Why I Love Planned Giving
It’s the people, pure and simple. What other job permits us to talk with successful and generous people about their families, backgrounds, values, and dreams?
August 6, 2012
It’s the people, pure and simple. What other job permits us to talk with successful and generous people about their families, backgrounds, values, and dreams?
Current gifts are those given and received now. Examples of current gifts include cash or checks, stocks or bonds, real estate, personal property, and art or antiques. The donor simply sends or brings the actual gift to your organization or signs papers transferring the asset(s) to your organization.
In planned giving, perhaps more than in any other type of development effort, your focus must be on the donor rather than on the gift. Donors are the heart of your planned giving program.
Have you heard this one? An elderly woman decided to make one large charitable gift this year in December but she was not sure which of three worthy organizations to support. In April, as a test, she sent each organization a $100 contribution. The first organization processed the gift according to its usual standards and the donor received a pre-printed receipt ten days later.
1. It’s good for your clients, it’s good for your business, it’s good for society, and it’s good for you.
2. You’ll be surprised how many of your clients are searching for a way to give back to society, to memorialize a loved one, or simply to do good.
3. Clients agree that philanthropy is no more personal than any other decision advisors help them make. Financial and estate planning is about all the things they can do with their money. This is one of them.
The prospective donor’s first impression of you and your organization is during the initial contact—usually by letter or phone call. The person who makes that first contact is the person to whom the prospect cannot say no. This is often, but not always, a member of the board. The phone call or letter should be personal and warm and also to the point. Whether the letter is from you or a board member, tell the prospective donor who you are (unless you are already acquainted), what you are doing, and what you want.
Endowments and planned gifts are separate concepts that work hand-in-hand for donors and nonprofit organizations. Planned gifts are contributions made as a result of a
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