Five Ways to Promote Bequest Gifts at (Almost) No Cost

Five Ways to Promote Bequest Gifts at (Almost) No Cost

Oct. 25, 2005

By Alexander Macnab

Consider this: All our donors will one day die, and the majority of them do not have wills. Of those who do, few leave money to charity.

So even if your organization has a small or nonexistent budget for planned-giving programs, you still have to make it an important part of your development plan. Following are five almost no-cost ways (and a bonus sixth) to help your donors, board members, former board members, staff and retired staff (an often overlooked and potentially very helpful group) make planned giving a priority:

1. Write a simple sentence asking donors to include you in their wills -- perhaps something just this basic: "Please ensure that your help continues by including ________________ in your will." Put it on your letterhead, service brochures, annual reports, and anywhere and everywhere you can.

2. Include a planned-gifts committee on your board. It can be comprised of as few as three people whom you choose, but who are appointed by the board chair. Ask these people to meet quarterly to assist you and to be a sounding board and support group. Ask other charities how they involve such committees. They often review and approve gift policies and open doors to others. They can also be a very powerful advocacy group.

3. Write short -- 200 words -- simple, straightforward articles about what bequests have done to help your program grow. Go back to the beginning of your program and see if you can identify some early bequests that made a difference. The search could uncover some forgotten resources and will give you the names of some attorneys you want to get to know. If they're dead, locate the living members of their firm. Include an article on bequests in every issue of your newsletter. If you don't have a newsletter, consider starting one so you can let donors know what good things their gifts are doing.

4. Include photographs of those who helped, but also consider including photographs of the living family members of the person who provided the bequest. They usually will be pleased to be asked and they might become donors. If you've not received bequests that you know about, write an article about what bequest help can (or will) do, perhaps featuring a well-known person at your organization who can be quoted appealing directly for this kind of help.

5. In addition to the request for bequest help that will be everywhere, prepare a simple statement containing language to use that a donor can give to the person preparing his or her will.

Here's a bonus idea that you might want to consider implementing after a year of putting suggestions one through five in place. Do it now if you can, but many of us are initially so overwhelmed with other programs and activities that this kind of thing seems beyond what's possible.

6. Consider offering a free wills clinic twice a year. Members of your local planned-giving council will help you plan and conduct it. Visit www.ncpg.org to find your local council. Don't worry about how many people attend. If the result is just one bequest, all the time and energy will have been worth it.

With the exception of the last suggestion, all of these things can be done by any development professional right away, with almost no expense. The good news is that once your first bequest arrives, there will be a lot of interest and significant financial resources available to continue. It's getting started that usually stops us. But the rewards are so substantial that we need to begin. Now.

If you need an incentive, consider what will happen if a wealthy, high-status donor or board member dies, and your agency is not included in their estate plans.

Alexander Macnab, FAHP, CFRE, is founder of nonprofit consulting company Alexander Macnab & Co., and can be reached by visiting www.alexandermacnab.com.