Donor Stories in Planned Giving Marketing–To Use or Not to Use

The planned giving industry assumes that donor stories are an effective way to inspire other donors and to increase engagement, including response, in marketing materials. But what is it about donor stories that inspires prospective donors to make gifts? Could certain donor stories have the opposite effect and decrease engagement and response?

To date there has been no formal, large-scale research study conducted on planned giving marketing materials to support or counter those assumptions—until now. The Pentera research study to be presented analyzes two key e-mail metrics: The click-through rate and the response rate from tens of thousands of eNewsletters that went to millions of prospective donors over several years. The study includes the surprising key finding that certain types of donor stories can actually decrease response rates. Based on the findings of the study, we will recommend when to use donor stories in marketing materials and when not to as well as what types to avoid. Guidelines are presented on how to write effective donor stories and donor blurbs to get the best response rates possible.

Presented by: Claudine A. Donikian, JD, MBA President & CEO