ALS Chapter Launches Major and Planned Gift Initiatives
“WealthEngine has allowed us to get out of our passive modes of fundraising and be more strategic,” says Gretchen G. Lightfoot, Director of Development for the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the ALS Association.
“We used to rely on special events and grant-writing, and now we are launching a major gift effort as well as a planned giving program.”
The Los Angeles Chapter of The ALS Association is a relatively young organization, started in 1988. Lightfoot came to the chapter four years ago as their first director of development. She explains, “Previously, I had been doing development for a private school, so we knew all the parents and families. ALS serves a much larger community, and WealthEngine has really helped us identify our prospects and develop strategies to reach them.”
Lightfoot shares three particular ways that she has used WealthEngine:
- Connections, to find out who is connected to whom. Then, Lightfoot can ask questions of a particular constituent, such as, ‘Does your company have a workplace giving program, or would you be able to introduce us to so-and-so?’ Lightfoot notes, “ALS is a different type of organization in that we respond to needs. People come to ALS by necessity, not by choice. When they are in the middle of dealing with ALS, they may not think about our organization’s fundraising needs. WealthEngine gives me a bridge to people, and then I make it work.”
- Initial efforts at planned giving solicitations. Last year, Lightfoot had a WealthEngine age overlay done. Then, in August, they sent out a letter to planned-giving prospects, soliciting charitable IRA rollover gifts. This year, they sent out a similar letter in late October. The timing this year was crucial as there has been interest--one person has already made their largest gift ever to the chapter. Lightfoot adds, “Using WealthEngine tools, we will be able to continue and expand our planned giving efforts.”
- Dialog NewsRoom, which allows us to track corporations and ALS patients. Lightfoot explains that the chapter currently serves approximately 450 patients in a seven-county area, but there are nearly 1100 patients in the chapter’s service area. She says, “With WealthEngine’s Dialog NewsRoom option, we can find patients in the area who have Lou Gehrig’s Disease and make contact with them. It also gives me immediate access to obituaries, so I can contact families to set up a memorial funds. Finally, it allows us to track local corporate activity and look for ways to enhance both our corporate relationships and our partnerships with other local vendors, service providers, and nonprofit organizations.”
“WealthEngine has been an incredible investment so far for me and my organization, and I hope we never end our relationship with WealthEngine,” concludes Lightfoot.
