I don’t have a Patek Philippe watch, but I understand that they’re one of the world’s finest timepieces. How do I know this? I know it because they’ve spent years telling me that their watches are among the world’s finest timepieces!
Back in 1999, the company launched a brilliant ad campaign centered around a television spot entitled “Handing Down.” Their marketing executives believed that they could differentiate their product from their competitors by emphasizing the “heirloom” quality of Patek Philippe watches. They were so well-made and so beautiful, in other words, that an owner would want future generations to benefit by inheriting one.
Remember the “heirloom” emphasis when you’re getting ready to make the ask. It’s one thing to approach the ask as a mere transaction – “please consider giving $XX over X years, on the following pledge payment schedule” – but a wholly different, and more effective, strategy to emphasize the lasting value of a gift.
Properly imagined, an annual fund or leadership gift should have an effect for some time into the future . . . ideally, both a financial effect and an inspirational/motivational effect. Do your homework ahead of time and clearly demonstrate to the donor how their gift will give your institution more than a temporary bump.
Copyright 2010 by J. Mark Reimer
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