As I shared in Part 1 of my Great Wealth Transfer blog post, we are anticipating a transfer of over $70 trillion in assets over the next 20 to 25 years as the Baby Boomer generation ages. An estimated $12 trillion will be coming to nonprofits in the form of bequests and other planned gifts.
If you are not already talking to your donors about including a gift for your organization in their will or estate plan, now is the time to start. If you are a small shop, you don’t need a complex planned giving program; most planned gifts come in the form of bequests. Determine what planned gifts your organization can accept and make sure your gift acceptance and acknowledgment policies are updated.
Consider the following strategies to strengthen your planned giving efforts and ensure your nonprofit is ready for the opportunity the Great Wealth Transfer brings:
- Ask your donors to consider a bequest or beneficiary designation for your organization. Once a nonprofit is included in a will or estate plan, the donor is likely to fulfill that commitment. When you meet with donors, include these options in your conversations.
- Focus on building relationships with your donors. Like all fundraising, planned giving is about relationships. Marketing and outreach techniques will generate interest and help identify planned gift prospects, but securing gifts requires relationships.
- Stay in touch with donors who have expressed interest in a planned gift or have disclosed that they have included your organization in their will. Even if their annual giving drops off, you need to continue to steward those relationships.
- Create planned giving materials that are informative, easy to understand, and brief but thorough. Remember that people give to people, so include your name (not just your title) and maybe even your picture, with your contact information. All planned giving materials should include your organization’s legal name, address and EIN. Incorporate this same information on the giving page of your website.
- Feature living donor stories in your communications. Ask your donor to share why they chose to make a planned gift and focus on the impact their gift (and others like it) will have on your mission. Planned giving options are frequently associated with death, something no one wants to hear or talk about.
- Start your planned giving marketing and outreach with your consistent donors and those most closely engaged with your organization: your volunteers, staff, board and recipients of services. They are your best prospects!
With the Great Wealth Transfer underway, every nonprofit should be focused (in part) on finding major and planned giving donors. These types of gifts are the lowest cost, highest return gifts nonprofits can generate. There is no better way to ensure for the future growth and strength of your organization.