5 Systems You Need to Make Planned Giving Sustainable

Do you have that place in your house that always collects a pile of stuff?

Me too. I have a friend whose family even has a name for this pile — it’s called the junk drawer.

These piles happen for two perfectly understandable reasons. First, we don’t have a system for where the items in the pile go. Second, we don’t have a system for regularly going through the pile and putting things away.

The problem with these “junk drawers” is that, if you’re anything like me, they end up being where we lose invitations, receipts, and bills.

Similarly, organizations accumulate a pile of unscheduled meetings, unmade follow-up calls, and unmeasured data when they don’t have systems in place guiding how and when to cultivate their planned giving program. As a result churches and nonprofits miss out on hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless individuals are never invited to pass on their faith through assets.

In today’s article we’ll walk through five systems successful and sustainable planned giving programs implement. It’s a crash course! But remember, implementing just one of these systems will significantly improve your planned giving program.  

Why Goals Aren’t Enough for Your Organization 

Did you know that less than 8% of people reach their new years’ goals each year?

Goals are good; they give you a destination. But without corresponding action steps — a system to get there — it’s like planning a trip to Greece without ever purchasing the flight. 

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits puts it this way, “Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.” 

For example, a ministry organization may have a goal to "have a $10 million endowment that distributes $500,000 a year to fund ministry."  But until the systems for making progress toward that goal are in place, that goal is just a pipedream.

Successful systems include what action should be taken and when the action should be taken. Clear easy to follow systems are especially vital when you’re doing something new or outside of your comfort zone. 

System #1: Blocking Time for Donors

From the very beginning God set aside time for rest. First, with His example in Genesis one and two and again in the Ten Commandments. 

God knew that some things, like rest, we would never do unless we specifically blocked time for them. 

In the fundraising world, one of the things many people don’t do without a time block is schedule and make donor visits. Hands down, requesting and conducting donor visits is THE most crucial step in building the relationship and trust that leads to legacy gifts. 

A successful system for blocking time for donors includes requesting visits and visiting donors. 

Blocking Time for Requesting Visits 

According to development expert Jerry Panas, “85% of getting the gift is getting the appointment.” In other words, if you’re not getting the appointment you’re not getting the gift!

If you only implement one system from this entire article, let it be this one.

In today’s busy world, and my 30+ years of experience, it takes about three attempts to schedule one donor visit.  

In my full-time gift planning days, my habit was to start each day by initiating three appointments — by email, phone, or a combination of both. Now you can add text messages to that formula! If I initiated three appointments a day, I could keep my calendar filled with at least five meetings a week.  

A time block system for requesting visits could look like this: Block the first hour of your work day to initiate three appointments for every one appointment you would like to have in the coming weeks.

If you hope to visit an average of two people a week, block the first hours of your week for initiating six appointments. Eventually, the system will result in regularly seeing your people.  

Blocking Time for Seeing Donors

You might be wondering, How much time should I set aside for donor visits? The amount of time you block on your calendar depends on the scope of your role.  

• Full-time gift planners spend about 50% of their time seeing donors, and typically visit a minimum of 20 donors a month. 
• Executive Directors or lead pastors are more likely to spend about 20% of their time seeing donors, and need to be blocking an average one day a week to be in substantive conversations.  
• Volunteers might block a day a month to have a couple of significant legacy giving conversations.  

No matter the scope of your role, blocking time to visit donors is essential.  

System #2: Donor Education System

Have you ever bought something that you saw in an ad while scrolling your phone? Or purchased a book your friend recommended?

In both scenarios you engaged with a product because someone put it on your radar. People give legacy gifts when it’s on their radar at the right time. 

Your organization is responsible for getting legacy giving on their donor’s radar so that when the time is right they think of supporting your important work with their gift. A great way to do this is through seminars.

Seminars create a service-focused opportunity to educate donors about financial stewardship while opening the door to invite bequest gifts. They also have the capacity to be a fun gathering!

Systems for successful seminars include three steps:

1. Hosting. Be intentional to choose days and times when most of your donors are available (e.g. avoid winter months when couples are snowbirding and summer months when families are on vacation). Consider tying your seminar to another event related to your organization.  
2. Inviting. A letter of invitation works best. Sending a letter gives you the opportunity to make a compelling case for attendance. But it doesn’t secure attendees on its own!  Following up the letter with a personal invitation, either face-to-face or by phone, is a far better way to say ‘join me’ and significantly increases your chances of receiving a ‘yes.’ 
3. Following up. The use of a survey tool at the end of your seminar gives attendees the opportunity to identify their questions and indicate their desire to have a followup visit.  But the most important ingredient to a follow up system is your thoughtful, personal follow up. A simple phone call is more likely to keep the conversation going and help someone welcome the start of a legacy gift conversation.

As you consider implementing a donor education system keep in mind that these seminars are only as strong as your follow up. Be intentional to not take your foot off the gas once you’ve hosted a seminar — the real work has just begun! 

Check out the Legacy Giving: The Basics online program for step-by-step guidance on creating a year-long calendar of educational seminars, invitations, and follow-up. 

System #3: Promoting Planned Giving

Have you heard of habit stacking?

It’s a strategy James Clear teaches to adopt a new habit. Essentially, you use a current habit or routine to trigger a new habit or routine. For example, when I got my dog Charlie I added the new habit of taking him for a walk to my old habit of eating lunch over the noon hour.

You can use this principle to promote the basics of giving legacy gifts and let people know you accept them. 

The “old habit” is your existing communication channels. Here are three “new habits” you can add to your existing communication to spread the word about legacy giving:

1. Promote legacy giving opportunities in your newsletters, marketing and educational material, as well as presentations. 
2. Promote legacy giving through a gift invitation you’re already extending. For example, if you’re inviting a donor to use their IRA to make a current gift, it’s the perfect opportunity to invite them to also consider a legacy gift, naming your ministry as the ultimate beneficiary of the IRA.
3. Promote legacy giving in your email signature. Email signatures are an often overlooked marketing strategy, but when leveraged acquire a lot of clicks. It’s also something people may see regularly and is a simple way to keep legacy giving top-of-mind.

If you’re serious about implementing systems for a sustainable legacy giving program now is a good time to pause and take action. First, add one line about legacy giving to your email signature right now. Secondly, make a list of three to five existing communication channels where you could share about the basics of legacy giving. 

Inviting supporters to give bigger and better gifts doesn’t require you to reinvent the wheel in every area, but it will most likely require intentional action!

System #4: Storytelling

Have you ever considered the power of story?

Jesus taught primarily through stories — more than 30 parables are recorded in the four Gospels. In 2021, people spent $2.53 billion at AMC Theaters alone to watch stories unfold on screen. According to Jennifer Aker, Professor of Marketing at Sanford University, "Stories are remembered up to 22 times more than facts alone."

Stories matter. Jesus favored them. We pay money to read or watch them. And our minds remember them.

There are two kinds of stories your organization should be telling.

1. Impact Stories. These are the stories of how gifts are making a difference. Share what was possible because of gifts that were made. Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of Wisconsin - Madison shared a powerful example of this. 
2. Donor Stories. These are the stories of your previous planned giving  donors that help your prospective donors envision themselves as heroes through their own planned giving story. Learn more about structuring a Donor Hero story by reading this article by Russel James. 

Telling compelling stories allows you to graciously invite donors to accompany you in your important work through their gifts. While crafting a story may feel daunting, I’m here to tell you, it’s worth all the time, writing, and editing required!

System #5: Measure What Matters

Do you know why social media algorithms and engagement are valuable?

They let you know which posts are performing well and which posts are performing bad as well as the kind of people who like your posts. 

With this information you can course correct to meet your goals — stop posting low performing content and post more high-performing content. If your posts are resonating with an audience you hadn’t intended you can shift your approach. 

Sounds good, right? There’s a catch. For social media algorithms and engagement to be of value, you have to capture the data and measure it. 

It’s the same with building a sustainable legacy giving program. Tracking data and reviewing this information semi-regularly will allow you to adjust to reach your fundraising goals. You need to observe two different types of measures:

1. Lead Measures — these are the inputs that ultimately result in gifts. You should be tracking the number of donor visits made and legacy gift invitations extended. Lead measures can also include the donor stewardship moves you make to retain the future gifts that have already been promised.  
2. Lag Measures — this includes tracking planned gifts received (known as maturities) and planned gifts promised for the future (known as expectancies).

If you’re serious about creating a sustainable legacy giving program for your organization you need to get serious about measuring data, because this is what makes sustainability possible!

Are You Ready to Create a Sustainable Legacy Giving Program?

Systems can feel like a daunting nuisance when you just want to get work done and see results. But systems make it easier to do the things you know you should do and serve people well at the end of their life.

Years ago a woman who was diagnosed with terminal cancer asked me to help her make a beautiful plan to bless her children and her church.

Two things fell in place when she called me. The opportunity to walk alongside someone in a very precious stage of life and having established systems that empowered us to methodically and efficiently accomplish her intent and bring her great joy in her final days. 

The impact of her gifts has been profound. But if I had not been ready to accompany her through legacy giving systems it would most likely not have happened.

Does your organization have systems in place to accompany someone through making a legacy gift?

At Brenda Moore & Associates we help churches and faith-based organizations build sustainable legacy giving programs through implementing simple and effective systems. Schedule a call HERE to see if we’re a good fit!