Keep going: Tips to inspire your planned giving efforts

In an environment where immediate community needs are never-ending (and actually seem to be skyrocketing), it's really hard to carve out energy and time in your fundraising plan to make room for planned giving. The team at the community foundation knows how crucial it is for our community's charities to attract as many donor dollars as possible to meet 2025's mounting demands.

Ignoring a planned giving plan altogether, though, would be a mistake. You'd be sacrificing the long-term longevity of your mission. Intellectually, nonprofit fundraising professionals understand this. It's just that it seems so hard to do at the moment, in the midst of turbulent times and emotional drain.  

Keep your planned giving spirits high by considering the following:

Donors' planned gifts, such as bequests, are often significantly larger than annual donations. For instance, the average charitable bequest can range from $37,000 to $78,360, which is substantially higher than typical annual gifts. That's because donors can make planned gifts from assets they might not be able to part with during their lifetime, such as naming a charity as beneficiary of a retirement plan.
You may discover that engaging a donor in planned giving conversations actually enhances the donor's annual giving and campaign giving. This is because you're engaging a donor through yet another touchpoint, reinforcing that there are multiple ways to align values and beliefs with thoughtful gifts to support your mission and your endowment. Indeed, donors who arrange for a planned gift may increase their annual giving by up to 75 percent and beyond.
Keep in mind that planned gifts are often unrestricted. This allows you to allocate the funds where they are most needed and, importantly, grow your endowment. 
Pursuing planned gifts may not be as time-consuming as you think, especially given the return on investment often yielded by a planned gift. For instance, according to at least one study, for every dollar spent on promoting bequests, charities can expect an average return of $56.83, significantly higher than other fundraising methods. 

The key is to make it easy. Here's how:

Small tweaks to your marketing materials. Try to at least mention the opportunity for planned giving somewhere on each marketing asset. Make sure your website mentions your endowment fund at the community foundation. The same goes for printed materials, one-pagers, email newsletters, and annual appeal letters. Even though you mostly are asking for a current gift, don't forget to mention that you're always open to a discussion about endowment gifts through a bequest or beneficiary designation.
Always mention it, even if briefly. Talk with your major gift donors about the importance of your endowment and operating reserves to the organization's ability to weather the ups and downs of the market and community needs. Sometimes donors don't think about the "business" side of nonprofits. Even if your meeting is about something else, you can at least plant seeds.  
Offer real inspiration. If you can, find a current donor who is open to your organization sharing the story of the donor's intentions to leave a planned gift to your endowment fund in addition to making regular annual gifts. Role models are powerful. 

This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice. 

To learn more about endowment funds, contact Brian Reitz at 330-436-5628 or breitz@akroncf.org.