It may seem silly, but it’s true — and it’s a step many donors forget. A 2019 Special Report from Giving USA found that just 4 percent of donors always report their planned gifts to organizations, and 38.7 percent sometimes inform the organizations.
Talking to donors about planned giving can be a game-changer for your nonprofit’s future. Planned giving, or including a charitable gift in a will or trust, provides a powerful way for supporters to contribute without impacting their everyday finances. Despite its potential, initiating conversations about legacy giving can be challenging. How do you bring up the topic without feeling awkward or intrusive? How can you convey the profound impact of such gifts while making the process simple and appealing?
That canned “planned giving newsletter” you’re paying for is viewed by your recipients as a “death brochure” and is going right into the trash. Spend your money wisely. (By Tom Ahern)
Recently I read online somewhere the following: [A nonprofit] is seeking a planned giving advisor. This is a junior position for a fundraiser with 3 or so years of experience who wishes to move into planned giving. Focus is on bequests, CGAs, and marketing.
I was lying on the beach with my wife a few years back when a client buzzed through my cellphone, declaring in a sorrowful voice, “I’m going to have to apologize to all of them. In fact, I am writing the apology letter now.”
You’ll find it up there at the top of the list of disillusioning truths: “There ain’t no free lunch.” It’s true in fundraising, of course; but it can be obscured by the endless parade of miraculous “next big things” that tend to put our common sense out of focus. For example, the seemingly limitless marketing possibilities offered by the Internet have charmed some planned giving fundraisers into the mistaken belief that this new miracle vector will do their job for them. Make no mistake: With planned giving on the Internet as with anything else, lack of effort and commitment translate directly into lack of results,
How do you view planned giving? Is it simple, or complicated? One of the biggest misunderstandings I see in the non-profit world is the mistaken belief that planned giving is complex and mysterious.
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