After the First Call
Roger Ellison, CFP
appeared in the August issue of Planned Giving Today

You’ve finally had that first face-to-face visit with a donor. Now what do you do? Let’s begin by mentally reviewing the visit, recording and reporting results, planning and scheduling follow-ups, thinking through the potential relationship with the donor, and moving toward the gift that you really would have liked to have received on the first visit.
As you leave the first call, three issues must be addressed. First, repeat the appreciation with which you began the visit. (Cold Calls, Planned Giving Today, December 2003) Secondly, secure an invitation to return, even if you have to issue it yourself. Lastly, now is the best time to provide a business card or other “leave behind,” unless it has been absolutely necessary to provide such earlier in the meeting.
Once the first call is successfully exited, the tough stuff begins. Drive a few blocks to the shade of a tree, pull over and record the visit. We use a highly customized version of ACT! as a contact manager, but whether you use a customized contact manager on a notebook computer, or a 3 x 5 card, the systematic process described is much the same.
Evaluate the donor for purposes of planned giving. That evaluation is expressed as INA, SUS, PRO or PLN. Is the donor INActive, do you SUSpect they might become a prospect for a planned gift, are they a PROspect for a planned gift (someone who merits your investment of time, energy and resources to cultivate for a planned gift), or they are already a planned giver (PLN)? The assessment is quick, somewhat instinctive and subject to change; obviously, someone serendipitously discovered who should be identified as PLN might also be a PRO for another gift.
Recording the result of a substantive contact with numerical scores is the next step:
0 – Attempted visit
1 – cultivating relationship
2 – a specific presentation of the case for CHARITY
3 – a specific explanation of my work for CHARITY
4 – a specific presentation of the case for support/endowment
5 – the specific benefits of planned gifts/bequests
6 – a specific discussion of a gift for them
7 – maintaining relationship with planned giver
8 – discussion of a planned giving issue with a planning professional/significant other
Note: 1-8 above followed by T (2T, for example) equals telephone contact and, in the right, can be as significant a contact as one face-to-face.
A 0 shows that you tried by actually ringing the doorbell, a 1 says you got to know them but really didn’t get any substantive business done, but the other numbers help to document progress in the systematic process of moving toward a commitment. Over time, a cursory glance at the numbers can quickly reveal progress or lack thereof. Expectedly, many of your calls should include one or more of the numbers and though ideal, not all contacts will show a linear progression. For example, 2, 3, 6, reflects a very good meeting, though some important steps are still uncovered.
The single event which triggered the initial planned giving contact should be referenced. The drop down or check off list might include Advertisement, Article [not in your planned giving periodical], Booth, Called-in, Cold call, Direct Mail, Drop-in, Event, N/A, Publication [such as response card in planned giving quarterly], Referral, Seminar, Special Event, or Telethon. This may be helpful for later quick reference or more thorough analysis of your planned giving program.
Now it is time to write notes that capture the essence of the visit. The requirements are to be relevant, be thorough, be to the point and be careful. Record everything necessary to preserve the essence of the visit, but nothing which would cause embarrassment with that person were they able to read your notes. Expect that these notes might also have to be abbreviated when pasted into the organization’s fundraising software so as to exclude those facts, which, while relevant to you, might be inconsequential to the organization as a whole.
The next step, no doubt, is one of the aggravating sticking points for many planned giving officers and the organization for which they work. This step is absolutely essential to having a fail-safe process for updating information in the organization’s fundraising software; it involves two critical areas. First is the updating of information such as names, nicknames, salutations, address, email address, DOB(s), age, DOD, family, number and names of children, phone numbers, directions, etc. that every up-to-date fundraising software should include. Second, and equally as significant, is the process for getting that information from the planned giving officer to everyone in the organization that might be effected by that information. Experience has taught me it is much easier to describe what has to be done than to execute it! Somehow, this updated information must be readily available to your organization.
Experience has taught me to plan the next steps right now. Were there to dos indicated by the meeting that must be scheduled? (Please send me the brochure…) Is a follow-up phone call required or appropriate? (You asked me to check on…) Is it appropriate to schedule the follow-up meeting at this time? (Please come back and visit with me in two weeks…)
The call began with appreciation, it ended on a repeated appreciation, and now it is time to write a note of appreciation. Quick, simple, honest, and sincere - a handwritten note, ideally on a nice personalized note card, is a wonderful follow-up to a meeting with a donor. To be made perfect, the handwriting on the monarch envelope matches that of the writer inside, a carefully chosen commemorative stamp creates a touch of warmth, and a posting before the day is out bespeaks importance. And, to move from perfect to superlative, the commemorative stamps are several and from a time past, communicating that you have ruffled through a drawer to find the stamps to mail a very special greeting.
Important dates might be uncovered in the process which merit remembering and follow-up such as holidays, birthdays, anniversary, Valentine’s day, etc. Err on the side of acknowledgement, but beware the pitfalls of sending a birthday card unless the donor has told you of her birthday, or assuming your donor celebrates a particular religious or cultural holiday. Disaster can befall the careless one who fails to act, or acts inappropriately. Special occasions require special handling.
A new relationship has begun, the essential data has been recorded and action steps have begun. Now is the time to focus the planning to very purposefully build a relationship to produce a gift. Those familiar with The Artful Journey by William Sturdevant (which ought to be required reading for all planned giving officers), will find similarity between his ideas and mine, as I have adapted much from his work about Moves Management. To focus on the gift, we’ll look first at drop downs that address interest in the organization, financial rating, giving capacity, gift interests, as well as partners in the giving process. It is important to remember that each of these assessments is rather subjective, is based on incomplete information, may be erroneous and is subject to continual revision as more is learned.
Interest (in your organization now)
0 - No idea what interests are
1 - Not aware of  YOUR CHARITY
2 - Aware of  YOUR CHARITY, but no involvement
3 - Interested in YOUR CHARITY
4 - Involved, or had a good experience with YOUR CHARITY
5 - Dedicated and involved with YOUR CHARITY
6 - Very dedicated and involved with YOUR CHARITY
Financial Rating (initial but ongoing assessment)
1 - Modest
2 - Average
3 - Very Comfortable
4 - Wealthy
Giving Capacity (initial but ongoing assessment of their capacity to give, if properly motivated)
1 - less than $25,000
2 - $25,001 to $50,000
3 - $50,001 to $100,000
4 - $100,001 to $250,000
5 - $250,001 to $500,000
6 - $500,001 to $750,000
7 - $750,000 to $1,000,000
8 - $1,000,001 plus
Gift Interest(s) with space for as many as four different selections
Bargain Sale
Beneficiary Designation
Bequest
Charitable Gift Annuity
Charitable Lead Trust
Charitable Remainder Trust
Donor Advised Fund
Family Foundation
Life Insurance
Limited Partner in FLP
Outright Gift
Retained Life Estate
Natural Partners are those three or four persons with whom the donor might consult during the gift making process. Included might be key confidantes, professional advisors, board members, family members or even planned giving officers from other organizations. They are factors of which the planned giving officer should be aware and perhaps involve in the process. Within this group of partners is probably a Primary Partner, with whom the donor will always consult before making a gift. Sometimes, of course, the donor consults, for good or bad, with no one and makes their own decision.
Obvious, but certainly not to be overlooked, is identifying the Solicitor, the person within the organization who officially manages the entire process. Often this is the planned giving officer, but sometimes it might be another within the organization.
Now, looking back on what we have done since we left the first meeting, we have addressed sixteen critical areas (most of them multifaceted), made numerous initial assessments and have begun a formal planning process for developing a relationship which leads to a gift. And we’re still only a few blocks from their house! In a later issue, we’ll examine the relationship building process in much greater detail.