Planned giving is a way for people to give to charity using their wills, trusts, special tax-advantaged instruments, beneficiary designations and other financial and estate planning methods. 

There are many different types of planned gifts, some pay an income and some offer other advantages, but they all allow the donor and charity to benefit in ways that otherwise might not be possible, and generally are initiated through a donor’s wish to support a cause, as with other charitable gifts.

 

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How do I know if my organization is ready for planned giving?

If your nonprofit has been in existence for seven years or so, and you have ongoing and growing consistent support from loyal individuals (people), then you are most likely ready for a planned giving program if you don’t already have something in place.  There are many different planned giving campaigns that will benefit you and your donors as long as you have a long-term mission, loyal individual donors and means of cultivating them.


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Our supporters are mostly young adults…isn’t planned giving only for older people?

It was once assumed that planned giving applied only to people in their 70’s and 80’s.  Recently, new research has shown that people begin working on their estate plans in their mid 40’s and that much of their estate planning is already completed by the time they reach their mid-80’s. With the growing number of ways to create a charitable legacy, planned gifts are possible from younger as well as more elderly supporters.

How do we know if our program is working?

As with any new campaign, you should create a plan that includes criteria and goals with a realistic time frame.  Most important though is the conversations that you will start with your loyal donors, board members and other volunteers. This will give you the greatest insights into how you’re doing and if you need to make revisions to your campaign plan.  Over the years, many millions of dollars may come in so patience in the beginning is important.

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How long does it take for a planned giving program to show results?

The correct answer is: “as long as it takes”, but generally speaking it can take two to five years. Occasionally it takes less time.  If you work seriously at building relationships and establishing a comprehensive planned giving program, you will definitely see significant results over time, there is just no way to say when it will start or  how quickly gifts will come in.
 

Will we need the help of lawyers and accountants for this?

Generally speaking, lawyers and accountants are not as important to a successful planned giving campaign as skilled fundraisers.  Sometimes technicalities arise that require specialized expertise, but most of the time nonprofits do not require accountants or lawyers for planned gifts.

Yes and no.  All of a nonprofit’s assets are contractually pledged towards the annuity payments. Several states have strict requirements and policies issued by their insurance departments that must be adhered to before a nonprofit can offer charitable gift annuities. This protects the nonprofit as well as the donor. Other states do not have these requirements. Each nonprofit should understand their responsibility to these donors and take steps to secure the payments either by meeting reserves or through investment policies.

That being said, in the over 150 years that charitable gift annuities have been offered in the United States, extremely few (if any) legitimate programs ever defaulted to their donors.

So you can be sure you’ll be around for the next 50 years.  Methods of fundraising have changed drastically over the last half century, as has the economy.  Planned giving has become a much more mainstream form of fundraising; it helps to tighten donor relationships and increases other forms of giving.  For your nonprofit to stay relevant, it must also stay current or you may lose your supporters who wish to make planned gifts to other organizations.