Planned Giving Seminars Planned Giving Seminars Should do

Planned Giving Seminars

Planned Giving Seminars Should do 3 Things: Inspire people to take part in the mission work of the church Educate Share tools available to help fund the mission of the church through charitable estate planning Get Started Get people started on the process of planning their estate

To Help People Improve Their Lives • The SDA Church provides • Revelation Seminars to spread the gospel message • Healthy Diet Seminars to spread the health message • Financial Seminars to spread the stewardship message

Inspire Attendees To Take Part in the Mission Work of the Church Local Mission Next Level Global Mission Share reports on local mission work, what is being done in your community or by your organization that is making an impact on people’s lives and bringing them to Jesus Branch out to work being done at the next level, i. e. the conference or Union, what are your organization’s constituents, such as alumni or employees, doing to spread the gospel message Share stories of the Global Mission field. Show films or tell stories of workers who are working on the national or global scale.

Get People Started On the Process of Planning Their Estate • Help them with the first step such as a filling out an attorney questionnaire, give them bequest language, or let them know what the payout would be for a CGA • Schedule the next step, a meeting with you or an attorney https: //datzlawoffices. com

Partnering with professionals • Not many people want to come to a planned giving seminar • Give a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down, give them something else they are interested in that is related to planned giving

Some Allied Topics $ • Debt Elimination and Family Savings • Social Security Benefit strategies • Tax information • Retirement Planning • Elder Law (Medicare, Medicaid and Long Term Care Insurance) • Life Insurance Policies https: //www. quotemaster. org

Bringing in professionals who are experts in their fields • Make sure they are reputable • Have established themselves in their professions • Are not just after getting a list of potential clients from doing the seminar https: //shahriarshahabi. com

Scheduling the Seminar When to have the seminar is always a difficult decision to make for this type of seminar http: //www. blogherald. com

Seminars on the Sabbath • Some feel holding a seminar on the Sabbath, or at Sabbath Ending Vespers, is the best time to get a large group of people to attend. • Many feel that talking about money is not appropriate for the Sabbath. • Concepts of Stewardship focus on God and many feel a topic worthy of discussing on the Sabbath

Scheduling Around Sabbath • The topic of Stewardship could start the seminar if you decide to have it on Sabbath • More detailed discussions concerning money, taxes, estate planning, etc. can be delayed until after the Sabbath has ended or on another day of the week http: //lametroregion. com

Winter & Summer Months • In the winter months it will be easier to have a vespers program that starts a half hour before sundown, have singing and a message on stewardship and then onto the other topics • In the summer, especially the further north you go, it will be late into the evening before the sunsets and you may not want this to be a Sabbath ending program, and perhaps it could become a Sabbath beginning program • You may need to reverse the order and end with the concept of stewardship if it will already be the Sabbath by the time the program is over

Using Food to Get People to Attend • It may be more difficult to get people to come out on a different night so adding food may get people to come • You could have the Pathfinders put on a Spaghetti dinner to raise funds and get people to come out • You could offer Pancakes on Sunday morning • Or just offer light refreshments such as vegetables and dip, finger sandwiches or some other health option (or maybe not so healthy like cookies)

Prayer Meeting If there is a well-attended prayer meeting during the week ask the pastor to devote one of those prayer meetings to stewardship, planned giving and one of the other related topics

Marketing a Seminar for a Church About a month ahead of time • Put Posters or flyers up in the church • Advertise in their bulletin • Advertise in the church newsletter/email if they have one • Advertise on the church website

Marketing a Seminar for a Church About two weeks ahead of time • Have an announcement made during worship service • Advertise in the bulletin of other local churches https: //www. disboards. com

Marketing a Seminar for a Church Week before • Make an announcement in church yourself • Preach the sermon, can be stewardship related • Have a table set up in the foyer with information about your seminar • Resist the urge to have information laying out about estate planning • Only give people information about estate planning if they specifically ask for it • Have invitation cards made up with the date, time and location of your seminar that you can give to people as you talk with them http: //www. keepcalmandposters. com/

Marketing a Seminar for Organizations or Ministries • This will depend on the type of organization or ministry that you are • This will also depend on the type of event and what is going on around it • Will it be during an alumni event? • Will it be open to the community who is interested in supporting your organization? • Will it be something that you will record and broadcast through your ministry? http: //www. keepcalmandposters. com/

Marketing a Seminar for Organizations or Ministries • Use the marketing machine that you are already using • • • Broadcast Commercials Print Advertisements Email messages Postcard mailers Constituency meetings

Gathering participant’s information • Gather the information of all who attend the seminar • Make sure you ask for very basic information • Name • Phone number • Email • To Get this Information You can Have Everyone • Register before they come • Check-in when they get to the seminar • Have everyone fill in an information sheet and turn it back in voluntarily

Gathering participant’s information • Another way to gather information is to have people fill out surveys • What did they think about the seminar • Ways the seminar can be improved • Ask them to include their • Name • Phone number • Email address • Residence • To incentivize people to fill out the information sheets you can have some giveaways or a drawing http: //www. information 2. ga/

Scheduling One on One Meetings • Set aside the next day to meet with people on one • Give yourself about an hour for each appointment • Make a schedule available for people to sign up for time slots • Let people know what they should bring to the meeting • Current estate plans • Asset Information • Beneficiary Information

Follow Up • When you are talking with people ask them when you can follow up with them, e. g. tomorrow, next week, next month, etc. • Create a tickler system (Outlook works great for this) to make sure you follow up • Do not be surprised when you follow up and they haven’t done what they promised they will do • In this case just ask them when you can follow up again • For those who say they don’t want follow up send them an email 3 – 6 months later simply saying that you hope the seminar they attended was useful and that you are available to serve them as they make or update their estate plans