Nearly ten years ago I made a new friend.
It started out with an error. I wrote a blog post about the link between childlessness and planned giving. But I screwed up my math. Dr. James reached out to ‘help’ me catch the error and we struck up a dialogue via my blog.
At that time I was just beginning to pivot my business. We were a marketing agency helping private sector CEOs generate, qualify and prioritize leads for relational sales. But we were experimenting with some of my beloved nonprofits to help them do pretty much the same thing. Later I would name our approach Engagement Fundraising and my business would change forever.
The result of our friendship? Free stuff for you!
When we first met, I didn’t know who he was or what he was doing. But as soon as our first telephone conversation ended, Russell sent me an email with a link to a website he created to help nonprofit professionals and financial advisors encourage generosity.
At the time, some of the no-cost presentations on his site had very few (if any) ‘views.’ But his content was awesome!
That’s when I realized we could help one another. I needed amazing, helpful content to help me engage with more fundraisers. And, he needed someone to promote his work.
So I invited him to host a webinar.
After that first event, the positive reviews poured in. Fundraisers absolutely loved his content and they thanked me for getting it out to the sector.
They also rewarded me and my staff by taking an interest in how we help fundraisers land more meetings with qualified high value donors (those who are ready to talk about donating major gifts of assets). But not with wealth screening. Rather, with our Engagement Fundraising System.
So the scientist and the marketer teamed up.
Of course, he’s a scientist. As a result, his content can be a bit wonky. Even he recognizes and admits this.
So, me and my staff simplified it for you. We took his brilliance and made it just a little less scientific, and bit easier to understand quickly. Then we packed it up in super-brief e-reports.
Many appreciate that we do this. While others prefer the wonky stuff.
And now, here’s the list.
1. Dr. James’ Encourage Generosity Website: This is the site I first found years ago which includes tons of free items such as Powerpoint decks, recordings of 16 lectures, quizzes and more.
2. Wills That Won’t Ebook: This ebook explains why wills and trusts are on the decline while beneficiary designations and trusts are becoming more and more popular and how to use it to your advantage to keep planned gifts flowing.
3. Dr. James’ Visual Planned Giving Book: This full-color textbook was specifically designed for fundraisers or financial advisors seeking to expand their knowledge about charitable gift planning.
4. Inside The Mind Of The Planned Giving Donor: This eBook simplifies Dr. James’ research on brain neuroimaging and its impact on planned giving marketing.
5. His Complementary Online Charitable Gift Planning eCourse: Study, learn and get 13 CFRE credits at no cost to your or your employer whatsoever. This series of video lectures covers everything there is to know about the law and tax aspects of charitable gift planning. The course was created for fundraisers and financial advisors seeking bite sized nuggets of wisdom to expand their knowledge about charitable gift law and taxation. Plus, you can download the course at one time or have the courses emailed to you over time.
6. How To Use Donor Surveys To Raise More Money (Recorded Webinar): Learn the science behind effective surveys for fundraising, the important components of the most effective survey, and how to properly talk about the benefits (for your donor) of giving in a survey.
7. Words That Work: This eBook will help you understand exactly what words inspire major and legacy giving.
8. Words That Work 2: More words that work! This is a follow-up to the eBook listed above.
9. Words That Work 2 (Recorded Webinar): Same as above but you can view the webinar here.
10. News From The Ivory Tower (Recorded Webinar): Learn the latest demographic trends from data showing who makes estate plans, when the plans are added and dropped, and who ultimately transfers dollars at death. Plus, which words you should avoid to maximize legacy gift disclosures, which types of donor stories elicit the most favorable responses from planned giving prospects and the latest neuroimaging data showing how different marketing messages influence planned giving decisions.