Planned Giving Truths and Mythse
You have our permission to use these at your next board meeting or retreat. Please cite the source.
- Planned giving is not appropriate for a new organization.
- Planned giving applies only to older people.
- We need money now; we can’t possibly think about planned giving!
- I need more technical training before I can even begin to raise the topic of a major planned gift.
- Planned giving hurts annual giving.
- Only wealthy people are planned giving prospects.
- We can’t launch a successful program without an experienced planned giving officer on our staff.
- Our organization could never manage to pay a lifetime of checks.
- I will suffer eternal mortification if a prospect or donor asks me a tax question I can’t answer.
- The tax benefits of a planned gift are the motivation to give.
- Not asking your prospects for planned gifts? Someone else will.
- Result? That “someone else” will steal your cash gifts, too… because planned gifts are gifts from the heart.
- Planned gifts are good in any economy.
- Even if you just dabble in planned giving you’ll earn much more than your peers.
- A typical planned gift is 200 to 300 times the size of a donor’s largest annual gift.
- Planned gifts do not affect donor’s cash flow. They’re easy to give (and to receive).
- Educate. Prospects are eager to make a planned gift but simply don’t know how.
- Prospects making bequests increase annual support. Why? Because they’ve chosen you as part of their family.
- Anyone can make a planned gift.
- It’s easy. It works.
THE TOP TEN REASONS CHURCHES SHOULD HAVE A MINISTRY OF LEGACY GIVING
Chris McLeod, JD
For Your Board
TOP TEN REASONS TO PURSUE PLANNED GIFTS
Viken Mikaelian, CEO, PlannedGiving.Com
Planned Giving Wiki
This is the definitive resource for professional gift planners. It covers all of the relevant information you’ll ever need as far as technical details go.