The Seven Commandments of Planned Giving highlight areas to avoid as we interact with donors and ask for planned gifts. By reviewing each commandment, you can develop a road map to assist you as you navigate through the perils of planned giving.
Having worked with three nonprofits over the past 17 years has taught me the importance of identifying and nurturing one of the most significant resources of any organization — its older donors. Cultivating these donors enriches their lives and allows them to have a positive impact on their favorite charities beyond their cash-generating years.
Sitting squarely in the upper echelon of effective and highly respected nonprofit organizations, the Texas-based Mothers Against Drunk Driving celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. For the past decade, the nationally acclaimed drunken-driving education organization has held steady as a $47 million charity fueled in large part by direct-mail fundraising.
An impressive number, by anyone’s standards. But MADD’s top dogs read “steady” to mean “static” and decided a few years ago that the organization needed a major kick in the fundraising pants. Enter Bobby Heard, who took over as national director of programs and development in 2002.
Women need peace of mind, comprehensive thinking and minimal stress in the process of estate planning, write Lynne Marie Kohm, J.D., professor of family law at Regent University’s School of Law in Virginia Beach, Va., and Mark L. James, J.D., in their new book, “Estate Planning Success for Women: How to Plan Your Estate With Foresight, Clarity and Thoughtfulness for the Benefit of Those You Love.”
In 1989, I was fortunate enough to attend a very intense management-training program that, in hindsight, virtually changed my way of thinking about business and management. The four-day program was called “Skunk Camp,” and it was operated by the Tom Peters Group.
(Peters co-authored the books “In Search of Excellence” and “Passion for Excellence.”)
