Planned Giving

I remember so much about the day I asked for my first planned gift. I will never forget how cold it was outside and how nervous I was. There was a light rain and the holidays were just around the corner. I got to the meeting early so I could get settled. I reviewed my talking points and wondered how this conversation would end. I didn’t have any formal preparation for this moment. This was early in my fundraising career. The events of that day were about to change my career and my life forever. The donor was ready to make a transformational gift. I knew that this day could change the future for hundreds of people in our community. The weight of that lay on my shoulders. I was just a newbie. What if I made a mis-step? Throughout the rest of this book, I will bring you along in my relationship with the donor and tell you how the meeting ended! When I reflect on that day, I wish I owned a book like this. In those days, becoming a fundraising professional was really more like an apprenticeship but without any formalized progression (though today there are several degrees in nonprofit management and philanthropy). I had great coaching and advice to get ready for that donor meeting. Having a book to guide me through the entire process would have really helped. I would have loved to have everything I needed in a complete resource guide which is why I have written this book for you! There are several books on planned giving from the very simple to the extremely complex. This book is designed for nonprofits that would like to start their first planned giving program. It can also be a handy resource for those nonprofits that have tried planned giving, but were disappointed by their results. About a week into a new fundraising role, I was charged with starting a planned giving program. I searched online for all the relevant planned giving books. I talked with expert advisers and I was totally overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed by the complexity of the material. I was overwhelmed by the knowledge of the experts. I was overwhelmed by how technical the gifts could be in their construction. In the beginning, what I really needed was a book to teach me how to find and reach planned gift donors. My hope is that this book will help you as you begin developing a planned giving program for your nonprofit. It contains all the information that I wish I had a couple of years ago plus a few nuggets that are new. Another reason I wrote this book is because I believe every nonprofit should have access to clear, relevant, and practical strategies for planned giving. It can be easy to believe that only institutions that are very large, have a big national footprint, have a planned giving officer, or a planned giving department have any business being involved in the field of planned giving. That’s just not true. It can be easy for a nonprofit to believe that they don't have the time or the staff to be involved in planned giving. Every nonprofit no matter the size, how long you've been around, or how many staff you have can be involved in the wonderful field of planned giving! Planned giving shouldn't be only accessible as a fundraising tool to the largest, most complex and well-staffed organizations. Planned giving strategies should be available to any nonprofit that wants to offer their donors a way of making a legacy gift. Part of the purpose of this book is to make sure that we level the playing field for all nonprofits to be a part of this very important perspective in philanthropy. Lastly, I'm writing this book is because of the opportunity available as a result of the retirement of the baby boomer generation. In some texts, you'll see this referred to as the “silver tsunami” or the “grey wave”. About ten thousand boomers are retiring every day and transitioning into the next phase of their life. Current research tells us that baby boomers will live longer, be healthier, and be more active in volunteer work than any generation before them. Research also indicates that boomers are going to be retiring with forty trillion dollars in assets. That number is sometimes estimated to be as low as eight trillion and even has high as sixty! No matter the final amount, a sizable chunk of that asset pool will be transferred to their heirs and nonprofits. It is well known today that there are not enough development officers staffing our nonprofits to be able to handle the needs of this baby boomer generation and their charitable interests. Part of the reason for writing this book is to help all nonprofits be able to invite the participation and support of boomers in a way that honors their charitable interest, and continues the vital mission of the nonprofit community in the United States. There is a quote that has inspired me over the years by Dr. Martin Luther King, "You must take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase." In my nonprofit experience, it seems that we have a hard time committing to a new revenue stream. Planned giving seems to be a field of fundraising that looks overly complicated and time consuming. In fairness, there are complex aspects of planned giving and some of the gift types can be complex. By just committing to starting a program with the simplest gift types and the most basic outreach strategies, I believe all nonprofits can be successful in planned giving. I have written this book in hopes that it provides enough tools so that nonprofits can take that first step in planned giving. This book explains the first steps in planned giving. There are many more steps in the staircase. There are many more types of planned gifts than we can cover in this book. We can climb the rest of the staircase over time.