More and more charities are working to snag a portion of the estimated $9 trillion of wealth that baby boomers are expected to transfer in the next 10 years or so. The process of securing a planned gift, like a bequest or charitable gift annuity, is more of a marathon than a sprint. The time investment is worth it, however, because these gifts typically have substantial value.
A recent report by FreeWill, a company that provides free online estate-planning tools, found that bequests made on its platform from June 2017 to May 2019 had an average value of $78,630.
In pursuit of a planned gift, be prepared to have wide-ranging and ongoing conversations with prospective donors, fundraisers say. Here are five tips from planned-giving officers on how to talk to donors about this sometimes sensitive subject.
Look to your loyal donors — not necessarily your richest ones.
“Wealthy people are giving you their money now,” says Nicole Engdahl, senior vice president for planned giving and annual giving at the National Park Foundation. While major donors may seem like the best prospects for planned gifts, some fundraisers encourage a broader approach.
We set out to earn $50 million in planned-gift pledges and ended up raising $117 million.
Donors who consistently give even $50 a year can be among the strongest prospects for a planned gift, according to Brian Peterson, associate director of planned giving at Human Rights Watch. But often these donors simply don’t know about the options to direct a donation through their wills.
For that reason, Peterson said, Human Rights Watch focused on informational outreach to longtime donors when it began its planned-giving program in 2014. They spread the word by mail, email, and Facebook ads and added a line to donation forms for donors to express interest in learning about planned-giving options.
“I’d say a good part of my time is just getting people to raise their hand and say they’re interested,” Peterson says.
Listen for moments when a donor shares a personal connection or devotion to your cause.
Planned-giving conversations, Peterson says, should be “heavily mission-driven.” Reflecting on their life and considering their legacy, donors will often explain their loyalty to your charity’s cause through personal stories. Longtime donors to the National Park Foundation, for example, often tell Engdahl about their first trip to a national park. This is an ideal time to ask about planned gifts.
“They get almost quiet and almost reverent,” she says. “Then I know this is something that they’re passionate about. We are something that means something to them.”
Engdahl says most organizations’ supporters have similar stories that explain their loyalty to the mission. For example, a donor who has long supported a cancer-research organization may share a story about a time the disease touched his or her life.
Treat these moments as gateways to a conversation about planned giving, Engdahl advises.
Build trust first, then just ask.
While starting a conversation about end-of-life planning is daunting, Engdahl has found success by closing out conversations about a donor’s ties to the charity with a direct question.
“I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t ask,” Engdahl often tells donors before asking them whether the National Park Foundation is a beneficiary in their will. Donors, she says, generally appreciate her candor.
Engdahl acknowledges that broaching the subject is easier for her because her title includes the terms “planned giving” so donors expect the topic to come up. Even so, she says she finds most donors willing to talk about the topic.
“Don’t be afraid to go there,” she says.
Encourage planned gifts through a challenge grant.
In September 2016, the Institute for Justice launched a two-year campaign that matched bequest pledges with an immediate gift. Donors Bernard and Lisa Selz gave $2 million, which covered matching gifts at 10 percent of each pledge value up to $25,000. The campaign, which ended in December 2018, enabled donors to make an immediate impact with their deferred gift by triggering a gift from the Selzes; it also gave the charity more data on the number and structure of bequests it was slated to receive.
“The majority of charitable bequests will come from donors who never tell you that they’ve done it,” says Peterson. A challenge grant can help a charity more realistically budget for expected bequests. With the help of the matching-gift incentive, the Institute for Justice now knows the value of 273 pledged bequests. Before the campaign, it knew the value of just 14.
“We set out to earn $50 million in planned-gift pledges and ended up raising $117 million,” said Melanie Hildreth, vice president for external relations at the Institute for Justice. “For people who were not in a position to be major annual supporters but had left us part of their entire estate, it’s a pretty cool way to make a big impact right now with that gift.”
Stay in touch with donors and show impact.
After a donor makes a bequest pledge, the charity may not see the value of that gift for years, or even decades. “Where organizations go wrong is not keeping in touch with their legacy members,” Peterson says, referring to donors who have committed to making a planned gift. “It’s very important to treat that commitment like they’ve already done it.”
Human Rights Watch sends those donors reports on mission work and birthday greetings and makes personal phone calls when they make a donation separate from their bequest. “It’s a way to keep our donors informed of our work. It’s sort of like treating them like insiders,” Peterson said.
Like many charities, Human Rights Watch inducts donors who pledge to make a planned gift into a legacy society. Members of this group are acknowledged in the annual report alongside those who gave major gifts. This helps underscore the value of planned gifts, especially to donors who may be considering making one, Peterson says.
On donor calls, Engdahl makes sure to ask whether a donor who has made a pledge has moved states, experienced any life-changing events, or made changes to their estate plans. These questions can help start a conversation about whether the pledge still stands.
Sharing data on the work can also help ensure that a donor follows through on the pledge. She advises: “The more we talk about specific things that we’re funding right now, the more likely I am to get an unrestricted planned gift later.”
Emily Haynes has covered fundraising on social media , Giving USA’s annual report on giving trends, and how the ALS Association found success with the ice-bucket challenge . Email Emily or follow her on Twitter .
