Den sidste donation: Testamentariske gaver til Kræftens Bekæmpelse

Abstract

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.