To Seminar or Not to Seminar …Whether ‘tis nobler in the minds of your financial department to send your staff (or you) to professional development conferences, ours is not to question why. Ours is to say, “Yes. ‘Tis nobler.” A well-chosen conference or seminar accomplishes a world of goals, not the least of which is the education of staff. Well-chosen is a key phrase. In our planned giving introductory course, Knowing the Essentials of Planned Giving (KTE), John starts the session informing the class that nearly 90 percent of major/planned gift officer time should be spent engaged in personal relationships with donors. 90 percent. That doesn’t leave much time for seminars. In almost 30 years, we’ve seen lots of new people join the business and quite a few who come back to seminar year after year, to keep their solicitation skills sharp. Some attend “KTE” to be refreshed on terms and new laws. Others choose Extending your Experience for pure case study immersion. Our most successful seminar attendees use their time with us wisely by taking advantage of ancillary seminar benefits: colleagues and concentration. Before making any choice about the right time to seminar, consider the right reasons and benefits to seminar. Planned giving concepts are philosophically and legally complex.Laws change. Assets and family situations vary. Donors feel more protective of their personal information than ever. Seminars offer concentrated information that can be digested through lectures, exercises, and peer/instructor interaction. At JBL’s seminars, the structure and uses of differing planned gifts are defined, and the class is asked to interact to ensure that basic concepts are absorbed. However, the thrust of a JBL seminar, particularly Knowing the Essentials and Extending Your Experience, is to teach participants to talk to donors about planned giving without jargon. Moreover, the seminars teach participants how to listen. Your donors are telling you what you need to know to offer them one or more solutions to their charitable investment issues. Do you hear them? Star Bellied Sneeches: Solving case studies on beaches.If you’re a Dr. Seuss fan, you know the Sneech issue: We’re all the same on the inside, regardless of what we look like on the outside. We all learn from diversity, etc. Good stuff. However, if Seuss had written a sequel to his beloved children’s book, it might have been titled, “Sometimes, you can learn a lot from your kind.” It would rhyme and Seuss would have made up words, but that’s what it would mean. When we’re with our own, we are uniquely empowered to problem solve. As I said, many JBL seminar participants come back year after year. They bring their own challenging cases. We encourage you to bring yours. Through your case studies and those that we have gathered from clients through the years, JBL seminars become think tanks for planned gift possibilities. Advanced attendees learn by having to articulate strategy and think on their feet; more novice attendees learn the process for considering a planned gift strategy. It works. Problem solving—It’s not just about case studies anymore.Moreover, when we’re with our own, we can … complain. What’s so great about that? As major/planned giving officers, we have similar problems and perspectives. The opportunity to complain outside your organization’s gossip mill and receive “I been there, Jack” affirmations has tremendous institutional value. We all endure some combination of difficult donors, challenging administrations and politics. Getting past those hurdles to success takes a village. In many cases, what starts as a complaint at a JBL seminar becomes a group discussion, led by John. Nothing says I love you like three days at the Boston Marriott.While we don’t meet at the beach, sending more than one colleague to a JBL seminar at an out-of-town venue magnifies the benefits to donor solicitation tremendously. First, JBL philosophy of donor-centered solicitations works most effectively when everyone in your institution is on the same page. Donor-focused, jargon-free language, like any language, gets stronger when everyone speaks it. At a JBL seminar, participants speak the language until it’s comfortable. Imagine having a coach to continue practicing with, after the seminar is over. To encourage group learning, JBL offers discounts to multiple attendees at any one conference. Call our office for rates. Second, the camaraderie of a seminar builds better teams at home. An opportunity to step outside the daily grind with colleagues is one every institution tries to create artificially through office parties and “retreats.” In a JBL seminar, nightly assignments encourage attendees to work and talk together, after seminar hours. Many attendees form their own network for support after the seminar is over. Could your staff use some teambuilding? The John Brown Limited seminars are held year-round to meet the needs of the nonprofit planned giving community. If you are interested in conversing with donors and closing more gifts, consider a JBL seminar. You’ll be glad you did.
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January 2007June 2008:Archived Newsletters |
