What an Effective Planned Giving Program Can Mean For Your Organization

by Stephen Hitchcock

Will your organization receive its share of the $10 trillion legacy?

Americans over 55 now hold assets worth over $10 trillion. (That's $10 x 1,000 x 1,000 x 1,000 x 1,000!) Since 1990, bequests alone have accounted for more than $40 billion in charitable gifts to nonprofit organizations.

Over the last several years, we've been hearing a great deal about the "transfer of wealth" that will occur as these older Americans pass on to family members and favorite charities some of the wealth they accumulated during the boom years following World War II.

The question is: How will your organization benefit from this massive transfer of wealth?

• Are you providing your supporters with the information they need to include you in their estate plans?

• Have you built the case for why your donors should make significant planned gifts to your organization?

• Do your members know how easy it is to leave legacy gifts that will carry on their most deeply held values?

At Mal Warwick & Associates, we view planned giving as an essential component in every organization's development program - a natural extension of the relationship you must build with your supporters. In many cases, a planned gift is the only way for a supporter to give you a major gift. Yet many individuals haven't been asked to make a simple bequest or gift of appreciated assets.

That's why promoting planned giving opportunities to your supporters may be the single most important step you take in securing your organization's financial future this year.

What you can do

At Mal Warwick Associates, we offer these consulting and mailing services to assist our clients in their planned giving program:

• Consulting on how to begin - or expand - a marketing strategy for planned gifts that best fits their organization's overall development program.

• Developing a systematic plan - including clear goals and evaluation standards - that will enable an organization to tap its full potential for planned giving.

• Creating a Legacy Society or other recognition clubs that encourage an organization's supporters to inform it of their intent to leave your organization a charitable bequest.

• Marketing planned giving opportunities to an organization's supporters through mailings and other collateral materials that involve, inform, and motivate donors to give planned gifts.

• Identifying an organization's best prospects for planned gifts - using demographic, psychographic, and donor history information to select individuals with a greater propensity to leave bequests or other planned gifts.

• Creating lead-generating outreach materials, space ads, newsletter articles, and brochures about the ease and availability of planned giving opportunities.

• Producing follow-up materials, thank-you letters, and other printed information about the benefits of planned giving.