The Pentera Blog
Research Supports the Value of Educating Your Donor Base About Philanthropy
In planned giving, it’s easy to hyper-focus on short-term data such as the response rate from a marketing campaign. But for long-term success, it’s important to remember the tremendous value of educating donors and prospects about philanthropy in general and planned giving in particular.
The value of educating your donor base is made clear in data presented in the latest edition of the Bank of America Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy and presented at the 2024 National Association of Charitable Gift Planners conference in Orlando, Florida. Over the years, the BOA study has consistently revealed a strong correlation between a donor’s knowledge of philanthropy and the size of their gift and 2022 is no exception.
- On average, donors who rated themselves as “expert” in overall knowledge of charitable giving gave nearly three times as much ($43,838) in 2022 as those who rated themselves as “knowledgeable” ($14,927) and 15 times as much as those who considered themselves as “novices” ($2,818).
- Further, over half of donors who rated themselves as “expert” said they use—or plan to use—a giving vehicle, compared to 39.1% of those rating themselves as “knowledgeable” and just 14.4% of self-identified “novices.”
Simply put, for a donor to make a planned gift, they must first understand the options available. By educating donors with your marketing materials—a speciality of Pentera—you are securing your potential for long-term success of receiving planned gifts in ways not always visible in short-term response-rate data.
“This research proves that Pentera clients are at a clear advantage because of our unique focus on educating donors with our superior content in addition to generating leads,” says Claudine Donikian, president and CEO of Pentera, Inc. “The importance of educating donors cannot be overstated. Donors need knowledge of gift vehicle types in order to use them.”
According to the study’s findings, only about 4% of affluent donors consider themselves as “expert” in philanthropy, meaning there is a big opportunity of receiving more planned gifts if you educate more of your donor base. The more knowledgeable your donors, the more likely they are to make significant gifts to support your future. In addition to generating leads, educating your donors should be top priority in your marketing strategy.
You can see the full Bank of America study here.
