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Why Do I Need a Planned Giving Website?

Donors and prospects typically want to complete their due diligence and check out a nonprofit's planned giving website before making any decisions about a planned gift. Without a resourceful, educational and inspirational planned giving website in place, donors will miss out on learning why they should leave a gift to your nonprofit. Therefore, a planned giving website is crucial.

Your website provides current and prospective donors with an opportunity to learn more about how to give in smart and meaningful ways that benefit both their families and favorite charities. With this in mind, an effective planned giving website will engage, inspire and educate visitors, as well as encourage them to respond to calls to action. A website creates the ability to track analytics and make valuable connections with people who are interested in your mission. Let's take a closer look at some of the key reasons to have a planned giving website.

Gift planning is unique and requires a heavy dose of engagement, education and inspiration. Since most prospective donors are going to be checking out your planned giving website, you will want to ensure that the website is current and comprehensive. Some questions to ask: Is our website attractive and easy to navigate? Is the content easy to understand? A strong online presence plays a fundamental role in the success of your lead generating efforts.

You will want your website to inspire visitors. A website can motivate visitors by keeping the mission front and center with inspiring stories of donors who have supported the organization over the years. Donor stories can leave a lasting impact on the visitors who come to the website.  An effective donor story can show how a connection to the mission of the organization has led donors to take action to make a difference. This action may encourage others to make similar gifts and join in the mission.

Planned giving is a relatively easy concept to understand, even though the finer details can be quite complex. Your planned giving website can serve as a place for visitors to learn more about various planned gifts. Donors and prospects are not the only ones who can benefit from this education. Your website can also serve you, development staff and community advisors. Do you need a little refresher course on the current laws surrounding the qualified charitable distribution? No problem, just take a look at your website.

Engagement, inspiration and education are important qualities for your website, but what comes next after a visitor becomes engaged? A planned giving website can help to encourage visitors to act with a number of calls to action, and it can also supply you with further stewardship opportunities by helping to track the most frequent visitors.

Since the website will act as the hub of all of your marketing activity, outreach materials such as emails, videos, surveys, social media posts and printed literature pieces, must have a "next step" leading the prospects to your website. The goal will be to guide them to a webpage with more detailed information and an appeal to support your mission. There should always be a next step in your marketing efforts. In fact, the website is not the ending point; it is the doorway that will lead visitors to take another step. Even after a gift is given, an effective website will provide information to donors that is useful for their lives. This helpful information will encourage return visits to read the new and timely information. It also demonstrates to donors that you care about them and your organization continues to care about its mission.

Another benefit of having a website is being able to track web traffic through analytics. The goal of analytics is converting web traffic into real leads. If you recognize that your website can serve to make concrete connections and convert casual visitors to active followers who want to learn more, you will have taken the first important step toward growing your lead generation.

Planned giving websites are absolutely necessary for any nonprofit in the modern age! If you do not have a planned giving website or would like to discuss how to revitalize your planned giving website, please contact us. We are here to help.

Bree Daniel

By Bree Daniel
Integrated Marketing - Southeast Region, Crescendo Interactive, Inc.

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