The Pentera Blog
COVID-19 - Claudine and Meryl Cosentino of NYU Discuss Stewarding Donors, Marketing, and the CGP Conference in October
8th in a series
By Claudine A. Donikian, President & CEO, Pentera, Inc.
Claudine: Meryl, thanks so much for joining us. You've probably seen that I've been doing interviews with other industry experts to get a sense of what is going on in their organizations in these uncertain times. We also have a new COVID-19 resources page on our Web site that includes my recommendations for clients, these interviews, my latest whitepaper, and Webinars by industry experts. What people in planned giving really need right now is a sense of community and guidance. They want to know: How are some of the top organizations and industry leaders adapting their programs? We know those things are evolving, if not day to day than certainly week to week. How have you adapted working with donors and your stewardship plan?
Meryl: First, I want to thank you so much for inviting me and for hosting these conversations. They are a great resource for new ideas as well as for providing validation of what we are already doing.
At NYU, much of our focus is on the same things that Pentera has been sharing: building relationships and stewarding donors. Interestingly, I'm new to NYU, and this has provided me the opportunity to focus on building relationships with both my colleagues as well as with my donors.
One thing I have been doing is hosting gift planning information sessions with colleagues every other week; we've been calling them "coffee breaks": 15-20 minutes with 60+ fundraisers invited. I do a brief presentation and answer questions, and we follow up with a short cheat sheet that recaps the concepts.
The first one was on donor-advised funds; then we did one on POD (payable-on-death) accounts and one on CGAs. These are for gift officers who may never have worked in gift planning before, so I create a sample conversation for them so they feel more comfortable. That's where the impact on donors comes in.
After our first "coffee break," one of my colleagues had a conversation with a donor regarding a possible six-figure gift. The donor's investment portfolio was down 30 percent, and the donor had no cash sitting around. Happily, my colleague remembered our "coffee breaks" and that her donor had given through a DAF in the past. She asked him to recommend a grant from his donor-advised fund, and he said he would be happy to do that and added that he would even try to give more in a month or so.
People are starting to feel very comfortable having gift planning conversations, and their successes are so inspiring. I have an ear-to-ear smile on my face. It's amazing when you are starting out in a new organization and helping to build a new culture—and we are doing that regardless of the pandemic.
Claudine: Those coffee breaks are such a good idea. It's so important to build relationships internally and educate colleagues about planned giving because that can—and in your case really might—lead to gifts! Looking a little more closely at stewardship: in the beginning of March to mid-March, when everything started happening and shutting down, what was NYU's approach to asking or not asking for gifts? And how has it evolved?
Meryl: We never stopped having gift conversations, but we did adapt the focus on how we are communicating. We go into the phone call without an agenda; we are just checking in, doing stewardship. We make no assumptions; we actually ask them if they are still comfortable continuing our gift conversation, and we proceed accordingly.
Another thing that our VP started right from day one is an e-mail called the Daily Buzz; it goes to all fundraising staff and is like a mini newsletter that shares information, tools, and stories to help motivate staff and keep everyone's energy and spirits high.
We have also been sending personal videos to our donors with ThankView.
My whole pool is a discovery pool: They are new donors with whom I don't have a previous relationship. I have found these donors are quite happy to meet me on the phone or sometimes via Skype. The calls last an hour or so and are very similar to what a first in-person donor meeting would be like.
One donor suggested that we chat via Skype—but then he was shy and stayed off camera at the beginning. We somehow transitioned to a conversation about quilts and knitting—and eventually he felt comfortable being a part of the video call. Later that night he even sent me a photo of his entire family wearing Norwegian sweaters that his daughter had knitted! We are comfortable having these genuine conversations with donors, and they often turn out to be very productive.
Claudine: The phone and video calls seem to be much deeper and more personal than before the pandemic. Doing all of these interviews with industry people has deepened our understanding of these amazing donors and the gifts they make. Let me ask you about events. Are you doing virtual events?
Meryl: We were supposed to have a wonderful cultivation event at the Institute of Fine Arts, an incredible venue in New York City. That's not able to happen, so we are working to discuss how we might be able to transition this to a virtual event. We hope to have an even greater turnout because the venue can only hold so many people, but virtually we can handle far more.
Claudine: Yes, that makes sense. Many organizations are in the exact same boat. Moving on to marketing, what have you been doing? We offered our clients a pivot for their spring newsletter topic to the CARES Act and away from estate planning or a specific type of charitable gift. The CARES Act topic is clearly educational, functioning more as a resource and avoiding any perceived insensitivity in these unprecedented times.
Meryl: I agree with that, and we did include an inside panel in our upcoming newsletter that has information about the CARES Act. I chose to refocus our spring newsletter into a gratitude piece. The newsletter focuses on impact stories to show how our donors have made an impact on our university.
The donors are alumni of different schools, such as nursing and business, and they are giving to their specific schools. So there are a variety of donors who had an impact across the university. The stories are short but very moving and discuss the donors' connection with NYU and how the donors made their decisions.
Claudine: I do believe that focusing on the decision-making and the impact illustrates best practices of what donor stories should be about.
Meryl: See, the Pentera influence is there even when I'm not thinking about it!
Claudine: What about your marketing going forward?
Meryl: I want to see response and actual feedback from this newsletter and then determine how best to move forward afterwards. But I will say this: Staying in front of donors is critical; donors remember the charities that stay in touch with them.
Claudine: What final thoughts do you have for us?
Meryl: The pandemic doesn't mean that traditional forms of networking should stop. I am chair of the CGP National Conference in October, and I am really excited about it. Alan Alda is the keynote! And the closing plenary session will be on managing fundraising in a pandemic and post-pandemic world. While the conference this year will be a "virtual" one, we are working on finding a really great platform and ways for members to engage with the speakers and the sponsors. I really think it will be an innovative experience.
Claudine: It is always such a great conference with the best content. I'm sure that even though this year it will be held virtually, it will be one of the best conferences for people to attend. And we will be with you in any way possible.
Meryl: I can honestly say that I truly can't wait until the day when I can be standing in front of the Pentera booth and getting to say hello to all of my favorite people—whatever conference that turns out to be.
Recommendations to clients from Pentera CEO Claudine Donikian, JD, MBA
These are unprecedented times because of the rapidly changing landscape due to the coronavirus. We have the following recommendations for our valued clients:
- Steward donors. Personal updates about happenings at your organization and letting them know that you will be rescheduling any canceled events will be reassuring.
- Schedule phone or virtual meeting with planned gift donors. Scheduling calls and using other technology such as Facetime with donors would be the preferred alternative, even with local donors.
- Serve as a resource to donors. While only the occasional gift can be traced directly to the marketing resources we provide, it's important to remember that those resources lay the fundamental groundwork for planned gifts by educating your constituents about estate and financial planning and prompting them to take action. You can and should provide this valuable educational resource to your constituents, and your office should remember its main purpose is to serve as a resource as well.
- Make sure that your messaging is timely. Uncertain economic times are usually ideal for featuring gift annuities and charitable remainder annuity trusts that provide fixed income. Or donors may want to make a revocable gift such as a bequest provision or a beneficiary designation. However, given the current environment, a more timely approach would be to inform donors about the charitable implications of the CARES Act.
- Help donors take the long view regarding life-income gifts, and provide reassurance to your donors about them.
Read the details of these recommendations here.
Biography of Meryl R. Cosentino, J.D.
Executive Director of Gift Planning
New York University
Meryl R. Cosentino, J.D., has more than 30 years of estate and gift planning experience and is currently the executive director of gift planning at New York University (NYU). Meryl joins the NYU team after directing and growing the gift planning programs at both Stony Brook University and St. Francis Hospital. Prior to that, Meryl honed her philanthropic skills at The Nature Conservancy.
As a practicing attorney, Meryl specialized in representing parents of children with disabilities; and it was this work (tailoring estate plans to meet the specialized needs of her clients) that sparked her interest in pursuing a career in gift planning.
Meryl is a member of the board of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners (CGP) and is currently serving as conference chair for the 2020 CGP National Conference in Chicago. As a member of the CGP Speakers Bureau, Meryl enjoys sharing her expertise with gift planning councils across the country. Locally, Meryl is a president emeritus of the Philanthropic Planning Group of Greater New York (PPGGNY).
Meryl received her B.A. from Indiana University and her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, where she was an editor of the Brooklyn Law Review.
