A New Approach to Estate Donations—Automated Yet Still Personal

When it comes to digital estate fundraising, your organization faces challenges that need to be addressed. The topics of estates and donations are sensitive and require a well-thought-out approach.

Among the key challenges that need to be overcome are:

Limited budgets , as acquisition costs in estate fundraising are higher than in broader individual giving.

High technical complexity in implementing marketing automation tools.

Resistance from donors who find it difficult to grapple with the sensitive topic of estate planning.

The need to build trust with potential bequest donors .

Personalized engagement is essential for building a relationship with donors.

A successful strategy takes all these aspects into account and helps your organization effectively engage in legacy giving.

The topic of wills requires a gentle approach, since one’s own passing isn’t exactly a favorite pastime. Therefore, you should avoid getting straight to the point if possible. Ideally, you’ll reach your target audience at the right time through the right channel. To ensure this, it’s advisable to address the topic of wills as part of a broader strategy—the Lifecycle Strategy ( LCS). Instead of segmenting contacts solely by age, they can also be grouped by lifecycle phases. These phases are determined by answering the question: How strongly is my contact connected to my organization? 

For example, a lead generated through a Facebook campaign may be interested in your organization’s work, but is by no means strongly connected to it. In this case, you need to consider measures to help the contact progress to the next phase and become more receptive to the topic of bequests. Regular donors, on the other hand, can be approached somewhat more directly on the topic of “bequests,” since they are already familiar with the organization. 

Another important step is implementing a legacy scoring system, which allows you to target potential legacy donors. Assign points for interactions to identify the optimal time for a personal outreach. In addition, lead magnets help attract new contacts and spark interest. Whether they’re informative guides or invitations to webinars—these tools help build trust and lay the foundation for a lasting relationship, which increases the chances of receiving bequests.

To make effective progress in digital estate-based fundraising, concrete steps are needed to help you raise awareness among donors about estate giving and encourage them to participate.

The individual steps for implementation: 

1. Raise awareness:  Use emotional videos or themed newsletters to spark interest in the topic of bequests. The content should be engaging and resonate emotionally with your target audience. Experiment with different formats to find out what works best.

2. Spark interest: Use lead magnets that offer real value, such as informative guides or invitations to special events that introduce the target audience to the topic of estate planning. These resources should be easily accessible.

3. Trigger a desire: Integrate an automated email journey that includes additional informational materials and offers to encourage contacts to learn more about estate planning. Offer valuable content that supports the decision-making process (e.g., estate planning calculators).  

4. Take action, please!: Digital end-of-life communication is less about immediate results and more about kicking off the process of building a relationship. The boldest among us will take the plunge and complete a will online in the final step of the journey (for example, through portals like DeinAdieu), and will consider designating an organization as a beneficiary. Others, however, need more time and may benefit from a personal conversation. This is exactly what can be offered in the final step to dispel any remaining doubts. 

All in all, marketing automation helps simplify communication, save resources, reach a larger target audience, and increase engagement. This engagement is an investment in the organization’s future.

When it comes to digital estate fundraising, organizations face challenges such as high acquisition costs and technical complexity. A well-thought-out strategy is crucial for overcoming these hurdles. Marketing automation streamlines processes and enables organizations to target potential donors effectively. With a lifecycle strategy (LCS), you can segment contacts and address them individually, which increases the chances of success.

Use lead magnets, emotional videos, and themed newsletters to spark interest and build trust. An automated email journey supports the communication of information. Personal conversations help dispel any remaining doubts. Implement these recommendations to succeed in estate fundraising.

Would you like to learn more about “bequest giving”? Then we highly recommend our case study. In it, we describe our joint project with the Swiss Red Cross, Canton of Zurich, where we were able to implement this type of automation.