Over the years I’ve lost count as to how many times a nonprofit colleague has asked “do we have a donor for this program?” My response is almost always the same: “Please send me 3 sentences on the societal problem you’re proposing to solve and 3 sentences on how your program or project solves the problem, and I’ll get back to you.”
I have always found it more interesting and easier to identify donors who align with our organizational efforts when we can express a vision that presents both immediate-term and long-term impact. So often we’ve presented donors with a case that might be just either one or the other. A program that addresses an immediate need may not be attractive to donors who are seeking long-term or systemic impact. But if we present a vision that stretches too far out, we’re challenged to convey urgency.
When you find that sweet spot where your brief description of the societal issue you’re addressing intersects with the immediate (short-term) and/or transformational change (long-term) impact, something wonderful happens. You move from a mindset of “major gifts” to major donors and blended gifts.
Given where some of the most significant personal assets reside today, not sharing with donors the greatest potential impact that could arise from supporting both immediate and long-term objectives is like only telling half the story. You’re just looking for dollars and not the change!
Presenting a cohesive message of blended gifts, or an immediate charitable gift /pledge with a future planned gift, allows the donor to have an impact now and create lasting support later. These blended gifts begin with the mindset of seeing your prospects not as a major gift but as major donors who can make an impact both today and well into the future. Today happens to be primetime for considering solicitation plans or proposals that include these options, and you can be enterprising in this work without being a planned gift expert or making these requests overly complicated.
For example, let’s start with the Baby Boomers who are entering prime estate planning years. The oldest Boomers (born 1946) are approaching 80 and the youngest Boomers (born 1964) have reached or are now reaching retirement age. Some data is beginning to show that planned giving could be the largest source of giving among “smaller dollar” donors over the next 10 -12 years. Donors who are aged 65 to 84 contributed 38% of all bequest dollars to non-profits and their average bequest was $66,568 in 2024.
Even simpler than a bequest gift made through updating or creating a donors’ will, donors can easily identify your charity as a beneficiary in an IRA, DAF, savings or investment account. In the most recently available data, the total amount held in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) in the United States is approximately $18.0 trillion and in 401Ks there is another $9.3 trillion. That’s more than $25 trillion just in these two investment vehicles. And another $326.45 billion held in donor advised funds (DAF’s). I mention just these 3 vehicles, because it has been estimated that 70% of these accounts do not have an identified beneficiary(ies) to receive the remaining funds after the account owner’s passing. There are also countless investment and savings accounts as well.
Including your nonprofit as a beneficiary on any of these accounts is simple for the donor, who often can go online to add beneficiaries to their accounts and the funds will pass directly to the beneficiary outside of probate.
Opening the discussion to a blended gift does not need to be overly complicated for the charity or the donor but can be a game changer, helping the donor build a sense of legacy and having made a lifetime impact. These options can be included in gift requests or proposals to open the door to other discussions as well, including Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD’s) for donors 70½ or older, or helping a donor 73+ years old, deal with their Required Minimum Distribution.
Again, these are not complicated processes. There are several simple steps to assist your donors in understanding these options and your preparedness in fulfilling all required criteria in accepting and recognizing these types of gifts.
First, start by asking yourself and your team these five questions:
There’s not one perfect way to start this work. You will probably have documents or website pages to update, analysis to run and more. But none of needs to keep you from starting now. Every donor conversation – especially with older donors – is a chance to talk about the change you’re making together, both today and in the future.
Want help? My colleagues and I are ready to show you the power of blended gifts. Contact us to learn more.