Strengthen the Bond....
For years, veterinarians have used this program to serve as an effective client-relations
tool. The Memorial Gift Program works to benefit your practice while remembering your clients in their time of grief. The benefits to you include:
• Helps you deal with the difficulty of client grief
• Serves to strengthen the bond you have with the client. This
client is likely to be a customer for life.
• Increases “word of mouth” promotion of your practice
• Is completely tax-deductible
• Gets your staff involved so you can spend your time practicing
veterinary medicine
• It’s simple!
• Donate Online: It's safe and secure
Remembering a client through the grieving process is vital to your continued relations with that client, but most veterinarians have a difficult time handling this emotional situation. The TVMF has given considerable thought to helping you deal with client grief and has developed the Memorial Gift Program to help you handle this challenge.
Share Their Grief—Win Their Heart
Nothing you can do will have a more positive impact on your practice. Cause-related marketing is being used in businesses everywhere as their means of making a statement: “We Care.”
Wouldn’t you prefer to patron a business that cares? Not only will the Memorial Gift Program help retain your current clients, but it will also aid in the recruitment of new clients as well. Word of mouth is the most powerful advertising anyone can have.
Getting Started is Simple
How can your clinic participate? Because all practices are different, there are two ways to participate in the program.
Memorials by Mail
You can mail in your memorial gifts with easy-to-use forms provided free of charge by the Foundation. The specifics are up to you. Donations can be sent in together with one check or with a separate check for each honoree.
Memorials by Phone, Fax, E-Mail, or Online
You can save time on paperwork and set up a phone-in account to make memorial gifts. Simply send us a check to set up an account balance, and then call in with each memorial gift you would like to make. We suggest a minimum contribution level of $10 per memorial to cover program costs and to help fund more programs for the profession. We believe a $10 contribution is an appropriate memorial to the departed companions of our clients.
The Benefits
What benefit does your gift provide to the Foundation?
Increasingly, the Foundation is called upon to do more for veterinary medicine, and we look to our Memorial Gift Program to supply the resources. As the primary source of income for the Foundation, the Memorial Gift Program helps fund all of the Foundation’s efforts, including underwriting the cost of continuing education, supporting research projects, and educating the public about veterinary medicine. Through such efforts, the Foundation works to teach animal owner responsibility and promote regular examinations and preventive medicine, which results in increased client interest in animal healthcare. Moreover, we intend to continue funding important programs designed to assist veterinarians on an individual basis. The Emergency Student Fund has helped many veterinary students continue their education by providing needed financial assistance in times of personal crisis. Students also benefit from scholarships sponsored by the Foundation. The Foundation has even provided disaster relief on occasions when veterinarians suffered catastrophic loss due to natural disaster or other emergencies.
Anyone who has lost a family member, loved one, or beloved pet may find a memorial gift to be a comforting gesture.
Will the Memorial Gift Program help your client relations? Just ask these practitioners...
“There is nothing I’ve done in 30 years as a veterinarian that has had such a positive effect on my bereaved clients as this program. My clients are tremendously moved upon seeing a contribution made to the Foundation in their pet’s name. My only regret is that I didn’t become involved in this program sooner.”
—Dr. Lloyd Fiedler, Dallas“The Memorial Gift Program is so easy to use. If a long-time client’s animal dies, I just tell my receptionist to send a contribution and she handles it from there. All we have to do is fill out the donation form and send it in. We have received notes from many people who mention that they really appreciated the gift. We always cared – they just didn’t realize it before.”
—Dr. Sonja Lee, Lubbock“The program has been a tremendous plus for our practice. It has worked better than other things we have tried to console grieving clients. The memorial gift seems to bind the client to our practice. We care very much about our clients, and this program definitely shows it.”
—Dr. Rolf Lippke, Conroe
To get involved in the Memorial Gift Program, send in the attached participation form or call 512/452-4224.
The Memorial Gift Program is the primary fundraising tool of the Texas Veterinary Medical Foundation and has been well received by the veterinary community in Texas. In fact, many regular contributors to the Memorial Gift Program regard it as one of their most effective practice-building activities.
