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Abstract:
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This paper takes departure in decision-making related to legacy gifts to the Danish organization
Kræftens Bekæmpelse. Kræftens Bekæmpelse is working with cancer related issues, and is one of
the largest fundraising organizations in Denmark. The main income source for the organization is
legacy gifts. However there is a lack of knowledge concerning the donors’ motivation, and how the
process proceeds from need recognition until the will is completed. For examining this subject,
traditional consumer behavior theories have been applied, combined with new perspectives from
neuroscience. The latter propose that basic emotional processes in the brain have a governing
influence on the behavior and they play a major role in decision-making. The purpose has been to
bring results that will contribute to the organization’s knowledge of their legacy prospects and how
to efficiently communicate to them. The thesis statement is: Which factors are influencing the
decision process related to legacy gifts to Kræftens Bekæmpelse, especially considering emotional
factors - and how can the organization apply this knowledge in order to improve the
communication with legacy prospects?
Eight qualitative interviews have been completed, grounded on the theoretical framework. Based on
the analysis, we have acquired an extensive understanding of the core subject. From this we have
developed a number of suggestions that we believe will be useful for Kræftens Bekæmpelse in their
marketing and communication. Our primary recommendation for Kræftens Bekæmpelse is to
increase their attention to smaller legacy gifts in their communication, and change the legacy
prospects’ perception of the ‘typical legacy donor’. This, we believe, will make legacy gifts relevant
for a larger number of the population and in the long run generate supplementary funding.
Nevertheless, the “traditional”, large legacy gifts are still crucial for the organization and must not
be under prioritized. We also recommend the organization to use elements in their advertising,
which will influence positive emotional responses. Our analysis of different feeling words opens up
alternatives to actions that may develop the desired response patterns.
Finally, we suggest conducting further research in the topic by quantitative means, in order to verify
and enrich the results. |
