Original Logo

The Early Years - 1984 to 1986

In July of 1984, six brave students attended the first Crescendo Software Seminar. Charles had been programming software for 18 months. Charles and Ardis taught during the day, and Charles programmed updates furiously each night to be ready for the next day. Crescendo was now in operation and a group of loyal friends soon gathered. By December of 1984, over 40 organizations were creating gift proposals with Crescendo software. On March 31, 1985, Crescendo finished its first full year. With the aid of the Creator and a lot of hard work, Crescendo actually finished in the black the first year. By late 1986, the full set of gift planning programs and the estate planning programs were completed and tested. Crescendo had come through the critical first three years and was now ready for growth.

Charles has been teaching seminars
for over 20 years

Strengthening our Foundation - 1988 to 1992

The balance of the 80s was very positive. By 1988, Crescendo moved from Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets to a compiled version of Crescendo software. The new version ran without using other software.

In 1990, Crescendo offered a new product. While Charles had been doing seminars for donors and professionals since 1980, there now was a great new software opportunity. Crescendo began to develop presentation software using one of the graphics software programs. All of the different seminar presentations that Charles was giving could then be made available to Crescendo users. In addition to the strength of the Crescendo proposal software, the Crescendo Plus software program in Harvard Graphics was added. Over the years, the program developed into a PowerPoint version with an extensive literature component. Today, Crescendo Plus includes over 500 slides with scripts and royalty-free literature, including ads, brochures, newsletter articles, donor letters, postcards and eBrochures for marketing planned gifts.

Crescendo's
Software Icon

The World Turns to Windows - 1993 to 1998

During the first half of the 1990s, Crescendo continued teaching seminars, growing and improving the DOS version of the Crescendo software. By 1995, the world was moving to Windows and Crescendo had to conform quickly.

We started writing a Windows 3.1 version of Crescendo in January 1995. There was a very diligent effort underway until August of that year. At that time, Microsoft released Windows 95. One week later Charles installed Windows 95 on a computer. When he looked at the program, he called the two programmers and said, "Stop what you are doing. We're starting over and writing a Windows 95 version of Crescendo." Crescendo's lead programmer responded, "None of our users have Windows 95 yet. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Windows 95

That was a very major risk, but it proved to be the correct decision. We started over and rewrote Crescendo in the most popular Microsoft programming language for Windows 95. By late 1996 when Crescendo Lite was released and in 1997 when the full Crescendo Pro as released, it was obvious that Windows 95 and its later upgrades were going to be a terrific success.

With the advent of the easy-to-use Windows software, the last one-third to one-fourth of gift planners finally began to use planned gifts software. By 1998, over 80% to 85% of gift planners were using software. It had taken 14 years from 1984 to 1998 for the transition to software to be effectively completed.

The Second Great Transition - The Internet Influence

New Logo

The Internet began changing everything. In 1999, Crescendo began work on what Charles perceived to be the second great transition for the field of gift planning. The second transition would be from the older literature marketing methods to a complete eMarketing or electronic marketing system with the influence of the internet. While the first transition to desktop computers and notebook computers took 14 years, Charles thought that this transition to eMarketing would take 10 years or less.

By mid-1999, Crescendo was hard at work on a GiftLaw Web site for professionals and the GiftLegacy Web site for donors, and had conducted our first satellite teleconference. The shape of an eMarketing system was starting to take place. Given the magnitude of the task involved, it was going to take some time to educate the individual about the full benefits and cost efficiency of the system. The Crescendo eMarketing system offered gift planners first-quality internet, e-mail, eLiterature and teleconference marketing capabilities and is helping to produce major gifts for Gift Planning eMarketers.

The Future = eMarketing With GiftLegacy Pro

The Four Phases of eMarketing - A vision realized.

Charles initially envisioned four phases for the decade 2000-2010. First, Crescendo would need to develop the four additional components of an eMarketing system. Second, seniors would need to become Internet users. Third, gift planners would need to become eMarketers. Fourth, seniors would need to accept and use the Internet and e-mail in the eGift process.

GiftLegacy Logo


GiftLaw Logo

I. GiftLegacy Pro

In addition to the existing software, Crescendo needed to develop a senior-friendly planned giving Web site with each charity's colors, look and feel. Then, Crescendo could add interactive eNewsletters for both donors and professionals. Third, satellite teleconferences and DVDs would educate and motivate donors and professionals.

Finally, eLiterature with monthly postcards and eBrochures would tie the five-part eMarketing system together.

Each one of these four areas was comparable in magnitude to the initial development effort in producing Crescendo Pro software. In short, producing a five-part eMarketing system was a very major development challenge. Crescendo now has over 200 publishing deadlines each year! Phase I concluded with the full release in 2004 of GiftLegacy Pro - Web site, eNewsletters, Teleconferences/DVDs, eLiterature and Crescendo Pro/Plus/Presents software.

II. Senior Surfers

After Phase I in which Crescendo Interactive, Inc. developed the five parts of an eMarketing system, Phase II involved the seniors. They would need to move in large numbers to the Internet. Charles predicted in 2000 that seniors would be on the Internet in major numbers by 2004 and that most seniors would be on the Internet by 2006.

Indeed, in 2004, the Nielsen NetRatings surveys showed that over half of seniors were Internet users. The most rapidly growing group was women over age 65 (30% growth in 2003). By 2010, perhaps 80%-85% of seniors will be Internet and e-mail users. Interestingly, those seniors who start using the Internet become very frequent and devoted users of the Internet. It opens up a new world for seniors. The travel, finance and news sites are all very popular. With over half of seniors on the Internet, Phase II is also nearing completion.

III. Gift Planner eMarketers

Phase III is for gift planners to understand eMarketing. Even with top-quality marketing tools from Crescendo and over half of seniors on the Internet, gift planners need to learn new skills.

eMarketing is a very new field. In addition, each charity has a slightly different constituency and marketing appeal. The eMarketing program must mesh with the character and constituency of the charity. The most successful eGift marketers have attended the Crescendo Internet Marketing Seminar each year for two to three years.

IV. Major eGifts

Fourth, the seniors must accept and welcome the Internet and eGifts. Phase IV is for seniors to move in large numbers to eGifts. Crescendo is in the beginning of Phase IV now. An eGift is a gift where 50% or more of the contact development was done through the web, e-mail, video or other electronic media.

More and more seniors are turning to the Internet to learn about planned gifts and to run full-color gift illustrations themselves. As seniors become familiar with the powerful and persuasive planned giving capabilities, as projected, by 2010 the majority of gifts are likely to be eGifts.

Crescendo's new headquarters

Serving our Customers Better has Always been Number One

As a result of our efforts, Crescendo's customer base has exploded. By June of 2003, Crescendo had gone through two office expansions to meet the demands of our customer base along with our ongoing product and services development. We remain on the leading edge of the industry with a vital team in place always providing the best customer support to our users. Our team includes five in-house attorneys, seven software engineers and a very dynamic support and administrative staff.

With more growth on the horizon, in 2004 we moved to a beautiful new office facility. Additionally, we introduced the five-part GiftLegacy Pro eMarketing System. Gift planners from two large private universities recently reviewed the new system. They responded, "My quarterly newsletter response rate is through the roof. This eMarketing system is exactly what the field needs now!"

Practical Planned Giving Conferences

Over the years many of our Crescendo users suggested an annual users conference. Our first Practical Planned Giving Conference (PPGC) held in Chicago in 2004 was a fabulous success. In 2005, we held another successful conference in San Diego with 300 in attendance. We added a new track focusing on the conference theme, Children and Charity. With over 40 breakout sessions taught by some of the top speakers in planned giving it was a highlight of the year for many of our Crescendo friends. We look forward to another exciting conference in 2006 in Orlando.

Webcasts

The new Crescendo media studio was added in 2004 and we are now providing weekly webcasts to our GiftLegacy users. The GiftLegacy and GiftLaw Teleconferences were made available for the first time as webcasts in 2005 and are now produced in our own studio. In January 2006 Crescendo launched GiftCollege, an eLearning and certification program with webcast classes each week. Anyone with an Internet connection can now view these exciting presentations at their organization's location or in the privacy of their own homes and offices. With this new technology, Crescendo will continue provide more high quality video options in the future.

FREE TRIAL WEB SITE - A Revolutionary Benefit to Charities

GiftLegacy Pro is the future in planned gifts eMarketing for charities. The number of charities signing up for eMarketing services continues to grow at a rapid pace. It's exciting for us to hear the stories of gifts multiplied with GiftLegacy. With no obligation, we offer a Free Trial Web Site so that you and your marketing department can understand the full power and persuasiveness of eMarketing. If you are interested in this Free Trial Site, please call our office at 1-800-858-9154 or contact us.

Our team is very excited about the coming years. We believe this transition for gift planning to the wonderful world of eMarketing will be a terrific ride for all of us. If you haven't already, please join us and experience the benefits for yourself!