and welcome to tony martignetti non-profit radio big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent. I’m your aptly named host. I very much hope you were with me last week. I’d be in shock if i learned that you had missed these two features. These two guests smart interviewing makes great hiring cheryl nufer, a founding partner in peredo consulting, explained why behavioral interviewing is superior to traditional methods and how any size non-profit khun get better hires through more sophisticated interviewing, whether you hyre once a year or many times a month and relationship mapping. Maria simple, the prospect finder and our regular monthly prospect research contributor helped you mind your data with tools that reveal relationships you didn’t know exist among your donors. As always, she shares about shared shared values last week. Who wrote this copy? I need an intern so i have somebody to blame it’s what situation is she shared? Valuable resource is many of them free. And if anyone wants to be an intern on the show and take blame every week, please send me your resume this week. The law of attraction it’s the melanie show i should say the law. Of attraction to attract major gift prospects and potential board members, you have to put your best foot forward to get what you are seeking. Melanie schnoll begun is managing director at morgan stanley private wealth management. She helps her ultra high net worth clients make charitable gif ts and get on boards, but she has practical and valuable advice that applies to any charity soliciting a major gift or recruiting a boardmember and diane of the day melanie west writes the donor of the day feature for the wall street journal and covers philanthropy. She’ll explain how she likes to be pitched story ideas, giving you the best chance of getting major coverage for your donors and also what she sees trending and finally there’s a buffet in the news. Melanie reported it yesterday, and we’re going to talk about it today on tony’s take two in between the guests. It is my block post this week take time to play pirates. A few weeks ago, i played pirates with my seven and nine year old nephew and niece, and it got me thinking, and i’ll tell you what i was thinking about that’s around thirty two minutes into the hour on tony’s, take two. Use hashtag non-profit radio to join the conversation on twitter. Join us there were monitoring it in the studio, right, sam, monitoring right now, okay, we are on dh when we take a break right now, and when we return, it is the law of attraction with melanie schnoll begun, so stay with me. You’re listening to the talking alternative network. Are you suffering from aches and pains? Has traditional medicine let you down? Are you tired of taking toxic medications, then come to the double diamond wellness center and learn how our natural methods can help you to hell? Call us now at to one to seven to one eight, one eight three that’s to one to seven to one eight one eight three or find us on the web at www dot double diamond wellness dot com way. Look forward to serving you. Is your marriage in trouble? Are you considering divorce? Hello, i’m lawrence bloom, a family law attorney in new york and new jersey. No one is happier than the day their divorce is final. My firm can help you. We take the nasty out of the divorce process and make people happy. Police call a set to one, two, nine six four three five zero two for a free consultation. That’s lawrence h bloom two, one two, nine, six, four, three five zero two. We make people happy. Bilich hey, all you crazy listeners looking to boost your business? Why not advertise on talking alternative with very reasonable rates? Interested simply email at info at talking alternative dot com welcome back to big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent on tony martignetti non-profit radio with me now is melanie schnoll begun. She is a managing director and head of morgan stanley private wealth, management’s philanthropic services. She serves as a philanthropic advisor to families, foundations and family offices, working with the firm’s, ultra high net worth clients. She’s, the incoming board, president of juvenile diabetes research, foundation of new york and board treasure of the partnership for philanthropic planning. My show has been a sponsor at there. National conference on philanthropic planning the past two years. I’m very pleased that her work and her expertise brings her to the show. Melanie schnoll begun welcome. Thank you so much, tony. Just one corrections. Why in the current oh, you are the kirk heard president of the board of juvenile diabetes research funding. I have to say that because the topic today that we’re gonna be talking about if i didn’t correct you about my particular officer position on a board, i wouldn’t be selling the reason why i said or or why i think it’s so important to serve for constance he believe in. So this is why i need an intern with you and i would both blame the intern and it wouldn’t have reflected on you badly at all. What is your work around with ultra high net worth individuals? What are you doing with them? Well, i think that my work is providing meaning in their life. Many of our clients come to us because they’re in the middle of a transition. Perhaps they’ve sold their business, maybe there’s some interesting event that’s happened in their life, perhaps even a very sad event. That’s happened their life, and we help them identify how to be very strategic, purposeful and planned in there, giving for many clients when they think about making a contribution, even a large contribution, they don’t put a tremendous amount of thought into it. It might be a cause that they’ve heard about maybe one that they’re associated with, but they’re not doing a deep dive into the background and the backdrop of what’s really going on in that non-profit organization or what else? There might be out there in the world. So we try and provide that professionalism and then along the way make our clients professionals themselves. What what? What? Do you find motivates ultra high net worth? And shortly i’m gonna ask you, what is ultra high net worth? But we’ll work our way to that. But what do you think motivates their giving? Well for some clients? It’s because someone sick in their family for other clients, it’s because their rights a little more about that someone sick where the e-giving in memory of the person, soon it’ll be in memory, will hopefully to find a cure. Hopefully the final usually clients witness a major change in their attitude. What they used to buy with their wealth no longer becomes important and that’s, because the second that someone has a diagnosis in their family of someone who’s ill the only thing they’re thinking about is identifying better treatment and perhaps secure. So we find often that we come to the film provoc table with someone who has just been given that diagnosis more and is looking for the solution where so many of us just our resource is, we go to the web and we learn as much as we can, but when we’re talking about people with extraordinarily extraordinary wealth that can actually invested in a possible cure that’s what? They want to buy it. They want to buy the cure. I think what’s shocking and disappointing in many instances is that clients, no matter how wealthy they are, find out that they can’t necessarily buy everything. So it is that deep investment for the long term, perhaps not even for the benefit of their family member who might be ill but for others to find a cure better treatment. Better resource is that might bring some of our clients to the table. Others are just deeply invested in their community. They want better cultural organizations. They want better education for their kids. Certainly in new york, that’s a very big issue about private school, public school. And as your children are going through that educational problem situation, where are there enough of fine schools in new york to send our kids to? In many instances, they find that they that there’s not so. Our clients are interested in identifying. How can they be the solution to the educational drama issue? We have just a couple minutes before a break. What? What what’s the definition of ultra high net worth. What is how much money are we? Talking about, well, a lot more money than i have. I’ve always said that i really hope to one day be able to be my own client. But for us, ultra high net worth is really defined as clients who have a net worth of twenty five million and more. The reality is that it’s, a very open span for those clients, though, with twenty five million and mohr, they usually have a significant out, a significant amount of money that they could do something incredibly impactful with their philantech. On how much i’m wondering how much does somebody who has that kind of wealth walk around within their wallet like like i have typically, like thirty or forty dollars in my wallet? But so i would probably not be confused for ultrahigh worth of net worth. If someone stole my wallet, i probably wouldn’t i probably couldn’t get away with that. But, you know, like, how much do you think they have? Just on an average day in there? Well, how much do you think that carry around? Probably probably no cash. I think that i think that most about very wealthy people typically put most their stuff on cards today. So you know what? Actually, i would go after your wallet if i knew that you were on the street. So just watch thirty or forty bucks, so i was ready. I was ready to go, like, three or four hundred in my wallet, and then it almost be worth it to lose that much if i could get two muggers to think that i’m ultra high net worth. Yeah, yeah. Now they would share the story of the ultra high net worth guy, you know, among their prison friends and i could, you know, get known that way, but i’m going about it the wrong way. You got to go down so well, no cash. Now we need to talk about prison reform as faras labbate, right? So so how can you make sure that those who come out of prison that are better off than when they went in and are telling the story of twenty martignetti being ultra? Yeah, absolutely. We have to take a break when we return. Of course, melanie schnoll begun stays with me, and we’ll continue talking about the law of attraction. So i hope you stay with us. You don’t think that shooting getting thinking, you’re listening to the talking alternate network. E-giving nothing. Good. Are you stuck in your business or career, trying to take your business to the next level, and it keeps hitting a wall? This is sam liebowitz, the conscious consultant. I will help you get to the root cause of your abundance issues and help move you forward in your life. Call me now and let’s. Create the future you dream of. Two, one, two, seven, two, one, eight, one, eight, three, that’s to one to seven to one, eight one eight three. The conscious consultant helping huntress people be better business people. Oppcoll hi, this is psychic medium. Betsy cohen, host of the show. The power of intuition. Join me at talking alternative dot com mondays at eleven a. M call in for a free psychic reading. Learn how to tune into your intuition to feel better and to create your optimum life. I’m here to guide you and to assist you in creating life that you deserve. Listen every monday at eleven a, m on talking alternative dot com. Are you feeling overwhelmed in the current chaos of our changing times? A deeper understanding of authentic astrology can uncover solutions in every area of life. After all, metaphysics is just quantum physics, politically expressed, i and montgomery taylor and i offer lectures, seminars and private consultations. For more information, contact me at monte m o nt y at r l j media. Dot com talking alternative radio twenty four hours a day. I’m leslie goldman with the us fund for unicef, and i’m casey rotter with us fun for unison. You’re listening to tony martignetti non-profit radio big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent. Welcome back to tony martignetti non-profit radio. My guest is melanie schnoll begun and melanie let’s talk about. When charity’s air trying to solicit gif ts you have your clients who are ultra high net worth, but you have, i think, very valuable advice for any charity that’s trying to solicit any major gift, which maybe five hundred dollars or thousand dollars for some charities. What what’s your you see sort of faulty proposals a lot, don’t you? Yeah, i think that non-profits believe they understand who the donor is, and they prepare something in advance. That’s a critical error, you never know who that donor is, the famous saying. If you’ve met one philanthropist, you’ve met one philanthropist, so we try and tiki non-profits to perform a radical listening, and that means spending the time to really understand why a donor may want to be a donor to their organization. The time will be incredibly valuable both for the non-profit but even more importantly for the donor, when the donor has the opportunity to talk about what they care about why they care about the organization’s mission, you hear things you really hear things inside of that conversation inside the conversation in the donor’s hat so radical listening is a skill that we teach non-profits to practice. And that skill is something that serves both board members. It serves the staff of non-profit organizations, and at the end, you’re really giving a service to a donor. I think that most of my clients find that no one listens to them well enough. Yeah, but but a charity that’s that’s soliciting a major gift. However they define that might feel that they’re not going to get another meeting with this person. They go one shot. We finally got the meeting. We got forty five minutes. Way better. We’ve got to lay it all out because we may never get a second meeting that’s, right? So you walk into every meeting with the idea that if i really listened to this donor, i’m going to get the second meeting. If you walk in with a proposal thinking that you know who this person is and what they want to offer your organization, you’re probably guaranteeing yourself that you’re not going to see that donor again. So does it always work? It may not always work if you begin practicing it. Well, if you spend so much time performing discovery on that donor both in the dance of the meeting and then, while you’re sitting at that meeting, i think over time you’ll find that your practice as a fundraiser will dramatically improve. So you’re suggesting that if you can move the donor while while radically listening, then you’ll get a follow-up meeting brightstep my suggestion is, if you are performing radical listening, you will move the donor, okay, okay, even without introducing your mission and your work in the first in the first meeting, right? Because you’re going to hear from the donor what the donor wants to dio instead of telling the donor with a non-profit wants the donor and you do know there’s a threshold interest, otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten the first meeting would have gotten the meeting would have gotten the meeting. So it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s an important skill it’s something that has been written about andi, i think that we can’t live in that fear fundraisers can’t live in that fear that this is joan, or will not be interested in talking to me again. In fact, most of the conversation is not a conversation most of the conversation is letting that ultra high network donor talked to you, and you’re just there. To listen or again, it could be any level donor, and i’ve had where we have a regular prospect. Research contributor maria simple is on, and she and i have talked about the value of the face to face meetings, and she’s a professional prospect researcher who knows all the web webb resource is, you know, but she still recognizes that the greatest prospect research comes from a good, good conversation, absolutely, and and and and he’s absolutely right face-to-face looking a donor in their eyes. In many instances, i think being on the donor’s being in the donor’s territory so ah place where they’re comfortable, where it’s an environment either their office, they’re home, maybe somewhere where they’ve recommended that they like to go for coffee. Usually i recommend going for a glass of wine because, you know, does it doesn’t hurt, but her loosen up? Yeah, exactly. I’ve tried to get sam lee boards to have wine here, but he’s not doing it now you’re not really radical listening, right? I just radically demand. Thanks, you know, but i’m not a charity, so i think i’m exactly you only have thirty example. Everything was for you only have thirty dollars. You’re well, you’re our charity ticket. You can’t get a decent bottle of wine for thirty bucks. So then the careful listening radical listening is goingto inform your valuable proposal when that when it’s the right time, that’s, right sametz writer and the valuable proposal some hints that we give to non-profits as they’re preparing that that proposal brief three points know what are the key issues that you’ve heard? The donor has said to you, the areas where they’re really interested in supporting on ly talk about those areas, right? Putting in a proposal for stuff that you haven’t heard because the organization needs it, but the donor doesn’t want it what’s the likelihood of that getting funded so three typically are the most that we suggested a proposal going backto a donor that you know what they’re interested in, you’re going to get a much better response, okay, other tips for the for the proposal itself, for the written document, you brief couple pages, right? A couple of pages in fact, most of our clients today, they don’t want to read stuff, right? And they fear that if the non-profit is spending so much time and resource is preparing proposals, then they may not be spending the money that i’m giving to the organization i’m doing the work so in many instances, is it brief short? In fact, non-profit should ask the donor. How would you like me to prevent to present a proposal? Is it isn’t even something that you want in writing? Or should we just have another conversation? I would welcome that second conversation so that now the second meeting, the donor’s prepared to do their own radical listening. Is there a problem? Sometimes when a donor gets sort of passed off from somebody who knows the work very well to the fund-raising professional who’s goingto the closer it’s like it’s, like in a in a car dealership going to which i have very bad memories of a child. Buying my first car was awful, but at a car dealership going from the salesmen to the finance manager exactly going that office and the door gets closed off, you know, but being passed from the maybe the executive director or someone who knows the work well to the closer the fundraiser doesn’t something get lost there sometimes. Yeah. What? What gets lost is the gift. So no one wants to be handed off everyone in that non-profit organization, both from voluntary leadership. To professional staff should be able to talk about programming if the executive director is the one who has contact with that donor. If it’s a boardmember who has the contact with that donor, or if it is the professional fundraiser that has the contact with that donor, the conversation should be between those two people bringing others include others in the conversation. But don’t hand a donor off. I have a a client’s situation that happened with a large university hospital incredible organization doing tremendous work. And this client’s unfortunately this this medical institution was not able to save the life of our client’s husband. But he wanted to honor him. She wants to memorialize him. And the doctor who was treating her husband was the individual that he wanted to leave a contribution for so that he could continue doing the great work that he began with her clothes with her with her husband. Many of the conversations happened between her and the doctor. It was intimate. She could see clearly what she wanted to accomplish. And then when it came down to the clothes she was handed to a development director. Ah, fine development director. Someone who? Spent years in the business, but it was so disconnected and she felt that were there. Were you there for the meeting? So i was there after the fact also, i came in to help save the gift. Okay? And we this this donor-centric working with us after he felt that brush off from the doctor and it was completely unintentional. So totally unintentional. Just protocol just about innocuous handing off it’s the way things are done, he wasn’t supposed to close that’s someone else’s responsibility. So what? I teach both boards as well as professional staff. It’s everyone’s, responsibility close. If you’re the one who has the relationship, you need to be confident enough to make the ask. And you need to be prepared enough too close. And if it’s i guess if it’s a really technical gift which it could be a at large dollar amounts, then at least include the in your case, the doctor, but generally the program, the work expert in the conversations don’t leave him or her out in the hall while now the professional closer you know, goes through his is her stick that’s, right? And you know it. Theatre knees, the accountants. All the financial advisers, all of those professionals, need to play a role in the process. I’m if the donor wants him to be included in the conversations about the specifics of the gift that’s great, but there’s the technical aspects of giving and then there’s the emotional aspects of giving and what i see getting lost. It’s, it’s, it’s never technique, right? You could draft a perfect trust. It could be absolutely accurate. The document itself could get an a plus plus in any fine law school. But if the donor is not connected emotionally to the gift, it doesn’t matter what the document says. Melanie schnoll begun is managing director, head of morgan stanley, private wealth, management’s philanthropic services and we’re talking about the law of attraction basically had a look good when you’re either soliciting a gift or soliciting someone for boardmember ship, which is what i’d like tio transition to now, okay. Appealing to a board appealing to a potential boardmember, um since you’re working with ultra high net worth people, i’m going to guess that sometimes there approached because they’re very wealthy. And how do they feel about that? Yeah, so in the law of attraction, it’s it’s rarely because they’re really good looking. Damn many of them might be hot tonight, but it’s usually because they’re wealthy, so similar to the idea of marriage. Right? So when i got married, i married for love. I married for looks there’s, you know there’s a little bit of money to that’s. All so that’s, always wonderful when you think that before you can say sex on the show is this the part where you were this sick? It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming sex is you have to have a little foreplay before sex. So it’s getting there russia you’re like that’s been my problem. You’re russian in europe. Well, among others, but let’s keep it let’s. Keep it focused on alt-right work-life let’s, take this conversation on the bed here. Right? Right, right. So the opportunity of creating a marriage between potential boardmember and an organization it’s. Incredibly important. So the the reason donors believe that serving a non-profit is an appropriate step for them is because they’ve been courted well, it’s, because they find the organization incredibly attractive and good looking it’s because they want to spend a lot of time with that organization because they want to see that organism they grow and really achieve incredible impact very similar to marriage alive know the problem with marriage is is half the men in divorce, so the same is true with non-profit port service, you’re excited at the beginning, right? You can’t wait for that next kiss can’t wait for the next date and then quickly within the first year, if the non-profit doesn’t really know how to work well, play well, dine the donor well doesn’t understand where they like to go to how they like to vacation. If the non-profit doesn’t know how to use the donor to his or her maximum capacity, they get bored, they get disenchanted and the worst thing is donors cheats like just like what happens in many families that fall apart, they begin looking at other opportunities that really do want them thinking that it’s better on the other side there feeling remorse about having joined this board, everything was great in the beginning, the right the honeymoon stage, but about exactly right. Exactly right. So spend your time non-profit should spend their time thinking about whether or not this is a person they want to marry. Is this a person that will bring value to this relation? Can we grow together? And what do we each bring to the relationship? It has to be more than just money again. Just like many families, right? If all you’re going after is the wealth than a marriage for many, many years will fall apart. You know the boardmember potential boardmember wants to know that they’re going to be used effectively. That’s right? Utilized way. Don’t use board members. We usually large numbers. Okay. Okay. Um, taking over the show? No. Uh, let’s see, so but a lot of times, board charities need an expertise. We need an accountant or we feel we need an attorney. And in some deshele t real estate, maybe or something. So they’re seeking that profession. But that is contrary to what you’re recommending, right? So i think what boardmember sze need to be on? What boards need to do to get the right people on their team is, they have to look for people different than themselves. What happens with most non-profit boards is you look around the board table and everyone’s the same right, because it’s a friend introducing another friend. They come from similar backgrounds, specially smaller charity it’s, a friend of the executive director of the founder, absolutely especially small non-profits and specifically, when they’re getting off the ground, right. So it’s, the founder, it’s, the founders best friend, its founder, sister, and perhaps someone who worked for them at one point time or an intern so non-profits really need to think about how can we bring true diversity to our board? Professionalizing aboard must include accountants, financial advisors, lawyers, but you can’t just look at them as a lawyer, you need to look at them as a lawyer that has a mission that there interest must be tethered, if not tied to the nonprofit organization, that they’re a lawyer that’s their skill set. But ultimately we know that even if they warrant a lawyer that they really support the work of that organization. I wantto have you bring something out that we had talked about that very wealthy people are not un interested in working for smaller midsize working among being utilized by small and midsize charities. Is that right? Absolutely. I think that many very wealthy clients believe that they can be better utilised in a small nonprofit organization. In fact, that’s where most of the money came from. So the majority of our client base started their own closely held businesses. And they realise what it means to rule up their sleeves to get dirty. They love on that kind of opportunity and nonprofit organizations. So when you come into these large non-profit organizations very bureaucratic, very political. So many individuals that look like them. So it is even mohr attractive for wealthy people to see that you know, my gift. We’ll make a significant difference here. But my time may even be more valuable. Tulani schnoll begun is a managing director and head of morgan stanley. Private wealth, management’s philanthropic services. Melanie, thanks very much for being in the studio. Being a guest, tony. Thanks for having me. It’s. Been a pleasure right now. We take a break when he returns. Tony’s, take two. And then, after that die, end of the day. Melanie west. Stay with me. Hyre you’re listening to the talking alternative network. Are you feeling overwhelmed in the current chaos of our changing times? A deeper understanding of authentic astrology can uncover solutions in every area of life. After all, metaphysics is just quantum physics, politically expressed, i and montgomery taylor and i offer lectures, seminars and private consultations. For more information, contact me at monte m o nt y at r l j media. Dot com are you stuck in your business or career trying to take your business to the next level, and it keeps hitting a wall? This is sam liebowitz, the conscious consultant. I will help you get to the roof, cause of your abundance issues and help move you forward in your life. Call me now and let’s. Create the future you dream of. Two, one, two, seven, two, one, eight, one, eight, three, that’s to one to seven to one, eight one eight three. The conscious consultant helping conscious people. Be better business people. Hey, all you crazy listeners looking to boost your business? Why not advertise on talking alternative with very reasonable rates? Interested simply email at info at talking alternative dot com welcome back, it’s, time for tony’s take two at roughly thirty two minutes into the hour. My block this week is take time to play pirates. A couple of weeks ago, i played pirates with my seven year old nephew and my nine year old niece, and it got me thinking about the value of taking time for play, whether that’s play with kids or play with adults, it’s a chance to rest your mind and think about things on dh ideas completely unrelated to what your work may be day to day, it could be mindless play, and that could be even mindless play with adults you might have fund-raising yourself mindless with adults and then and then playing, you know, talk politics without any restraint that we have in our day to day lives. All i think makes you at least i feel this makes me feel more refreshed makes me more focused at work. I think when i take time off and i return, i’m just i’m just performing better and i’m hoping that you’ll get some of those same result it’s from taking time, tio play could be pirates could be something else and that’s what’s. My blogged this week, my blog’s is tony martignetti dot com. I also want you to know that we have a linked in group for the show. If you have a suggestion of guests or topics for the show again, just go to the blogged tony martignetti dot com and there’s, a very prominent link to all my social media properties presences, including the new linking group for the show and that is tony’s take two for friday, april twentieth, twenty twelve. The sixteenth show of the year with me now is melanie west. She writes for the greater new york section of the wall street journal. She writes the donor of the day column and covers the philanthropy beat. Before that, she wrote for the weekend journal aboutthe wine industry and wine travel. She joined the journal in two thousand six graduate of cornell and the columbia university graduate school of journalism. Melanie west lives in manhattan with her husband, and i’m very glad that her work brings her to the studio. Melanie welcome. Thank you. Pleasure to have you. Thank you. Um, let’s talk about donorsearch that day. What’s the what’s. The purpose there. Well, as you know, we’ve had a long commitment at the journal to report on the philanthropic interests of of our readership, and for many years we had a column that was gift of the week. And during the economic downturn, we how do i put it? Sunset that column in favor of resurrecting it with the greater new york section, which is our city section in the wall street journal, available in new jersey and connecticut, and certainly manhattan and the boroughs. And ah, the decision there was to create a column that was daily and looked at all kinds of philanthropy be at a forty million dollars gift or a gift from a teenager who does something that’s incredibly not charitable. So that’s what? The column is runs most every day in the paper. Assuming that we have news, we have room for it on dh it’s a pleasure to do and they they preferred the alliteration. Clearly, i like a little rations on my show. Gift of the week doesn’t sound snazzy donor the day sounds pretty cool, i guess die end of the day you’re doi end of the day, i’m doubling urges w w end of the day i think and you just surpassed five hundred columns. I know not you personally. Yes, we’ve done five hundred of them wasn’t just last month, i think, yep, ok. And that’s, you know, it’s been a great opportunity to speak with e, you know, diverse group of people here in the city and to learn about their passions. And i won’t say that it isn’t a challenge. Teo, create that column every day or lose five days a week. It is so you know, i hope your readers, your listeners, have some ideas for me, and they could certainly reach out to me, and we’re going to talk about that. How long have you been doing the column over a year now, okay, i’ve written the majority of that five hundred. Oh, you have, yeah, okay. And your predecessor was surely banjo. Correct, right? Who’s now on the connecticut westchester beat, i think something connecticut westchester, correct. Okay. You sometimes do a mention of the day what’s that about well, said someone who’s ah do gooder on dh it’s for people who have extraordinary passions and do unusual things. So for example, we’ve had a gentleman who ran for three days straight who’s raising money for multiple myeloma cancer research. We’ve had a teenager who, you know, collected a bunch of money through unicef, trick or treat they’re unisex trick or treat program. They had raised the most amount of money of any kids in the country, and that was up in connecticut. Um, these are for, you know, those air areas to talk about people’s philanthropic gifts without them being huge gifts and make for an unusual story and certainly a very charming story. So how do you like to be pitched? Email over phone what’s, your what’s, your preference about being pitched for doner of the day? I get pitches in all kinds of different forms, really off difference. Is there a way people? I’m sure people would rather give it to you in the form that you prefer. Um, actually don’t have a form that i prefer. What i really need to know is that the individual who is to be profiled is comfortable talking about the size of their gift. The quantity of their gift dollar value is always included, right? It’s a critical fact in the story. We are a paper that reports on transactions and these air philanthropy transactions. And so the amount of the gift is critical. Of course, it needs to be in a recent gift, and it needs to be news. Most of the stories that i do, in fact, ninety nine percent of the stories that i do our exclusive. So the story needs to come to us first. People need to be. The donor needs to be compelling. It needs to be someone who’s generous. Someone who deeply cares about what they’re giving to those are the best stories. Okay, do you take into consideration that for some charities ah, twenty five thousand dollar gift or forty thousand dollar gift, maybe very large. These they have to be, of course, gift in the millions. And, well, i mean, i think a twenty five thousand dollar gift to a major university is maybe not is proportionate gift. But to answer the question more broadly know there’s, not a threshold. Okay, it’s, really a question of is that it? Is that a meaningful gift to the organization? Okay, and what would you like to see in the in the pitch? What do you need to know? Initially, tio to determine whether you’d like to go ahead. Well, i need a sense of time if they want to do it tomorrow, then on di doo doo stories that, you know, happen tomorrow. There’s a story that i had to run today that will run on monday and it’s a very quick turnaround, so i don’t need a sense of time certainly need a sense of the amount of the gift, and i need a sense of who the person is. Okay? Oftentimes i’ll get a email where someone will say, well, i have this idea of someone who might want to do something and is usually nine times out of ten doesn’t come to fruition, so needs it pretty to be a pretty solid, okay, let’s, get the incumbent ones that air so kind of vague, right? What about the the idea of follow-up phone calling of some of somebody emails you a pitch and then follows up with a phone call to say, i just wanna make sure you got my email does that? There are some journalists who gets very turned off by that on don’t appreciate the double double contact. How do you feel about that? I tried to be friendly to everyone that calls very thoughtful. Okay. Okay. Okay. Calls a reasonable number of times a reasonable number. Okay. All right. Anything else you want to say about pitching? You know, just reach out to me by e mails at the bottom of every story online. So it should be pretty easy to get me, and they’re very easy to find just google melanie west or melanie grace west correct, g r a y, c and donor of the day and you’ll find many many columns donorsearch day. So since you’ve written the majority of the five hundred, you see some trends, no doubt what what’s what’s, something that you’re seeing happening more often seems my good trends, i think ok, you know, i’m seeing a lot more people acknowledging the need to give locally, um, people who have made their wealth in new york and in the region and who feel it’s their responsibility to support the city. Either they’re they’ve come here, they’ve come from here. There are many of them have been born in brooklyn, but they have a very good awareness that the need is great close to home. That isn’t to suggest that there aren’t a tremendous number. Of people who are giving to their alma mater, zand states away what it is to say that there’s this awareness that there is a need in the city and i think that we can partially thank mayor bloomberg for setting that trend and making that awareness known, especially among his friends and colleagues. Now should we point out that is going back to stories that are appropriate? That needs to be some metrical area connection once you make sure that’s clear well, the donor of the organization needs stay in the area, okay, new york, new jersey and connecticut correct nasco some connection with the charity or the donor, right? Well, the column runs in the greater new york sections, so we’re not reporting on what happened the california but the show’s hyre worldwide, so i just wantto make make sure that people know there’s got to be that new york, new jersey connecticut connection. Okay, aside from local giving, what else? What else you’re seeing it’s great for me again. People i think are choosing not to give anonymously. They’re choosing to set an example. They’re choosing teo, encourage their colleagues as well. I had a gentleman, who’s. A donor a couple months ago, and he gave a two million dollar gift to bridgeport hospital, which is in connecticut. And he said one of the reasons why he gave the gift is because he wanted to make, you know, set the example for for other people and basically, he said, if you know people look at me and say, hey, he could give two million i can do at least that much, um, and in this particular gift, the gentleman’s joel smile oh, ah, he had the cardiac unit named for him. And so i think naming gifts are also, you know, compelling to people. Come, you know, in so few words, he said that effectively, if i could have a named gift for two million prison that many of my neighbors can also have a similar gift. And that’s that’s pretty well known in fund-raising circles that we can get somebody to stand up at a gala let’s, say or identify themselves somehow and say i did it in fact, in board meetings. It’s sometimes used to i did it, and i’m challenging all of you to do it. Sounds like something similar to what? What? That? Gentleman, what jules was doing, joel and then jules kroll he’s a gentleman. Who’s made his his his million’s in global consulting and search of corporate security. Right hey gave a two million dollar gift to john jay college and he again wanted that to be a very public gift to inspire others to give to John jay and 2 other city university established. You know, the college is to grow their fund-raising profile as a place where, yes, you khun give gifts here. There’s another gentleman. I did a story on very recently. His name is henry van amorin. Gin it’s quite well known in the gay, lesbian and bisexual transgender community. He funds a lot of causes, and he gave a million dollars a million dollars to in the life media. And he never gives a name gift. He on lee it’s anonymously and the reason why he gave this gift it to your point is he wanted to inspire others to give. And it was a matching gift or a challenge gift. And do you find that is usually the charity that encourages the person to step out of anonymity? Or is it the donor thinking of it on their own. I don’t think the charity concert i don’t think the charity could be persuasive enough teo, to get someone who would give anonymously to suddenly put their name to it. I think the individual wants to do it, you know? Arika dahna i mean, i could see a charity trying push because they’d like to motivate the same similar gift, and we have just about a minute before a break, you have your seeing something in terms of gift being split up, split gift. Yeah, i think this is a good idea. Trend there. Some donors that i’ve spoken with have decided, especially for college endowments, to give a gift that, you know, may endow a chair but also to give a gift a tte the same time. Two scholarships. So something that could be used in some in the president in something that is a future gift that the university can drawn. Okay, so seeing okay current and then planned gifts or deferred endowment type gif ts corrects here together. Right? Right. Okay. All right. Well, we’ll take it. We’ll take a break there and when we return, melanie west will stay with me. Doi end of the day. Andi. I hope you do, too. Talking alternative radio twenty four hours a day. Hi, this is psychic medium. Betsy cohen, host of the show. The power of intuition. Join me at talking alternative dot com mondays at eleven a. M call in for a free second reading. Learn how to tune into your intuition to feel better and to create your optimum life. I’m here to guide you and to assist you in creating life that you deserve. Listen every monday at eleven a, m on talking alternative dot com. Hi, i’m carol ward from the body mind wellness program. Listen to my show for ideas and information to help you live a healthier life in body, mind and spirit, you’ll hear from terrific guests who are experts in the areas of health, wellness and creativity. So join me every thursday at eleven a, m eastern standard time on talking alternative dot com professionals serving community oppcoll. Hi, this is nancy taito from speaks. Been radio speaks. Been. Radio is an exploration of the world of communication, how it happens in how to make it better, because the quality of your communication has a direct impact on the quality of your life. Tune in monday’s at two pm on talking alternative dot com, where i’ll be interviewing experts from business, academia, the arts and new thought. Join me mondays at two p m and get all your communications questions answered on speaks been radio. This is tony martignetti, aptly named host of tony martignetti non-profit radio. Big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent. Technology fund-raising compliance. Social media, small and medium non-profits have needs in all these areas. My guests are expert in all these areas and mohr. Tony martignetti non-profit radio friday’s one to two eastern on talking alternative broadcasting. Talking. Oppcoll welcome back to big non-profit ideas for the other ninety five percent. Melanie west writes the donor of the day column for the wall street journal she’s with us, but she doesn’t only write the donor of the day column. Just yesterday, she had a piece on howard buffett, son of the very well known philanthropist and billionaire what’s what’s happening in the buffet family melanie that you covered yesterday? Well, i had the great opportunity to visit mr buffett on his farm in the middle of illinois beautiful part of the country and ride in his tractor as we work the fields for a little bit. All right already. I have to stop you. I’m sorry, but his his tractor has gps e well, i mean, this isn’t just your regular old puffing plaque smoke tractor, though they did start out with that was a pretty sophisticated piece of equipment, it’s, more like what i would call like a robot, a giant farm robot, but i read gps in a tractor and initially wondered why you need gps isn’t is an attractive, pretty much just up and down the rows. Why is there a gps in attractive it’s harder? Than you think. My over our new yorker is oversimplifying. Don’t you need gps when you travel out of the city? I do. But how far does he think his tractor he’s got quite a bit of land and it actually speeds to process out. So it’s yeah, we got it back and forth, it’s more than just back and forth. There is some technicality to it, and you want to plant a rose straight if you don’t, you’re gonna have a messed up crop. Okay? I just envisioned a lot of turn left. No, no, no, no. It does it on its own. Oh, gods the tractor? Yes. Oh, oh, it sze more than just telling you how to go. Oh, absolutely. No, no, no, it’s. Not that kind of thing. It’s gps operated in the sense where it’s like not off by an inch. Oh, excellent. Okay. All right. That was a digression. Okay? Important one that didn’t come out this in detail. It did not come out in a story with sophistication of his gps. Actually drive. The tractor doesn’t just say turn left. Turn right. And it plots exactly where each seed gets dropped. I mean it’s really? Quite amazing. Okay, okay. So in the last few years, mr buffett has turned his attention to domestic hunger. As you know, his foundation. It’s, about a two hundred twenty five million dollar foundation, has primarily funded work in international developments. Howard buffett correct foundation correct. This’s, the middle son of the billionaire investor. Okay? And he in recent years decided that there was more he could do closer to home. For many years, he has supported things throughout decatur and illinois and nebraska local charities. But he has become more aware that hunger has a different look than what we might think of it. And in rural areas. It’s really quite quite an issue feeding america, the charity that mr buffett has partnered with reports that, you know, the greatest levels of food insecurity in the country are primarily in rural areas, not in urban areas. They’re statistic is fifty five percent. So with this, he looked closer to home, began doing more research he funded with feeding america giant map called i think it’s called bridge the meal gap for the meal gap. And it basically takes a county by county approach of where hunger is. In america, and he funded that project with some other partners based on that, he decided he could do more. And for the last few years, he’s been thinking about a project that would directly get farmers invested in hunger in their community. Now, in rural areas, you have to think about it, you know, who are the who are the leaders in rural areas and is very much the farmers on dh. So if they got together and they work together, how could they raise money to give closer to home? And this was his problem and something that he solved. And so on thursday of this week, he announced a plan in partnership with adm. Archer daniel with daniels midland to create a program where farmers give a portion of their crop to feeding america. Archer daniels midland very big agribusiness, correct company. So what a farmer does is he has nine hundred fifty bushels in a semi tractor trailer. They roll up into archer daniels midland. The company asked, how much of that do you want to give to charity? We can give a bushel. They could give no bushels. They can give a hundred fifty bushels. And what happens is the amount of money for that bushel goes back to the organization, so so we’re not donating. There were some comments to your yeah, that suggested that the raw corn was being donated to food hunger program, yeah, hungry people provoc corn no it’s very bad for the teeth for everybody unless you’re gonna pop it. But it’s not a balanced meal, so the proceeds of the amount that they designate that was in the article. Okay, so but i can’t help it if people didn’t read carefully, it is a confusing idea because i think people think that there’s going to be farmers who are giving food, and that is actually a secondary portion of it which was not covered in the article is he wants to encourage those people, too. If you’re going to give money and you’re going to donate some of the proceeds from your crop, why not within the gardens and lands that you have grow a little food and donate that to the food bank as well? So he in one of his plots of land is actually growing corn for the food bank indicator and he’s gonna, you know at harvest time, roll up with a bunch of sweet corn. And the, um the money is going to be donated to the peach farmers. Local correct local food program say little about that. Right? So feeding america has about has two hundred to food banks in the country. Fifty three of those food banks directly service rural populations. So the gift in what the farmers air donating will benefit those fifty three food banks. So it is staying in their community and that’s very, very compelling for the farmers. That is a key component to getting them to donate stays local. Correct. Not unlike what melanie schnoll begun. My first guy? Yes. I was talking about that there’s. An interest in giving people are interested in giving locally. They want to see local impact on this is called invest in acre co-branded. Okay. And so all of the programme materials should be live now and online. And i believe it’s, invest in acre dot or ge ah it’s being primarily funded and driven by the howard g buffett foundation. Okay. And there again that you are always invest an acre dot org’s, i believe. All right. Melanie melanie west. Thank you very much for being a guest. Thank you very much. It’s been a pleasure. Melanie west writes the donor of a column for the wall street journal and covers the philanthropy beat there. My thanks also to melanie schnoll begun for being with me and her assistant saraya for all her help next week, get monthly givers. Bob wesolowski, the president of caring habits, helps you get habitual monthly donors through electronic funds. Transfer ft for those in the in the in the business and strategic organizations raised more money starita ansari is president and chief change officer at m s b philanthropy advisors. She wants you to organize thoughtfully around your mission, looking strategically at your inputs, outputs and outcomes to boost your fund-raising revenue keep up with what’s coming up. Sign up farming satur email alerts on the facebook page like that page! If you like the show, you’d always know that you can listen live or archive to catch us archive, go to non-profit radio dot net non-profit radio dot net that will take you to our itunes paige and my thanks again. To those who raided the show on itunes on twitter, follow me follow the show’s hashtag used the show’s hashtag non-profit radio use it unabashedly our creative producers, claire meyerhoff. Sam liebowitz is our line producer. Janice taylor is our assistant producer. Shows social media is by regina walton of organic social media and the remote producer of tony martignetti non-profit radio is john federico of the new rules. I sincerely hope you will be with me next week. Friday, one to two p, m eastern. You always find us at talking alternative dot com, which is the home of talking alternative broadcasting. Dahna good thing. The shooting. Good ending. You’re listening to the talking alternative network, waiting to get me anything. E-giving cubine how’s your game want to improve your performance, focus and motivation than you need? Aspire, athletic consulting stop second guessing yourself move your game to the next level, bring back the fun of the sport, help your child build confidence and self esteem through sports, contact dale it aspire athletic consulting for a free fifteen minute power session to get unstuck. 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