Ok, hear me out. I’m a gift planner and I think organizations shouldn’t have planned giving programs.

Why?

Less than ten percent of personal wealth is held in cash and that percentage decreases as wealth increases. Put another way, over ninety percent of wealth is not held in cash.

For small to mid-level organizations, planned giving is often done off the side of the desk, an afterthought, or not a consideration at all.

Larger organizations that have structured formal roles, a team and program, usually exist in siloed isolation. In some major Canadian nonprofits, planned giving isn’t even considered part of development! These organizations also often have restrictive rules about which donors can receive planned giving communications, which donor relationships can include planned giving, and how fundraisers are rewarded and incentivized (or more often aren’t) to include planned giving in their work.

What is the result of this? We either ignore over 90% of the wealth available to donors or put restrictions and disincentives on accessing it. Those with the most wealth are never asked.

Does this make sense to you? No? Good! Here’s what we can do instead:

Make it simple

Planned giving can be easy and straightforward—anyone can do it—but our sector makes it seem difficult and complicated. The vast majority (80%+) of planned gifts are bequests because they are the simplest option. So, just talk about bequests and call them “gifts in Will”.

Make it about generosity

There is no such thing as an annual donor, a major donor, or planned giving donor. There are donors. (…and then there is frequency, capacity, affinity, donation type, etc.) What does planned, legacy and estate giving even mean? There is one action: giving. Fundraising is based on relationships. Take a holistic approach to your donor's relationship and giving to the organization.

Make it inclusive

The beautiful part of planned giving is that anyone can do it. Loyalty is one of the strongest motivations for planned gifts. Loyal generosity doesn’t just mean money. Take a holistic approach that includes volunteers, social media followers, event participants, etc. in your community of potential planned giving donors.

Integrate it into all fundraising

Drip marketing and direct response

• Tell stories about all types of giving, generosity, supporting, and helping to integrate into major gifts.
• Since less than ten percent of wealth is held in cash, focus on asset-based giving.
• Turn transactional conversations about one gift, into holistic relationships about all aspects of a donor’s giving.
• Include information on giving via securities, DAFs, and gifts in Will in proposals.
• Get creative with naming. Is there a difference between a major gift pledge and a pledge to include a gift in a Will?
• Incentivize and reward fundraisers for taking a holistic approach.

Steward those who plan to leave a gift

Including a gift in a Will isn’t the end of the donor relationship. Continue to develop the relationship and their giving. As they age, their capacity will increase.

Focus on the encouraging the gift - not confirming it

I get it, we all want to see an immediate ROI on our work. But, confirmation forms and counting guidelines are administration and fund-receiving, not fundraising. Focus on raising awareness of planned giving and demonstrating the impact of giving and then trust the process. The gifts will come.

Yes, but

…we need funds now.
People who include a gift in their Will give MORE during their lifetime and if we need funds right now, why are we ignoring 90% of wealth? This isn’t a zero-sum game or either/or.

…we need an internal expert.
In a holistic relationship and donor-centric based culture of philanthropy, planned giving is every fundraiser’s responsibility. Invest in, and empower, all your staff to be able to include planned giving in their relationships with donors. Gifts of securities or through Donor Advised Funds are major gifts and all fundraisers should be empowered to suggest them.

…we don’t understand how to receive a planned gift and estate administration.
For medium to big organizations, receiving planned gifts can (and should) live in your gift processing or finance teams. For small organizations, engage your treasurer, board and volunteers or, if the gift is big enough or complicated to warrant it, outsource it.

Conclusion

I’m not suggesting we eliminate planned giving. Instead, let’s demystify it and integrate it into every fundraiser and organization’s skillsets. The way we have always done it isn’t working. Think critically and challenge how our organizations approach planned giving. Are we targeting just 10% of donor wealth or embracing all of it?

Eli Clarke (he/him) is a working dad, Director of Development, Major Gifts at the University of Waterloo, and creator of Essential Consulting. Eli works to make planned giving accessible to all fundraisers and charities by challenging the status quo to simplify it. Eli can be contacted at eli@essentialconsulting.ca or www.linkedin.com/in/eliclarke/.