Identifying Legacy Prospects: The 12-12-12 Rule

Wouldn’t it be great to reach every single donor on file with a personal contact? The reality is that many nonprofit teams have limited time and capacity. You can cast a wide net to those who might be interested, but you want to be strategic with those who are most likely to become legacy donors. In other words, you want to find your best legacy prospects.

So how do you identify the best legacy prospects? We suggest three markers:  

1. 12 Years on File  

This is about donor loyalty. Who has been with you, supporting you every step of the way. When looking for legacy donor prospects, seek out donors who have been supporting your cause for at least 12 years.  

What does this look like in your database? 

You might have a specific data point for length on file. If so, great! Use that to filter out anyone who is “younger” than 12 years on file.  

If you don’t have that data point, you can look at “contact created date” or “date of first gift” to give you an idea of when that donor might have begun supporting you. With some simple math, you should be able to calculate length on file by comparing today’s date with the date of first gift.  

 2. The Last 12 Months 

If a donor has given recently, it means your organization remains top of mind for them. The rule of thumb here is to look for donors who have given a gift of any size within the last 12-24 months.  

What does this look like in your database? 

This one is a bit more straightforward. You’ll want to look at the date of the last gift and see if it falls within the last 12-24 months. You might be wondering about gift size at this point. Gift size is important too, but what we know for certain is that recency of gift correlates more closely with legacy giving than gift size.  

3. 12 Gifts 

How many times has your donor chosen to support you? This data point shows not only donor loyalty, but also that this donor continues to value your organization’s work beyond a “transactional” one-time gift. When it comes to legacy prospects, you will want to look for donors who have given at least 12 gifts.  

What does this look like in your database? 

You might have a data point for gift count in your database or CRM. If so, use that. If you don’t, you might need to get creative using dates of gift to calculate a gift count. You could simply tally up each gift using a spreadsheet. Whichever method you use, be sure to focus on gift count and not gift size. Remember, gift count correlates more closely with legacy giving than gift size!  

Other Considerations 

Many organizations choose to expand their list to include other groups of interest as well. We know that these groups have a higher likelihood of becoming legacy donors, or sometimes they just have a higher capacity to give, so you may wish to include these legacy prospects as well: 

• Founding members
• Current and past board members
• Loyal volunteers
• Recurring gift donors (monthly donation programs, etc.)
• Major donors and high-net-worth donors 

Although high net worth donors are important to your organization, net worth is not the most important indicator of a legacy donor. A donor’s gift through their will is usually 10 times more than their lifetime total; it’s the largest gift they make. It’s important to talk to all loyal donors, not just the wealthiest. 

Making Sense of Data 

The 12-12-12 rule isn’t an exact science. You may still need to bring in other data points to help you find a manageable number of legacy prospects. However, the 12-12-12 rule helps make sense of the data you have, and it’s a good reminder of the data points that matter most when looking for your next legacy donor. It’s a great place to start.  

When you’re ready to dig deeper, we are here to help! 

 

P.S. If you are attending the CGP Conference in Orlando, stop by our booth to talk to us about proving your legacy impact at your organization!