Pledge Periods Unlock Hyper-Philanthropy™

Hyper-Philanthropy™️ is about capitalizing on resources within your organization and community at-large. By doing this, you foster an environment where stakeholders understand the influence each has on the other, and the impact of serving the public good through philanthropy. This experience is supported by four pillars: Strategic Vision; Culture; Behavioral Economics; and Communication. These pillars form the foundation to build and/or enhance the greatest philanthropic platform possible for your organization. 

Hyper-Philanthropy™ refers to a paradigm where people feel motivated to give generously to your organization because you have a strong culture that meets donors where they are, and does tangible good in your community. The good your organization does is not only recognized, but is one of the key drivers of why pledge periods can be effective when conducting a capital campaign. If you’ve built a relationship-based model of giving, rather than a transactional one, chances are your donors and donor prospects want to give generously. They are looking to you to provide different ways they can support your organization, and accepting different types of gifts (i.e., stock, real estate and property, bequests, etc.) over a pledge period is an effective way to provide that opportunity.  

Remember– the loss rate on pledge periods is about 2-3%. That loss generally comes in the last year of a pledge period, when some donors see their gift is not making a difference and decide to cut their losses. It falls on your organization to show good stewardship in the first year(s) of a gift. There are several ways you can develop donor relations:

  • Take the donor on a tour to enhance communication and make the impact of their gift real to them.
  • Have a board member write them a thank you note explaining why their gift matters. In some cases, we have even found good stewardship on a lead gift can compel that donor to make the closing gift for a campaign as well.

Contact us if you’d like to get hyper about philanthropy.