Category Archives: Planned Giving

The Cost of NOT Doing Planned Giving

Fundraising Fundamentals, Planned Giving, , , , ,
The cost of NOT doing Planned Giving
photo credit: JMR_Photography via photopin cc

What does it cost your charity to not have a Planned Giving program that promotes gifts in estate and retirement plans?

It costs you stronger relationships. When donors include you in their long-term plans, they’re putting you alongside husbands, wives, children and grandchildren. Among the bequests for loved ones, there’s a gift for your organization. 

That’s a pretty special relationship and a lot can come from it, as I suggest below.

Depending on how far you go with Planned Giving, perhaps into offering charitable gift annuities, donors will be counting on you to pay them income for life. They trust you that much. That’s a strong bond.

But you need not go that far into PG to feel the love from donors. Having a program that only encourages gifts by will gets you deeper, stronger relationships.

It costs you endowment growth. Many planned gifts are unrestricted. I routinely encourage clients to put as much of that undesignated revenue as possible into creating or growing an endowment. 

As you build that fund–by spending no more than its earned income each year–you’re assured of a steady, budget-ready stream of endowment revenue annually. (Well, “assured” is relative. Endowment funds are not guaranteed to have gains every year. It depends on how they’re invested.)

It costs you growth in other giving. It is common for Planned Giving donors to increase their giving in other ways, especially to your annual appeal. They feel the stronger relationship and want to show their love.

Sometimes, planned gift discussions result in outright gifts. I see it about 10% of the time. Donors get so moved by the potential good their gift can do that they decide to make their gift immediate, forgoing the gift they intended for their will or other estate plan.

It costs you fundraising ambassadors. Another example of planned gift donors showing love. Many act as willing spokespeople, encouraging others to give to your organization. 

They can sign a letter or an email or stand up at a lunch. I’ve witnessed testimonials that moved rooms full of potential donors to tears. 

Donors are so much more compelling than us pros. 

Sometimes, you just have to ask. Sometimes, they’ll act on their own.

It costs you time with elder folks. I love the company of older people. Don’t deny yourself the joy. I bared my heart in “I Love Planned Giving.” 

Clearly, I’m not objective about Planned Giving. I love it and I’m a proud evangelist!

Think about starting a Planned Giving program. I’d hate to see you take on these costs. They’re so unnecessary.  

Skip Wealth Screening For Planned Giving

Fundraising Fundamentals, Planned Giving, , , , , , , , , ,

Torn window screen

photo credit: quinn.anya via photopin cc

I consistently preach this to clients and audiences: small-and mid-size nonprofits need not spend money on wealth screening to find potential Planned Giving donors. You have all the data you need in your fundraising or CRM database.

Query your data for age and giving consistency and you’ll find your best Planned Giving prospects.

If you don’t have age info, consistency alone will work if you’ve been around for many years. Lots of my clients go back many decades, sometimes into the late 1800’s. But 20th century roots will be fine for you to rely on giving consistency as a proxy for age.

If a donor has been giving for 30 years, for instance, they’re probably in the age range you’re after.

If you don’t have giving data going back far enough to extrapolate age, then before you pay for an age overlay from a screening service consider this. Can you survey your donors with a reply card in your next mailing? If you don’t want to ask for date of birth, ask for age. It’s worth considering before you make the plunge into age screening.

An important word about giving consistency. Ignore gift size.

I literally mean if a donor has given you just $5 a year, and they’ve done it for 18 years out of the past 20, or 25 years out of the past 30, then they are an outstanding prospect for a charitable bequest, which is a gift to you in their will. (I said a lot about starting your PG program with bequests in this series for GuideStar.)

The students at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Center for Excellence heard me say this just last week.

Age and giving consistency. That’s all you need to get started in Planned Giving.

Large shops will want to move beyond bequests, so they may wisely invest in wealth screening further down the road. But it’s not needed at the outset.

Small- and mid-size nonprofits can have very respectable PG programs that start and stop with gifts by will.

To launch any program–big or small–you can skip wealth screening.

Nonprofit Radio At 14NTC

Charity Registration, Fundraising Fundamentals, Planned Giving, , , , , ,

2014 Nonprofit Technology ConferenceNonprofit Radio will be at the Nonprofit Technology Conference this week, hosted by Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN). I’ll be on the stage in the Science Fair interviewing lots of NTC’s smart speakers all day on Thursday and Friday.

I’m giving away an hour of free consulting! Drop your card to get weekly show alert emails and you’ll be entered to win a free hour of Planned Giving or Charity Registration consulting.

Not going to NTC? Enter on Twitter! All this week, tweet “#NonprofitRadio is at #14NTC!” I’ll pick a separate online winner!

Here’s a mere sample of interviews I’ve got lined up. I’ll play them on Nonprofit Radio in the coming weeks:

  • Facebook strategies
  • Career strategies for women in tech
  • Choosing the right CRM
  • Bridging the gap between social & CRM
  • Intro to Creative Commons
  • Your board & IT
  • Marriage counseling for IT & communications

There’s more! Along with NTEN CEO Amy Sample Ward, I’ll introduce conference sponsors who will be on stage showing their wares and services during lunch hours.

If you’re at NTC, come by the stage, chat me up and enter to win an hour of free consulting!

5 Reasons To Promote The IRA Rollover NOW

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Image courtesy of 'smil, Creative Commons license
Image courtesy of 'smil, Creative Commons license

The charitable IRA rollover from the Taxpayer Relief Act is one of the rare gifts in Planned Giving that gives your charity immediate cash. For most planned gifts you have to wait until the death of the donor. Not so with the IRA rollover.*

Here’s why I suggest you promote it immediately:
1. Perfect for end-of-year giving. This is an easy way for your donors to make their annual gift and earn considerable tax advantages. More here.

2. Expires on December 31. It might be extended, as it has been twice before, but do you want to roll the dice on any prediction of what Congress will do? Use the 12/31 deadline to create a sense of urgency through your marketing channels.

3. Limited audience. This is only for those age 70 1/2 or over. I blogged more IRA detail back in January.

4. Easy to promote. Share your tax ID number, address and legal name. Have donors contact their IRA administrator for instructions to make a “qualified charitable distribution” to you.

You can do a few sentences on your blog; in an email blast; on Twitter and Facebook (recurring once a week); drop a slip in a mailing you’ve already planned; and drop a mention into meetings and events.

5. Easy for donors to pull the trigger. The companies that hold IRAs have got this down to a simple process. In most cases, donors fill out a short form using the info you’ve provided. The check comes directly to your office (which is one of the requirements; the links above have more detail).

My clients are having great success with IRA gifts this year! You can too if you get the word out.

Do it now because IRA giving may not last much longer.

*It’s actually a distribution (to charity), not a rollover. I’m using what’s popular because that’s how people search.

BOOst Your Major Gift Asks With Planned Gifts

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Image courtesy of Pink Sherbet Photography, Creative Commons license
Image courtesy of Pink Sherbet Photography, Creative Commons license

A strategy to improve your major gift solicitations: include planned gifts.

When you ask a prospect for a major gift, include a planned gift. It can be as simple as a bequest in the will; as middle-of-the-road as a charitable gift annuity; or as high-end complex as a charitable lead trust.

You’ll have to beat off the gifts with your broomstick!

The Planned Giving addition adds a dimension to your solicitation. Now you have more to talk about if your prospect balks at the outright ask. You can reduce the outright ask and add more to the planned gift.

It’s best if you don’t add dollar-for-dollar because the planned gift won’t mean cash to you until the donor’s death. The exception is a lead trust, but those are quite rare. Instead, add to the planned gift the future value of what you’re not getting outright. Here’s a future value calculator.

You’ll have more to negotiate around. The negotiation dance is one witch is critical after your ask.

The added planned gift can also act as a straw man. It’s harder for your prospect to turn down both the major gift and the planned gift. Gutting the planned gift out of the solicitation–like a pumpkin becomes a jack-o-lantern–makes it more likely the major gift remains intact.

The greatest success I’ve seen with this arises because you’ll have more variables in your solicitations. There’s more to talk about and listen to.

Talk half as much as you listen and you’ll have bewitching successes with your major gift solicitations.

P.S. This is part of October’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival, Major Gifts Tricks and Treats, hosted by Claire Axelrad.