STOP PUTTING OFF PLANNED GIVING

The Great Wealth Transfer is underway. Up to $90 trillion is expected to be passed on from wealthy, older generations over the next twenty years. $60 billion of that is predicted to be gifted in 2024.

If you’ve been neglecting your planned giving efforts - or putting them off entirely – it’s time to stop.

Besides the potential for transformational gifts, your organization should absolutely invest time in seeking planned gifts now for several compelling reasons:

High Return on Investment

Planned giving offers an exceptionally high return on investment compared to other fundraising methods. For every dollar spent on promoting bequests, your organization can generate an average return of $56.83. This is significantly higher than the ROI for major gifts ($33.33 per dollar) and regular giving ($8.41 per dollar).

Transformational Gifts

Planned gifts tend to be much larger than typical donations. The average bequest left to a charitable organization in 2023 was $46,594, which far exceeds the average online cash donation of $128. These substantial gifts can have a transformative impact on your organization’s ability to fulfill its mission.

Increased Annual Giving

Contrary to concerns that planned gifts might cannibalize annual donations, research shows that donors who include a charity in their will increase their annual gifts by an average of $3,000 in subsequent years. This means planned giving can boost both long-term and short-term fundraising.

Accessibility to All Donors

Planned gifts, especially bequests, are accessible to donors at all income levels. This inverts the traditional donor pyramid by allowing supporters to make significant contributions regardless of their current financial situation. It opens major giving opportunities to a much wider donor base. By educating donors about the benefits of planned giving, you can inspire more people to consider this type of contribution.

Relationship Building

Engaging with donors about planned giving helps build deeper relationships. It allows you to connect with supporters on a more personal level and align their giving with the organization’s mission and values.

Donor Benefits

Planned gifts offer donors numerous benefits, including tax advantages, the ability to make larger gifts than they could during their lifetime, and the opportunity to leave a legacy. By informing donors about these benefits, you can help donors realize their desire to make a significant impact that endures beyond their lifetime.

Long-Term Financial Stability

Planned gifts, such as bequests, charitable remainder trusts, and other estate gifts, provide a reliable source of future revenue. Securing these gifts now can help ensure your organization's financial health and stability long after the current donors are gone. This financial stability allows your organization to plan and execute long-term strategies with confidence.

If you’re ready to stop leaving this great opportunity behind, then start these next steps:

1. Set aside time to review your development communications – are they planned giving friendly? Identify ways you may be inadvertently excluding certain groups or reinforce stereotypes of who should consider leaving a planned gift to your organization.
   • 56% of estate plans were written by women and nearly 60% of all bequests committed were from women.
   • Single individuals give 1.8 times larger gifts than married individuals.
     
     
2. Take inventory of published donor stories, website content, and photos you are including in your outreach Try to include images of younger individuals and families to normalize planned giving across ages. Did you know that 21% of wills created by Gen Z included a bequest to charity? That is a higher rate than every other age group!
   
   
3. Once you understand your legacy donors’ motivations for giving, consider initiating a conversation around family giving.
   
   
4. Start communicating throughout all your development channels – from personal visits to social posts – that your organization is ready, willing, and able to support future giving from prospective donors.
   
   
5. Educate staff and board volunteers on the benefits to the donor and the organization that planned giving can fulfill.

Stop putting off planned giving and start investing time and resources in planned giving now. You can enhance your organization’s financial future and mission impact, which makes it a strategic and worthwhile endeavor while positioning it for significant growth and impact in the years to come.

Need help? Reach out to us for a free one-hour consultation!

As important as knowing what to START doing, it’s important to know what to STOP doing. “Because we’ve always done it this way” is a terrible reason to do something. This month, we’ll share things you should STOP doing to further your organization.