How Organizations of Any Size Can Integrate Legacy Giving into Their Year-Round Giving Plan

Last year — early 2021 — I wrote my own obituary.

Not because I was sick, but because I wanted to clarify my focus for the 3rd third of my life. Now you might think me morbid, but I spend about half of my time working on legacy giving and charitable estate planning. Thinking about death and the life with Jesus that follows is normal for me.

I’ve learned that knowing what you want to be said of you at the end of life is a good way to guide how you live today.

And this is why legacy giving programs are important — leaving a legacy starts while you’re alive. Whether you’re planning to leave a financial legacy for your children or organization, or you want to leave a legacy of characteristics and morals, the legacy happens while you’re living.  

Unless organizations, like the one you serve, have and promote a legacy giving program, generous well-meaning people will not be able to make some of their most important gifts.

That being said, launching a legacy giving program can feel nearly impossible for most development professionals because the undertaking feels so large and they don’t know where to start. Throughout this article I’m going to share why integrating legacy giving into your year-round giving plan is good for your organization and donors, along with simple steps for small, mid-size, and large organizations to get started.

Why Nonprofit Leaders Should Integrate Legacy Giving into Their Year-Round Giving Plan

Month after month, year after year, people invest money into a retirement fund so that when they retire they have money to live on. Putting money into a retirement fund is putting money toward a desired future.

This is a basic and commonly accepted practice for successful living. And this principle can be replicated for nonprofits by integrating legacy giving into their year-round giving plan. 

Legacy Giving is known throughout most of the nonprofit sector as planned giving. Individuals can plan now to make larger gifts later at the end of life through their estate plans. But we prefer to use the term Legacy Giving simply because it infers more about what planned gifts accomplish. Through our legacy gifts, we play a role in passing on the legacy of faith to future generations and passing on a legacy of love for the neighbor near and far.

A nonprofit leader should integrate legacy giving into their year-round giving plan because it prioritizes the values of the donor and provides for organizational longevity. 

Legacy Giving Programs Prioritize Donors

Have you ever tried to order food at a restaurant and the place was so busy a server never got to your table?

It’s frustrating to be ready to put money towards something and not be able to do so because someone isn’t ready for you — especially when you’re hungry trying to order dinner!

Because of an economic phenomenon that we’re living in called The Great Wealth Transfer, your supporters are ready to make legacy gifts. Throughout The Great Wealth Transfer, covering the next 20-25 years, 45 million households will cumulatively pass on $73 trillion from one generation to the next! Cerulli Associates estimates that $10-$12 trillion of that will go to charity. 

That means these estate gifts alone will provide an average of $476 million to nonprofits each year — a number equivalent to the total of all charitable giving in 2021. According to research by FreeWill, this staggering transfer of wealth is made possible by a few characteristics of the Baby Boomer generation, including:

• A dramatically increased number of female Baby Boomers joined the workforce, resulting in twice as many wage earners
• Earnings were invested during an incredibly robust time in the market, which resulted in a significantly higher return on investment
• Families had fewer children (or no children) than previous generations which concentrates wealth per child

All that to say, your supporters have wealth to give and are looking for who they can bless by leaving a legacy. Extending a legacy giving invitation to donors and long-time supporters is in their best interest.

As my colleague, Nick Tofetland, wrote, “Generous people truly view everything they have as God’s and want it to be used for God. … But generous people only know about so many organizations and opportunities to give, and it is the fundraiser's job to request prayerful consideration of supporting their important work.”

Legacy Giving Programs Provide Long-term Organizational Benefits

Most people use a recipe when they bake something for the first time. Why? Because they want to be confident that the work they’re investing will produce the desired outcome. 

I, Brenda Moore — CFRE with almost 40 years of experience in philanthropy — am telling you that a legacy giving program is the recipe for your organization's long-term financial stability and success. 

Legacy Giving helps organizations in three ways:

1. Future income. Most legacy gifts are “give later” gifts that allow donors to retain control of their assets until they don’t need them any more. According to research conducted by Freewill, these future gifts are 200 times the size of the donor’s average annual gift.  
2. Current Income. When donors make legacy giving plans for an organization, their current giving to that organization typically doubles. When donors discover the benefits of using assets like IRAs and stock to make current gifts, their current giving increases all the more. 
3. Financial Stability. Legacy gifts provide a more diverse stream of income. The average nonprofit receives 10% of its annual gift revenues from bequests, and organizations with more mature Legacy Giving programs receive closer to 20% (Giving USA). Many legacy gifts fund endowments that provide an additional annual source of revenue in perpetuity.

The ins-and-outs of all these benefits would take us down a rabbit hole of financial and tax lingo. You can learn more about this by watching this training or scheduling a call with me directly HERE.

Is My Organization Too Small for Legacy Giving?

Do you wear glasses or contacts?

If so, you know the transformative experience of wearing corrective lenses for the first time and suddenly being able to distinguish leaves on a tree, read road signs from far off, and identify a whole new spectrum of colors. It’s absolutely magical!

Starting a legacy giving program for a small local nonprofit can be as transformative of an experience as putting corrective lenses on for the first time. Once your legacy giving program is established you will be free from scraping by financially each year, able to dream about new ways to serve others and take action. As an organization you will also build deeper connections with your supporters. 

Planned giving — or as we refer to it, legacy giving — work is not reserved for major institutions. Historically, small- to mid-size organizations have too often been too intimidated to take on legacy giving. As a result they haven’t experienced the same transformational benefits of legacy gifts that we see in higher education and healthcare and other large organizations that have been doing planned giving for a long time now.

My team and I are here to change that! Especially now, during these frequently and quickly changing times, it’s the organizations that do have the more diverse revenue streams because of planned gifts that are surviving and thriving.

2 Ways To Incorporate Legacy Giving Into Your Year-Round Giving Plan

Are you more likely to start something new that seems hard or easy? 

Most people would say that they’re more likely to start something that feels easy. It’s the same with starting to incorporate legacy giving into your year-round giving plan. If incorporating legacy giving feels easy, more people will do it. 

Luckily, I’ve walked many organizations through launching legacy giving programs so I can give you the two most impactful steps to get started: Make public invitations and find a mentor.

Public Invitation

Do your donors know that you are eager and ready to receive legacy gifts? 

Quite a few years ago, I attended a Minnesota Planned Giving Council meeting where I was introduced to some marketing research that identified a simple ad. When used repeatedly and consistently, this ad was identified as the #1 trigger that caused a donor to take action on their charitable gift plans.

Ever since I’ve encouraged my clients to make the consistent use of this ad as their top marketing priority and it has proven to be the #1 trigger for their donors as well!

The headline simply says: “Have You Remembered [name of organization] In Your will?”

The body says: “When you make or revise your will or trust, or review your life insurance contracts or retirement funds, please consider naming [name of organization] as one of your beneficiaries. The use of the following language will ensure that your gift is directed appropriately.”

Finally, the ad states legal language to be used for your organization.

The number one reason organizations are not receiving legacy gifts is that your donors don’t know you’re accepting or needing them. Using this ad in your marketing is a simple way to publicly remind your supporters that you are receiving legacy gifts. 

DOWNLOAD THE AD HERE!

Find A Mentor

Just because you’ve never launched a legacy giving program doesn’t mean you can’t. However there are some things you don’t know that would be worth having a mentor to help navigate. You can hire a mentor or coach in a formal capacity, but you can also ask a friend who has legacy giving experience to guide you. 

The first thing you want to learn from them is how to identify the best legacy giving prospects in your organization and start a legacy giving conversation with them.

If you don’t know where to find someone with legacy giving experience who might be willing to guide you, consider joining a network of like minded individuals like ALDE, the Association of Lutheran Development Executives — soon to broaden its reach and be renamed the Association for Christian Fundraising. 

If you want to jump in with both feet and hire a coach, consider joining our upcoming webinar on December 6, 11am CST. Two previous clients will be sharing how their coaching experience with us propelled their careers and organization’s impact. 

How A Small Fundraising Staff Can Incorporate Legacy Giving into Their Year-Round Giving Plan

“Not finance, not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and rare.” 

— Patrick Lencioni

If your organization has a fundraising staff, but is unable to assign someone specifically to legacy giving, teamwork is the best strategy for implementing legacy giving into your year-round giving plan. 

Begin by looking for every opportunity to integrate legacy giving into just every facet of your program. A strong legacy giving program happens when you and your team habitually extend legacy giving invitations during any and all of your giving conversations. 

Here is how a previous client of mine, Minnehaha Academy, has incorporated legacy giving invitations into multiple facets of their organization: 

• Their renewed commitment to Legacy Giving began at the Board table with a new strategic plan that included institutional priorities for endowment growth
• The marketing team began integrating Legacy Giving donor stories and messages into their year-round communications plan
• The alumni director included a Legacy Giving introduction as a part of her 50-year reunion giving program
• The prospect researcher started identifying the most likely planned giving prospects as part of her overall prospect identification plan
• The annual fund director to integrated a soft ask for planned gifts in several appeal segments
• The president, vice president and director of development to began integrating legacy giving invitations into their donor visits

Creating up a separate silo for legacy giving work is not necessary. Planned integration of legacy giving in virtually every part of your development program during the coming year can help your organization experience the positive transformation legacy gifts make.  

How A Large Organization Can Incorporate Legacy Giving into Their Year-Round Giving Plan

Have you ever received so many invitations to parties in one weekend you didn’t know if you wanted to go to any?

The stress of choosing which party to attend and friends to see can destroy the run — especially if you want to go to ALL the parties! 

Fundraisers for large organizations can have a similar feeling of overwhelm because they are usually working with such a healthy portfolio of prospects. Even though it’s super exciting to have so many donor prospects it also means you’re also constantly evaluating which prospects to meet with first. 

If your donor prospect list seems impossibly long to sort though, I recommend identifying and focusing on three different kinds of donors:

1. Accelerators. These are the individuals who are ready and willing to make a gift now. As you’re having gift conversations take note of your supporter’s urgency and meet them where they are.
2. Procrastinators. These are the individuals who you’ve been trying to see for years and keep putting you off. Don’t skip them this year, they may be thinking of life differently or need a gentle nudge to get their affairs in order and care for what matters to them most!
3. Preservers. These are the individuals who have been incredibly loyal to your organization, but currently feel financially vulnerable and unable to make a large gift. Help them realize their charitable dreams are still possible with a planned gift.

Remember, baby steps count — one gift conversation matters. You don't need to conquer the whole prospect list or even half of it. You just need to schedule one conversation, extend one invitation, and send one “thank you” note. Little by little it will add up, and your legacy giving program will get traction!

Are You Ready To Integrate Legacy Giving Into Your Year-Round Giving Plan?

Legacy giving can transform your organization, but it can’t integrate itself into your year-round giving plan — you need to do that. Overwhelm is real when it comes to starting anything new, much less adding a new program to your strategy. But remember, tiny steps are still progress.

Publicly let people know you’re accepting legacy gifts, find a mentor or accountability partner, and incorporate legacy gift conversations into every piece of your marketing and giving conversations. You can do this!

Co-authored by Brenda Moore, CFRE and Samantha Roose.