The Best Tips for Planned Giving Donor Visits

Once you have identified a good planned giving prospect, the next step will often be to schedule a donor visit. Since planned gifts require time and relationship, a personal meeting is essential to understanding a donor’s goals, building trust in your organization and relaying the benefits of a planned gift.

Because many of you have asked me to share strategies for donor visits, I decided to interview an expert in this area -- Janet Zinke, Development officer for The Village, located in Fargo, North Dakota. Janet is one of the most personable development officers I have ever met, which explains why she has been so successful at meeting and working with donors. She is like many of you in that she wears a lot of fundraising hats (including planned giving). She is also a stand-up comedian, which enables her to relate well with anyone. Here are Janet’s responses to my questions about meeting with donors and making “the ask” during a donor visit.

Kristen: What are some of the best ways you’ve found to secure a donor visit?

Janet: For an existing donor, I pick up the phone and make a friendly call. While on the phone, we chat a bit, and at some point I ask if it would be ok to stop by, or go out for coffee, to thank them in person. I also bring something special – personal-along to start conversation, like a jar of my homemade sauerkraut, homemade pie or something we have talked about in an earlier meeting. If it is someone that is new to our organization, I find out what I can about them and then simply ask for a short visit to get to know one another better.

Kristen: How do you typically begin the visit? What do you talk about?

Janet: We tend to discuss how they are connected to our organization and stories about why we are both passionate about the mission of The Village Family Service Center. The Village helps over 80,000 people each year in North Dakota and Minnesota, and has done so for 120 years. This means people usually have someone they know, or someone close to them that has been helped by our wide range of services. Others appreciate that we reach so many rural communities with these services as well.

Kristen: What are some of the important questions to ask in a donor visit?

Janet: My questions usually start with the basic who, where, and when before going more in depth into what, like what’s important to them and why? What are they passionate about? What would they like to achieve?

Kristen: What is the best way you’ve found to “make the ask” for a gift?

Janet: I have always felt a deep sense of honor at being allowed to represent an organization whose mission I have witnessed in action again and again…so many lives made better, with families and companies being made stronger. That is why asking for support has always come quite easily for me. I am honest and sincere about the serious need for their support. We usually have met to discuss how they feel about our services. Keeping in mind that I am a friend raiser, I invite them to explore with me what planned giving options fit best for them.

Thank you to Janet for sharing her creativity and ideas on effective donor visits. If you have other donor visit strategies to share, please email me at kristen@cresmail.com. I would love to share your ideas!