A couple weeks ago, my family received the devastating, unexpected news that one of my uncles was very ill. His health declined rapidly and we sadly had to say goodbye to him on Wednesday. The sudden loss left me stunned, and the aftermath reminded me just how complex death is, both emotionally and logistically, for those left behind.
Yesterday, unable to concentrate on work, I spent the day checking up on my family’s end-of-life plans. I made sure our living wills were all easy to find, with copies stored at our doctors’ offices; began the process of creating a last will and testament; and created a short document for my partner outlining my last wishes, including how I want my body to be buried (in a green cemetery) and how I’d like to be remembered by loved ones (with a celebration of life instead of a funeral).
Why and When Do People Make Wills?
All this planning reminded me of research I’ve conducted for my nonprofit clients to help develop their legacy giving (sometimes called planned giving) campaigns. Through my research, I learned that when people experience the death of a loved one, the experience often triggers a desire to get their own end-of-life plans in order. They often make a last will and testament, or check the one they’ve already written to make sure it’s still aligned with their current priorities.
But, of course, this isn’t the only time people create or check up on their will. A Giving USA study finds that people often create or update their wills when they are:
In their early 40s;
Getting married or divorced;
Having a baby;
Purchasing a home or other major asset;
Traveling or moving abroad;
Diagnosed with a fatal illness; or, as I mentioned before,
Experiencing the death of a loved one.
Knowing when your supporters are likely to create or update their wills can help inform when you should approach them to solicit a legacy or planned gift.
Now, obviously, I don’t recommend approaching a supporter who has had a loved one die and saying, “Hey, Jenni! I heard your uncle died. When you die, will you give us some money?” However, if you know one of these life events is occurring in a supporter’s life, you may want to include a note in their next email newsletter that says someone from your organization would be happy to discuss legacy giving options, and ask them to reply directly if they’d like to set up a quick meeting.
If the life event is happy (e.g., getting married or having a baby), it’s completely appropriate to use this as an excuse to schedule a meeting with your supporter to congratulate them and catch up on life. At the end of the meeting, you can let them know your organization is hosting a legacy campaign and you’d love to know if they’re interested in learning how to make a planned gift.
Who is Most Likely to Make a Legacy or Planned Gift?
This shouldn’t surprise you at all: The people who are most likely to make a legacy gift to your organization are those who have supported your organization consistently for at least five years. Most donors who choose to make a legacy gift do so because they’ve been directly, personally asked to make a gift by a representative of a nonprofit they already support.
The aforementioned Giving USA study includes some additional interesting findings:
A donor’s income is not a predictor of whether they can or will leave a legacy gift. Many choose to establish planned gifts because they know they can have a bigger impact with this type of gift than they can with cash donations in their lifetime.
Tax benefits are typically not a significant motivator when people are deciding whether to establish a planned gift.
About 53% of donors include a planned gift in the first version of their will.
The most important takeaway here is that your longtime donors are the most likely to make a legacy gift, regardless of their income… But only if you ask. Studies on planned giving have found that the idea of planned giving has never occurred to many donors until this type of gift is directly solicited.
How Can I Plan a Legacy Giving or Planned Giving Campaign?
I created a detailed podcast episode about how to develop a legacy giving campaign that I highly recommend listening to.
Here are some tips I always give to my nonprofit clients as I help them develop a legacy giving campaign:
Get familiar with the most common types of planned gifts. Usually, a legacy giver will make a charitable bequest, make your nonprofit a beneficiary of their retirement plan and/or life insurance policy, or set up a charitable trust. Other forms of planned gifts include gifts made through donor-advised funds and charitable gift annuities. Although your nonprofit shouldn’t provide financial planning advice to your donors, you should at least understand the basics of the different types of planned gifts so you can have intelligent discussions about them.
Outline a process you’ll use to work with donors who establish planned gifts. Which staff member will be responsible for tracking information about donors who want to establish planned gifts? How will you recognize and thank these donors? Who will be responsible for maintaining ongoing communication/engagement with these donors? If donors have questions about how to establish a particular kind of gift, who is an attorney, financial advisor, or other resource you can point them to?
Start soliciting your board and/or most engaged, longtime supporters. Solicitations become easier when you can bring along someone who has already gone through the process of establishing a planned gift. Your board members and most engaged supporters should be easy to ask for a legacy gift because they’ve already demonstrated a longtime commitment to your organization. Once they’ve committed a legacy gift, you can ask them to join you in soliciting others for legacy gifts.
Include legacy giving information in all of your nonprofit’s marketing campaigns. You may want to launch your legacy giving program with a marketing campaign specifically dedicated to sharing information about planned gifts, but don’t stop there. In every email newsletter, event program, and direct mail letter, include a note about how supporters can set up a quick meeting with a member of your development team to talk about legacy giving options.
Do you have additional questions about how to develop a legacy giving campaign? I’d love to schedule a coaching call to support you.