INSIGHTS: Tips, Tricks and More!

While most planned gifts are simple beneficiary gifts, you will most likely encounter a donor who would like to make a gift beyond the “ordinary.” What will you do when a donor wants to donate their house, business, art collection, or property? Does the property have...

Many people ask me how to count planned gifts. The first thing to keep in mind is that there is a difference between counting and accounting. “Accounting” relates to how gifts are counted with the finance office. These are the numbers we report on our tax returns....

Few organizations have goals around planned giving. We don’t want to bet on our donors dying, so I am not suggesting you set a goal for realizing planned gifts. I do, however, suggest goals that lead to and include planned gift intentions. Here are some examples of...

Often, planned giving programs are started by one person, usually someone with planned giving experience. When that person leaves the organization, so does the program with no one else in the organization fully involved, the program stalls. It’s imperative that you...

If you are going to start or grow a planned giving program with intention, the first thing I highly suggest you do is join the legacy society yourself. After all, how can you expect others to join if you are not a member? Once you are a member, it changes the...

Your donor’s first planned gift intention does not have to be the last. You would never think about asking a donor to make a major gift and never asking them to make another. But how many times do fundraisers do that with planned giving donors? They thank their donor...