Report: Target Donors 40 and Older for Planned Gifts

“The findings really show that we could be missing out on potential donors by not paying attention to this group,” Hutney says. “We should be approaching these people while they are making decisions about their future.”

The Stelter study also refutes the minimum income levels that fundraisers use as a guideline when targeting potential planned-giving candidates, claiming viable prospects may often have a lower income than the sector generally targets. Seventy percent of “secret givers,” for example, have annual household incomes of $99,999 or less, compared to 48 percent of people who currently have a bequest in their will.