An Interview with Charlotte Meyer, Director of Planned Giving, Ocean Conservancy

Ocean Conservancy's planned giving program includes direct mail, a calling program, print advertisements, personal messaging and in-person visits, allowing for multiple opportunities to begin conversations with donors. The campaign includes PGReply™ cards, a VirtualGiving™ website, and PGResponder™, a highly-targeted planned giving calling program from The Planned Giving Company.

Q: Please tell me about the planned giving marketing program goals, strategy and tactics for Ocean Conservancy.

A: My role as Director of Planned Giving is to inspire members to want to invest in Ocean Conservancy and to empower members to complete their investment through a wide variety of outright and planned gifts. Everything I do supports this mission. How we accomplish this is through a variety of internal marketing channels and opportunities, often in partnership with the membership department.

In addition to using PGReply™ postcards, and PGResponder™ calling program through The Planned Giving Company and the VirtualGiving™ website, I try to look for opportunities within my organization to market planned giving. I work closely with membership department, because their member file contains my best leads for PG. They've included PG bequest buck slips inside their gift acknowledgements, included PG bequest questions in their member surveys to help me generate leads, and frequently review their packages to see where adding a PG note or opportunity might be appropriate. Because our membership is nearing 100,000 and I'm only mailing to a few thousand of the most loyal donors, my PG marketing doesn't compete with or interrupt their mail flow. Also available in-house, PG is able to offer CGA opportunities through our regular ad in every issue of Ocean Conservancy's magazine, Splash. In August, we were invited to do a 4-page Legacy insert which will be designed in house. All this internal support creates makes PG marketing more efficient and cost effective.

I also reach out to my donors and prospects with personal correspondence. I send hand written birthday cards, holiday cards and Valentine's Day cards, which are a big hit, because people don't expect them. And, I can't say enough about the importance of personal phone calls and visits.

Q: I heard that recently, you were in a PG jam.

A: Yes, and there is a happy ending to the story! Membership facilitated an in-house member survey to 6,800 of our most loyal members. One of the survey questions asked several questions about their bequest intentions. Out of 6,800 surveys I received 300 responses regarding planned gifts, and 200 of them were identified as high-level prospects.

While it was fantastic to have such a surge of prospects, the timing was difficult. I was about to begin an aggressive travel schedule to visit donors AND we had recently mailed a PGReply™ planned giving postcard about CGAs - and you know those responses are labor intensive and highly individualized. As a one-person PG shop, there was just not enough of me to go around and take care of 200 prospects who expressed serious interest in making a bequest intention, respond to 50 CGA inquiries, and keep my donor visits.

So, I looked to The Planned Giving Company and called Sam for help. Sam suggested I consider having 3 or 4 seasoned PG officers (all of whom consult with The Planned Giving Company's PGResponder™ Program) might be a good solution and that they could call and follow through with these leads. Together, the team and I reviewed information about our organization's policies and procedures and about Ocean Conservancy in general. After careful review of the call list, we narrowed those prospects down to about 100 of our most loyal members. For a very reasonable fee, they called our best prospects and uncovered $365,000 in gift intentions! Talk about return on investment! In addition to the efficient, wonderful, personalized service, they also did all the follow up. At the end of our contract, I received a detailed report on every contact and follow up they made, and a plan for those members they did not reach. Gayle Union [the calling program director] and her team were great friends to me when I needed help. It was a true success story.

Q: What tips can you offer on how to handle being a department of one?

A: Having a team behind the scenes, whether outsourced or in-house is critical to the success of our program. In our planned giving department there is just me. That's why I'm so grateful to The Planned Giving Company. I wear many hats and am on the road nearly half the month, so I need a system that I can put in place that just works. The Planned Giving Company provides that, complete with peace of mind. When I need to bounce ideas off someone, Sam has always been there for me. He really helps me step back and look at my entire planned giving program holistically. When there's not enough of you to go around, this is the way to go.

Q: What's your favorite PG marketing tip for getting a face-to-face meeting?

A: Have a shtick to get in to see people. My husband is a beekeeper. I call or write to tell a prospect I'm going to be in town and I'd love to bring them a jar of my husband's honey as a small token of thanks for their support. If I don't hear from them, I just drive by their house and I drop it off in the mailbox or leave it on the porch with a note. I almost always hear back from them via email or a call to say, "thanks!" They don't forget being thanked in a sincere and personal way. It makes a positive impression. Something unusual and interesting about you, such as quirky hobby, a signature dessert or cookie, or growing prize roses, can be the key to open the door to a conversation about a planned gift.