The Lighter Side of Planned Giving: Personal Stories
If They Say They Don't Want a Visit — Believe Them!
Many of us gift planners attempt to get out of the office to see donors and prospects. We may even have implicit or explicit goals in regard to visits. But it is always important to see people who need to be seen, not just people who would be easy to see. And what about those folks who say they don’t want a visit? In my humble experience, they probably have a good reason to not want you around their house!
I worked for the Rutgers University Foundation from 1990 to 1995, and several of my planned gift donors were perfect examples of this fact. I always seemed to be driving by the house of one elderly lady, a gift annuitant, on my way to or from visiting someone else. She had always told me that she did not need a visit because it was probably out of my way. Passing by her house again, after a visit to another donor, I decided to stop. I stepped up on the porch and rang the bell. She came to the door, I introduced myself and she invited me in. As I stepped into the living room, I realized that she had probably saved each piece of mail she had ever received during her lifetime! There were pathways to chairs, the front door and the kitchen. It was amazing, and rather uncomfortable, like trying to ignore the elephant in the room with you. But I knew she always cashed her gift annuity checks. I also knew that every letter I had ever written to her accompanying a quarterly check was in that room somewhere!
I also wanted to visit a professor emeritus of medieval history at that time. He had bequeathed about a dozen certificates of deposit to the Rutgers University Foundation and all of his books to the main Rutgers Library. Then one of my colleagues told me about her visit to his house. He would buy books, fill up a room, and then close the door. He was living in about two rooms in an immense old house. When he passed away, all of the books had to be fumigated before they were allowed into the library collection. I had many fun discussions with the trust officer of the local bank named as executor of his estate!
My most prolific gift annuity donor to Rutgers had about 16 of them on his demise. He knew exactly how gift annuities worked, and every six months, just like clockwork, Bill would call me up and do another one for $5,000.00. I would always offer to come by to drop off an application form or pick up a check. “Oh, no,” he would say, “no need to come by the house.” He would either come by my office or we would complete the gift by mail. Once he told me that he was living in the house that he was born in, and he was in his 80’s. I used to drive by that house every day twice, going to and leaving work. But I never stopped, because I really was not sure where his parents were buried!
So, if one of your donors say they don’t need a visit, believe them!
