Summary
The most effective will-writing campaigns use four proven approaches:
- Fear — Wake people up to the real risks of doing nothing
- Inspiration — Show them the legacy they can create
- Education — Answer their practical questions clearly
- Simplicity — Give them one easy step to start today
If even Abraham Lincoln, Prince, and Picasso skipped writing wills, what chance do the rest of us have without a nudge? Lincoln completed wills for clients — yet never wrote his own, leaving his widow to fight over his papers. Prince left heirs battling in court for six years over $156 million. Picasso’s family spent $30 million just settling who got what from his 45,000 works of art. And closer to home, my father — a brilliant physician with degrees from Johns Hopkins and Thomas Jefferson University — never got around to writing a will either, creating exactly the confusion these stories warn against.
That’s the point: procrastination is universal. If geniuses, artists, presidents, and doctors can put it off, so can your donors. And that’s why no single message works for every person. Some move when they see the risks of inaction (yes, a necessary scare tactic — and the truth is, donors love it because it wakes them up). Others respond to the vision of what they can create. Still others just want simple answers without the legal jargon.
The most effective campaigns don’t lean on one approach — they use a balance of four: fear, inspiration, education, and simplicity.
21 Ready-To-Use Videos
Put the 4 Keys Into Action
Our 21-video series shows you exactly how to use fear, inspiration, education, and simplicity to motivate donors.
Preview the Video Series1. Fear: The Wake-Up Call
Sometimes it takes a scare tactic to shake people out of procrastination. Messages like “If you don’t make a will, the government will” are blunt, but necessary. (Yes, it’s a scare tactic — and donors actually respond to it. They love the wake-up call because it forces them to face what they’ve been avoiding.)
They highlight the real risks of doing nothing: siblings who haven’t spoken since the funeral, children fighting over who gets mom’s wedding ring, unnecessary taxes eating up the estate, and lost opportunities for charitable giving.
When my father passed without a will, the resulting confusion was exactly the kind of mess these “wake-up call” messages are meant to prevent. Fear, properly used, isn’t manipulation — it’s urgency. Without it, estate planning stays at the bottom of the to-do list forever.
→ Fear creates urgency — and urgency gets action.
2. Inspiration: The Vision
Fear grabs attention, but inspiration keeps it. Donors need a reason to feel proud of the decision they’re making to support your charity. That’s where vision comes in: stories of lives changed, communities strengthened, and legacies that last for generations.
Think of the donor whose $10,000 bequest funded music lessons for 100 kids who’d never touched an instrument. Or the couple who included their church in their will and ended up financing a food pantry that now feeds 500 families a month.
Messages like “Your will can change the world” or “Be the ancestor everyone talks about” appeal to the deepest human desire — to be remembered for meaning, not just to avoid mistakes. (Yes, it’s emotional — and that’s the point. Donors want to feel their choices matter.)
→ Inspiration turns good intentions into meaningful legacies.
3. Education: The Facts
Some donors don’t need drama or vision; they need clarity. Questions like What makes a will valid? Do you really need a lawyer? How do you add a charity in one sentence? are the practical barriers that stall action.
Educational messages build confidence. They strip away jargon and make the process less intimidating. When donors learn that adding a charity can be as simple as writing “I leave 10% of my estate to [charity name],” suddenly the mountain becomes a molehill. (Yes, it feels “boring” compared to stories — but boring is what builds trust. Donors want facts they can rely on.)
→ Education removes doubt — and doubt blocks action.
4. Simplicity: The Quick Wins
Finally, simplicity gives donors an easy entry point. Not everyone is ready to sit down with an attorney tomorrow. But they can start by naming a charity in a single sentence. If you can write a grocery list, you can write a will.
Quick tips, checklists, and one-line action steps create momentum. They remove excuses and get donors moving forward — even if it’s just the first small step. (Yes, it feels almost too basic — and that’s exactly why it works. Donors crave something they can do immediately without feeling overwhelmed.)
→ Simplicity makes action possible — right now.
5. Bonus Key: The Deadline Effect
Russell N. James III, J.D., Ph.D., CFP®, one of the leading researchers in charitable planning, points out that deadlines often do what fear or inspiration alone can’t: they create a reason to act today.
That could mean:
- A matching gift if a will is completed by a certain date.
- Recognition in a public campaign launch.
- Board participation credit or university campaign credit.
Notice the subtle but crucial difference: this motivation isn’t tied to death, but to life events donors can connect with right now. It reframes estate planning as part of a living community effort.
As Dr. James notes: “The plan isn’t completed because I’m going to die, it’s completed because other people will die. And my example today may motivate them.”
→ Deadlines make the abstract urgent — and in fundraising, urgency wins.
The Balance is the Strategy
Here’s what I’ve learned since my father’s passing: Even history’s brightest minds — Lincoln, Prince, Picasso — and even a Johns Hopkins–trained physician who understood risk better than most, all needed more than one kind of reminder. If they needed multiple nudges, your donors certainly do, too.
The real secret isn’t picking one approach over another. A campaign that only uses fear risks alienating donors. One that only inspires may be ignored as optional. Education alone can feel dry, and simplicity without context can be overlooked.
But when all four keys are combined, something powerful happens: donors feel the urgency to act, see the vision of what’s possible, trust the facts, and take that first step because it feels doable. That’s how procrastination ends — and how lasting legacies begin.
Because in the end, the best will isn’t the perfect one — it’s the one that actually gets written.
Ready to Help Your Donors Take Action?
Explore our 21-video series built on these four pillars. Each video tackles will-writing from a different angle — fear, inspiration, education, or simplicity — so you can reach every donor, no matter what motivates them to finally act.
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Because your donors deserve messages that work as hard as they do.
