Ever since I’ve been working on tribute funds, I’ve heard an often-quoted fact referred to only as ‘2×2x2’ – sounds cryptic, doesn’t it? If you don’t know, the 2×2x2 model means ‘if someone leaves you two gifts in memory of a loved one, they are more likely to leave a legacy and the value of that legacy is twice the size of the average legacy.’

Sounds like a winning formula but is it actually true? After ploughing through numerous US publications I can finally dispel the myth. In a document created by The Sharpe Group, a US specialist in gift planning since 1963, they say:

Experience shows that those who make gifts in memory of the same person on more than one occasion are much more likely to leave a bequest to the same organization, whether or not the bequest is specifically designated in the will as a memorial gift.

Studies of wills that contain gifts for charitable purposes have revealed that bequests from the estates of persons who had made one or more gifts to an organization in memory of a loved one during their lifetime tend to be two to three times larger than bequests left by others.

Hurrah! If only it was that easy though… The success of this formula depends very much on charities having a strong stewardship programme in place. By coaxing additional in-mem gifts from a donor, they will have greater engagement over the donor’s lifetime.

Charities are becoming increasingly dependant on legacy incomes so now is the time that in-mem and tribute giving programmes must take on an even greater strategic role. I often hear about the importance of legacies to an organisation, and how everyone has a part to play. Isn’t it about time we started recognising the importance of in-mem’s role in this as well?

Read the entire article at Fundraising UK.

You can read the entire article at Civil Society.

Some of the subject areas covered included: listening and questioning skills, keeping boundaries, telephone skills, what bereaved people say helps and what doesn’t, devising prompt sheets, and looking after yourself – not taking emotional matters home.

OLT’s Richard Patterson also gave delegates a presentation on the exciting new developments on the Tributefunds.com web platform, and Richard and Kevin stayed on to answer questions from delegates on many aspects of In Mem and Tribute fundraising.

The day was fully booked with many on the waiting list. We intend to run another of these days later in the year, so if you or a colleague would like to attend, email your details to Maria Alejandra Bavio to be added to the list to receive information as soon as the next date is announced.

“We are sure this will provide a substantial, measurable boost to our fundraising. The Facebook application makes it very easy for fund organisers to reach people most likely to donate – they can easily select the friends who knew that person in order to invite donations. Social media will prove to be a powerful tool to help us increase fundraising. ”

The application is the next development of the Whitewater-developed ‘Our Lasting Tribute’ platform which enables charities to create branded In Memoriam sites, giving people the opportunity to set up tribute sites and raise money for their chosen charity. The agency already has 23 charity clients using this service and expects the Facebook application to extend its appeal. The app integrates completely with the website platform.

Richard Patterson, Head of Digital, at Whitewater, adds:

“The application will market itself virally, as users’ friends see it and they pass it on to their friends on Facebook. Using Facebook to channel donations is also a very accountable use of social media for the client, as we can track donations using Google Analytics. Tribute funds have a high return on investment compared to other forms of fundraising and taking this into social media will increase both donations and referrals. The application is entirely branded by the charity making it a seamless extension to their tribute fundraising activity.”

The site is part of a new marketing drive to take Our Lasting Tribute’s message to a wider charity audience.

As well outlining what strategic support Our Lasting Tribute is able to give charities, the site showcases, for the first time, the company’s website platform, Tributefunds.com, already used by 25 charities across a range of causes.

“We are convinced,” said Mark Roper, Managing Director of Whitewater, “that if more charities knew about the truly extraordinary ROIs being achieved by many of our clients, then more charities would be strategically committed to this form of fundraising.”

The new website features case studies from the NSPCC and Breakthrough Breast Cancer, both of which are managing fast growth, high ROI programmes.

In the case of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, they have raised over £1.1million through their tribute fund programme at an ROI of 15:1. And the NSPCC are finding their programme to be an unexpected source of new high value donors.

So welcome to our new website.

Have a look around and see what Our Lasting Tribute can do for you.