By Betsy Steward

Does your nonprofit have an active Planned Giving Program? I won’t be surprised if your answer is no. Estate gifts are the last thing many of us in fundraising get to. But it’s important now, because the Greatest Generation is disappearing, and Baby Boomers (57-75 years old) are getting older, too. 

 These folks have worked hard for their entire lives, and they’ve saved hard, too. They’ll be leaving their estates to their heirs and to charity. Experts say that the greatest transfer of wealth in history — an estimated $68 Trillion — is underway.

 Although most of that wealth will undoubtedly go to heirs, these two groups have also proven to be philanthropic, empathic, and altruistic. They care about the world, and about their fellow human beings. If even 10% of that wealth were to be donated to charity, our sector would get a whopping $6.8 Trillion.

 If you haven’t discussed your nonprofit’s future with your longtime donors, you’re missing a huge opportunity. And if your nonprofit has been around for ten years or more, it’s time to have a formal Planned Giving Program.

 Consider these reasons for starting a Planned Giving (a.k.a. Legacy) Program:

•  A person’s estate can only go to three places: family and friends, the government via taxes, or charity. Legacy gifts to charity are just like other gifts to charity: they are the result of cultivation and solicitation, and they require stewardship. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Another nonprofit may well have already talked with your donor about their estate plan… and yours can, too. But your donor probably won’t bring it up – that’s YOUR job! A legacy program gives you an easy way to start the conversation.

• A planned giving program will grow your nonprofit’s endowment, ensuring its stability in the future. Your nonprofit doesn’t have an endowment yet? That’s okay… many endowments were started because a donor left instructions to invest their legacy gift and then support the mission using the income it generates. You can start one that way, too.

• A legacy program provides a structured way to thank and celebrate estate donors for their support and compassion while they’re still with us.

• If you’ve got donors who have been giving regularly to support your mission for years or even decades, they clearly care about the people you serve, the issues you address, and the impact you have. They want your work to continue even after they’re gone. Discussing it with them is just good stewardship.

• And speaking of those regular donors… even if their annual donations don’t qualify as major gifts, your nonprofit depends on them, right? What will happen to your mission when those regular donations stop? Why not ask your dedicated donors to include your nonprofit in their estate plan, either as a percentage or a designated amount, so that the good work they’ve done by supporting your nonprofit during their lives can continue to make the world better for their descendants? Even 1% of an estate can amount to a significant gift.

• What could your nonprofit do differently if you learned that a longtime donor was planning to leave an unrestricted gift of $5M to your nonprofit? A structured Planned Giving Program can inspire just such a gift, because it builds your donor’s trust and confidence in your organization by providing your donor with a space to talk about the future for the people you serve.

• A Planned Giving Program doesn’t take as much time as you might think. It’s really a matter of identifying the donors in your database who have given so often that their commitment to your mission is unquestionable, and then talking with them about their estate plans. I hope you’re reaching out regularly to those folks anyway! You’ll need to do an annual cultivation event for them, but not on the scale of your annual fundraising event. The return on investment is definitely worth it, because...

• An estate gift comes from the donor’s assets, not their annual income, so it’s often the largest gift a donor ever makes.

Your job as a fundraiser is to ask, and nothing more. You don’t have to be a retirement planner, a financial planner, a tax preparer, or a lawyer to talk with your donors about their estate plans in relation to your nonprofit. There is no need for you to do anything besides ask… but you must ask.

Remember: you are asking on behalf of the people you serve, who cannot ask for themselves. Please don’t let this unique opportunity to make a difference for them slip away.

Betsy Steward advises clients on major donor cultivation, solicitation and stewardship, as well as fundraising best practices, back-office organization, board presentations and writing to donors (appeal letters, emails, proposal letters, thank-you notes, etc.). She can be reached at BetsyVSteward@gmail.com. Sign up for her weekly blog at https://www.betsystewardconsulting.com/.