10 Things You Need to Know About Planned Giving

By Scott Janney

Face it, no one likes to talk about death — especially not his or her own. And to talk about planned giving, you have to acknowledge the fact that a "planned" gift is one that will be given to a charity after the donor has shuffled off his or her mortal coil. It takes a very specific approach — and personality type — to do it well.

That said, there are some general things to acknowledge, or know, or master that can help propel your organization toward more successful planned-giving strategies.

1. Know yourself
Some people look to planned giving as a way to hide behind their computers and spend their time reading about esoteric plans and legal opinion. Planned giving is a part of development, which is a noble, though often misunderstood, profession. When someone at a party says to you, "I could never do what you do," she's referring to the dreaded task of "asking for money." If you can't ask for money, then you can't raise planned gifts.

I love the technical aspects of planned giving. I'll be leading workshops at this year's National Conference on Philanthropic Planning on the Non-Grantor Charitable Lead Annuity Trust. Actually, it's even worse than it sounds … it's about the math behind the instrument. But this presentation began as a means of getting in front of a few board members, then a few boards. The seed for the seminar was a gimmick to get people who love my charity to listen to a new idea about how to give us more money. The main qualification you need to promote planned gifts — as a director of planned giving, a development or major-gifts officer, or a volunteer — is the ability to tell people why they should support your charity.

2. Know that the simple  gifts are the best gifts
As you might guess, I like a flip charitable remainder unitrust with makeup as much as the next guy — more actually — but most of the planned-giving money that supports my charities comes from bequests in wills. Actually, most of it comes from simple bequests in simple wills. It's been like that in every place I've worked, and I have never heard a planned-giving professional claim that it's different at any other charity.

Some planned gifts are even simpler than a will. Everyone should have a current will that has been crafted by a competent estate attorney. However, most people would rather have their teeth cleaned than talk with an attorney about how to divide their assets after death. But most donors can change the beneficiary designations on their IRAs, qualified pension plans and life insurance policies without visiting an attorney. Many of these changes can be made online or by completing a standard form and sending it to the plan administrator. The same goes for naming a charity on a CD at the bank and for a number of other assets. There are important reasons why gifts from an IRA, 401(k) or 403(b) can make a great deal of sense to most donors, too, but you won't find tax law in my list of the top 10 things you need to know.

3. Take every chance you get to promote planned gifts
Put "Please remember ________ in your will" at the bottom of every letter. Get others — like your CEO — to end their letters that way, or have it printed on the stationery. If your charity has a director of annual funds, ask that person for ideas about how to promote planned giving in annual-appeal pieces. I've received many good leads from reply envelopes and forms that had a box for "I have put ________ in my will" and "Please contact me about a planned gift to ________."

Look for opportunities to speak to groups about how planned gifts, especially those from simple wills, have helped your organization. Put ads in your organization's magazines or newsletters, send planned-giving postcards, and make planned-giving information easy to find on your Web site. Remember, the best  person to promote planned giving is the one who can ask people to  support your charity, so have him or her exercise that quality by asking in as many ways as possible.

4. Know your  best prospects
How good is your database? You have a huge head start if you can identify your most loyal donors, those who love your charity and have supported it consistently over the years. Your best prospects often are older, or have never been  married, or have no children.

5. Go beyond  the basics
Don't just know your donors' basic demographics; know what words they use and what they love most about your charity, and learn to speak their language. The longer I specialize in planned giving, the more I need to self-edit my technical vocabulary around the average donor. However, those more  complicated concepts and terms come in handy around donors' attorneys and accountants.

6. Tell stories
Be sure to tell stories about faithful new planned givers and those from your charity's history. Even the smallest charities have experienced a couple of generous and foresighted individuals who have named them in their wills or helped them through some other planned gifts. Singing their praises is extremely important because it reminds your volunteer and administrative leaders that planned giving already has made a difference. It reminds potential planned givers about the generous acts that help you fulfill your mission. You want people to know that it's honorable to support your charity, that people like them and people they respect have remembered you through their wills and estate plans, and that their gifts won't be forgotten.

I remember visiting a 103-year-old donor who told me that a few months earlier she saw the name of a friend on the side of one of our vans and decided to change her will. One of the hospitals I serve has a story in each newsletter about a planned-giving donor with a sidebar about the type of gift he or she has given. I've heard a lot of people tell me about the people from the stories, but I'm still waiting for someone to mention one of the sidebars.

7. Offer options
Although I've stressed the simple planned gifts, research shows that charities that offer the widest variety of planned-giving options raise the most planned gifts. Even very large charities that employ a number of planned-giving attorneys receive most of their planned-giving money from bequests, often 75 percent to 85 percent of all planned-giving contributions. The attorneys earn their salaries not just through the more complicated gifts, but also because there is a great value in letting people know that your organization is "in the business" of planned giving. Don't let  donors wonder whether or not they can put your charity in their wills.

8. Stand out  from the crowd
Don't send planned-giving  communications that look like the ones from every other charity. The best planned-giving pieces, like  the best development pieces, tell your charity's story. Your mission and the work you do are the real hooks that attract donors to  fund annuities or make bequests to your organization. Keep the language about wills, charitable-gift annuities, retirement plans and other gifts clear and accurate, and speak to how gifts from these  techniques promote your cause and mission.

9. Don't be too cute
Speak clearly about the benefits of the gift plans you offer in ways that your donors will understand, and avoid jargon that only other professionals can pronounce. Don't give your legacy society a name that always needs to be explained. You can have fun and choose titles that grab attention, but always come back to the  mission that planned gifts will support and the clear benefits they have for the donor and for  your charity.

10. Acknowledge that you need help
Every planned-giving program needs help from paid and volunteer advisers. You need to develop a network of legal and financial professionals who enhance the publicity about your program, add a sense of confidence among donors and prospects, and provide advice in their areas of expertise. Whether your charity has been around for months or centuries, and whether you're new to this profession or seasoned, building a network of skilled and trustworthy professional advisers will open doors, open eyes and save  you from many pitfalls. Only select professionals who are charitably inclined, and avoid those with sales pitches to sell their products but offer only dubious benefits for your charity.

Scott Janney is director of planned giving at Main Line Health. Reach him at janneys@mlhs.org