One way to become a fearless fundraiser is to develop a purpose-built planned giving toolkit so that you have information about the most likely planned gifts within arm’s reach. Here are our top tips for developing a purpose-built planned giving toolkit:
Build your own network. Make sure you know people who are specialists in different areas of planned gifts.
Understand the basics of what goes into most planned gifts and share them out with everyone in the organization. “The person who answers the phone should have the basics of what goes into a planned gift so if somebody says, ‘I’d like to include your organization in my will,’ whoever is at the front desk can say, ‘You need to talk to Kim. She’s out of the office right now, but I’ll make sure she calls you back tomorrow.’”
Have 3×5 cards laminated with the key information for your organization, such as your tax ID number, how someone forwards stock to your brokerage account and your wire transfer numbers and instructions. “That way, if a donor says, ‘I’d like to give you some stock,’ or ‘I’d like to wire you a gift,’ it doesn’t set everybody into a panic.”
Create sample language that makes it easy for donors to include your organization in their estate plans. “Be specific so that there’s no question that the donor mean to make the gift to your organization.”
Make it easy for donors to find this information themselves. “Many donors want to find the information and include it themselves and not ever let the organization know that they’re in their estate plans.”
