Stewardship and Relationships Archives

How I Got into Planned Giving

People often ask me about my life. What’s my background? Where’s my accent from? Where did I grow up? Where did you meet your wife? One of these days I’ll get around to answering all that… But the most common question I get is, “Viken, how did you get into planned giving?” Answer: By Accident.

Fearless Asking

What kind of “asker” are you? Confident, well-dressed, professional? Or more of a beggar? Someone apologetic, mincing their way through the ask? One type is going to succeed often, and the other will almost always fail. Can you guess which is which? You’ll find the answer — and other great advice on making the ask — on our blog in a guest post from author, public speaker and planned giving specialist Dr. Rebecca Price Janney.

What a Difference a “Comma” Makes

“Oh, you’re one of those people who care about the black squiggly marks,” the Director of Development told me.

Tiger Woods, Defining Moments, Nonprofits, Lies and Life, Honesty

Remember when news broke that Tiger Woods was cheating — not at golf, but on his wife? The media jumped all over the story.

Planned Giving Stories Motivate Others to Give

Are you nurturing your donors? One way to do it is by asking them to tell their story. People like to talk about themselves. It’s natural.

“I am too busy to think about planned giving”

Too busy? Or are you placing Planned Giving on the back burner, again? So many fundraisers make excuses, claiming they’ve placed planned giving on the back-burner because of tight budgets, smaller staffs and not enough time. Bull. There’s an underlying reason that none of us wants to acknowledge: Four years ago we asked fundraisers whether they believed planned giving is “where the money’s at.” A whopping 74% in the survey answered “yes.” But on the very next question, “Where do you spend your time?” a large number (82%) answered “raising cash gifts.” So if they know the correct answer, then why do they consistently place planned giving on the back burner? Because most fundraisers attend to the urgent, not to the important. An analogy can be made here between getting a toothache and visiting the dentist. If we never attend to the important (regularly visiting the dentist) one day we’ll have to attend to the urgent (a toothache that requires a root canal to repair). The same goes for retirement planning. If you’ve never proactively built your retirement savings (endowment), you’ll have to reactively work after you’re 70 just to make ends meet (like chasing and raising annual gifts). Hopefully not at Walmart. If fundraisers never attend to the important task of building a pipeline of planned gifts to provide a stream of long-term support, they will, year after year, waste time on the urgent task of picking up every $100 gift they can find simply to meet their quotas and keep their nonprofit afloat. And, year after year, they’re missing the fact that those consistent $100 givers make the perfect planned giving prospects. Considering the average bequest is over $68,000… I will stop right here and just say… it’s a no-brainer. Get proactive. Attend to the important, not the urgent. It’s all about your future. PS: Here are 21 tips on launching a planned giving program inexpensively. And here are 10 tips and strategies on marketing your program. PPS: Use this interactive assessment tool to see how ready you are for planned giving. And use this one to determine just where your board is at. Categories: Giving, Planned Giving Marketing, Relationships