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The tail is wagging the dog..its time to stop..
Submitted by stephengeorge on 2 April, 2008 - 18:02.
The tail - the legacy pledge - is wagging the dog - the fundraisers. Its time to stop.
The research we (the NSPCC) have undertaken with Whitewater was clear. Donors dont like, understand or want to tell us if they have left a gift (in general) - but we keep on nagging them. They feel its private. They see telling a charity as a barrier. They are scared they will be pestered. They are scared they will have to change their mind. Sure, there are exceptions but in general this is what they think. Somehow, we all know this. And we, as a sector have pretty well stopped listening. This quest for the pledge is controlling our conversation, our materials, our campaigns, our creative, our voice. So its no more for us. There....its done - time to move on.
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More on this from Whitewater
Michelle Taylor at Whitewater has commented on this change too. In NSPCC and Whitewater say no to legacy pledging she writes that the NSPCC will measure success "by the number and quality of legacy conversations across all media – both face to face and direct marketing". Furthermore, "future DM strategy will be developed with this new approach in place".
Whitewater worked on research for the NSPCC that helped inform this decision as part of a review of legacy strategy based on donor insights.
Brave and overdue decision
I'm sure you're right, Stephen, so well done to NSPCC for taking that step. You're right: as a legacy fundraiser a decade ago I had a feeling that seeking confirmation of a pledge was a step too far for many supporters. But I didn't stop asking for it.
It was more relevant to me as a fundraiser, ever keen to show that legacy campaigns were having an impact, even if the bequests themselves weren't going to be arriving for several/many years.
But it wasn't relevant to the supporters. Applying the test of 'would I do that?' to the request for a pledge, I knew I wouldn't have done so had I not been a legacy fundraiser, aware of the desire of my peers at the recipient charities to learn of a pledge.
So, mea culpa, and let's see how many other charities follow this overdue development.