Talk It Up - Part 2
Guest Blogger: Gregory Harris
The Annual Report Is Your Best Publication
Annual reports can be the best publication your organization produces annually. Don’t think of the stuffy kind that Corporate America does, even they are changing. Read Coca-Cola’s new annual report—it reads like picture book yet gives you all the important, successful and interesting things they accomplished last year (and without the legal jargon). Four rules I have for annual reports: 1) available in four color hard copy and on the website, 2) something someone would actually pick up and read, 2) every page has large pictures or colorful graphs and few words and 3) has a theme.
Rack Brochure is the Evil Necessity
It’s an evil necessity for museums and attractions. Do these really bring business? Hard to tell unless you coupon, and even then it my not come close to the cost. But one thing is certain, if your organization is not in the rack or isn’t one of the first seven brochures spotted, your patrons and Board members will ask you why. You’ll hear more from them about the missing rack brochure than you will the quarterly publication, the membership package, the newspaper article, etc.
Planned Giving Brochure Gives You Respect
Whether your organization is large or small, with an endowment $500,000 or $50,000,000, employing a planned gifts officer or it’s everybody’s job, a planned giving brochure makes you look professional, accomplished and educated. The more custom the brochure (not the stick-your-hospital-name-on-the-cover), the more personalized your program will appear. Remember that perception is key to a person’s attitude. It’s not the only item you need (software, training, experience, etc), but if you’ve taken the time to personalize your program in a published format and demonstrate that you’re knowledgeable about the tools available for gifting, your donor may have a higher level of confidence that you can handle their lifetime assets.
The Annual Report Is Your Best Publication
Annual reports can be the best publication your organization produces annually. Don’t think of the stuffy kind that Corporate America does, even they are changing. Read Coca-Cola’s new annual report—it reads like picture book yet gives you all the important, successful and interesting things they accomplished last year (and without the legal jargon). Four rules I have for annual reports: 1) available in four color hard copy and on the website, 2) something someone would actually pick up and read, 2) every page has large pictures or colorful graphs and few words and 3) has a theme.
Rack Brochure is the Evil Necessity
It’s an evil necessity for museums and attractions. Do these really bring business? Hard to tell unless you coupon, and even then it my not come close to the cost. But one thing is certain, if your organization is not in the rack or isn’t one of the first seven brochures spotted, your patrons and Board members will ask you why. You’ll hear more from them about the missing rack brochure than you will the quarterly publication, the membership package, the newspaper article, etc.
Planned Giving Brochure Gives You Respect
Whether your organization is large or small, with an endowment $500,000 or $50,000,000, employing a planned gifts officer or it’s everybody’s job, a planned giving brochure makes you look professional, accomplished and educated. The more custom the brochure (not the stick-your-hospital-name-on-the-cover), the more personalized your program will appear. Remember that perception is key to a person’s attitude. It’s not the only item you need (software, training, experience, etc), but if you’ve taken the time to personalize your program in a published format and demonstrate that you’re knowledgeable about the tools available for gifting, your donor may have a higher level of confidence that you can handle their lifetime assets.
posted by Patrick Madden at 12:59 AM
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