Seven Metrics that Move the Needle for Planned Gifts |

Seven Metrics that Move the Needle for Planned Gifts |: "Especially since the latest recession, gift planners have been challenged to quantify their effectiveness at work that, from a business perspective, often cannot show immediate returns.  Most would agree that planned gift fundraising has a high return over time, but the margin of error is high and the time period is undetermined and extended—a real conundrum for data-driven management.  When Presidents, CFOs and boards of directors set aggressive, short-term goals, there is a strong incentive to hire a major gift officer to raise $250K rather than a planned gift officer to raise $500K."



'via Blog this'

What You Need To Start Planned Giving | #fundchat

What You Need To Start Planned Giving | #fundchat: Your charity or nonprofit doesn’t need much to get started with planned giving, but you do need two critical ingredients. Here’s what I look for to decide whether Planned Giving is feasible at a charity:

7 years under your belt. I used to say a nonprofit should have a steady 10 years working in its mission, but I’ve relaxed that to seven. You need that because you’ll be asking potential donors to include you in their estate plans, which will mean cash to you at their deaths (for the majority of planned gifts).

New Video: How Professional Advisors Can Energize Your Planned Giving Program | Planned Giving Design Center

From Planned Giving Design Center

New Video: How Professional Advisors Can Energize Your Planned Giving Program | Planned Giving Design Center: Summary

As one of over 30,000 planned giving professionals who use the PGDC, we wanted you to be the first to see a 26 minute video we just finished. Who should watch it? Anyone who works with nonprofits on planned gifts, and wants to help catapult their planned giving department to the next level!

Inside this video, you'll discover who potential donors are asking most for planned giving advice this year, the 17 steps to building fruitful relationships with those influencers to maximize your fundraising success, and how to do it all faster and with less work than you ever imagined!

How nonprofits can start a planned giving program | Nonprofit Strategies | SanLuisObispo.com

How nonprofits can start a planned giving program | Nonprofit Strategies | SanLuisObispo.com: More nonprofit boards and staff are asking if they should start a planned giving program, which may attract additional resources to the organization. Here are a few things to consider:

N.Y. State Could Get $40 Million From Man Who Died Without A Will - Forbes

N.Y. State Could Get $40 Million From Man Who Died Without A Will - Forbes: Nearly 2.5 million Americans died last year, many without signing a will.

Planned Giving Is Part Of Your Fundraising Team - Tony Martignetti

Planned Giving Is Part Of Your Fundraising Team - Tony Martignetti: Fundraising is a team sport and Planned Giving should be a team player.

Whether you’re a devoted Planned Giving officer or a solo fundraiser occasionally talking to a PG prospect, you can support the bigger effort in several ways.

The unexpected challenges and benefits of building a business plan - Civil Society - Governance - Blogs - providing news and in-depth coverage of charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profits

The unexpected challenges and benefits of building a business plan - Civil Society - Governance - Blogs - providing news and in-depth coverage of charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profits: In last month’s blog I wrote about my new focus on developing our charity’s organisational capacity and the varied work this is entailing. Since then, I’ve been working on the one thing that ties all of this wide-ranging work together: creating our business plan.

Although I was familiar with the term “business plan” before we started the process, this is the first time I’ve ever been involved in creating one.

The business plan encapsulates pretty much everything about our charity. From articulating what we do and how we manage ourselves, to describing how we plan to build upon identified opportunities and tackle weaknesses - the business plan covers it all.

Five ‘must dos’ of bequest fundraising | SOFII

Five ‘must dos’ of bequest fundraising | SOFII: There are many ways you could approach the development of a bequest programme. Staff on the road making face-to-face asks, direct mail programmes, phone programmes, press advertisements, online programmes, or a combination of all of these. There are some highly successful programmes out there and no one magic formula. But there are some things you can do to really maximise your chances of success.

Having had the opportunity to analyse and work on a broad range of bequest programmes, I’ve come across some essential ‘must dos’ that underpin each successful one.

Tax and Financial Factors Put Charitable Lead Trusts Back in Favor - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Tax and Financial Factors Put Charitable Lead Trusts Back in Favor - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "Tax and Financial Factors Put Charitable Lead Trusts Back in Favor

July 25, 2011, 9:55 am

Charitable lead trusts, which allow wealthy donors to make annual gifts to charity, are also gaining favor as a way to minimize taxes on money left to heirs, The New York Times writes."

Men v. Women: Who are the Best Planned Giving Prospects? | Michael Rosen Says…

Men v. Women: Who are the Best Planned Giving Prospects? | Michael Rosen Says…: "Generally speaking, men and women are just as likely to make a bequest commitment, according to Russell N. James, III, PhD of Texas Tech. However, women are more likely to make a bequest commitment to environmental, health, human service, and religious organizations, according to Giving USA. Men are more likely to leave a bequest to education or public/society benefit organizations. Both women and men are equally likely to leave a bequest to arts and international affairs groups."

Don't Miss the Opportunity to Strengthen Your Organization through Legacy Giving

Don't Miss the Opportunity to Strengthen Your Organization through Legacy Giving: "Legacy Giving—A Major Growth Opportunity

Nearly 70 percent of Americans make gifts to charity during their lifetime, yet fewer than 10 percent create legacy gifts. Why are people generous in supporting nonprofits during life but make no provision for them at death? Most have never been asked to do so!

Though we are in the midst of a significant generational transfer of wealth, organizations are not seizing the opportunity to talk with their supporters about the impact legacy giving can have on their mission-based goals.

Legacy gifts can enable organizations to achieve long-term financial stability and sustainability. Studies show that legacy giving offers a powerful means to enhance and diversify a charity's fundraising efforts because:

* It's a revenue source that typically increases during tough economic times.
* Almost everyone has the ability to create a legacy gift.
* For most people, it's the largest gift they can make.
* Investing in legacy giving efforts has a high rate of return.
* Legacy donors make larger annual gifts than non-legacy donors.
* There are many forms of legacy gifts that are very easy to create"

Make 2010 the Year YOU Start Planned Giving, Part VI

From Guidestar
Make 2010 the Year YOU Start Planned Giving, Part VI: "Make 2010 the Year YOU Start Planned Giving, Part VI

December 2010

A final 'Hello!'

This is the last installment of my 2010 article series to get your planned giving program started this year. We started your program with charitable bequests because they are the simplest—and by far the most popular—planned gift. There's more detail on why to start with bequests in this article from 2009.

The year's previous articles can be found in navigation links to the right.

In this final episode, we look at other planned gifts you can promote with relative ease because they do not require in-house expertise."

Survey shows Quad City nonprofits who ask, receive - Quad Cities Online

PRESS Release

Survey shows Quad City nonprofits who ask, receive - Quad Cities Online: "The Illowa Partnership for Philanthropic Planning released findings of its 2009 Planned Giving Survey. The annual survey seeks to demonstrate the importance of planned giving and to subsequently create a report that allows local nonprofit organizations to evaluate their success in planned giving."

Giving While Living ... And Beyond - Forbes.com

Giving While Living ... And Beyond - Forbes.com: "So how has the current recession affected your philanthropy? For many donors, a reduced asset base has meant refocusing their charitable giving. Some are shifting priorities, choosing to focus on the communities and issues hit hardest by the economic downturn; others are adjusting gift amounts to reflect changes in their finances and still others see the recession as an opportune time to revisit their legacy plan and review and rethink the question of what kind of legacy they hope to leave. They are taking a hard look at the charitable designations named in their estate plans, which, for many, is a long overdue exercise, since interests, intent and financial circumstances will have changed since the estate plan was first drafted."

Donors Find Gift Annuities Can Stop Giving - WSJ.com

Donors Find Gift Annuities Can Stop Giving - WSJ.com: "It sounds good on paper: You make a donation to a worthy cause and, in return, receive regular lifetime payments. But so-called charitable gift annuities don't always deliver what they promise -- a risk that could intensify if the recession persists."

IRS Issues Final and Temporary Regs Revising Actuarital Tables | Planned Giving Design Center

IRS Issues Final and Temporary Regs Revising Actuarital Tables | Planned Giving Design Center: "The IRS has issued final and temporary regulations relating to the use of actuarial tables in valuing annuities, interests for life or terms of years, and remainder or reversionary interests, and establishes transitional rules for their use. These regulations will affect the valuation of inter vivos and testamentary transfers of interests dependent on one or more measuring lives and are necessary because section 7520(c)(3) directs the Secretary to update the actuarial tables to reflect the most recent mortality experience available. The text of the temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations set forth in T.D. 9"

A Time for Giving - WSJ.com

A Time for Giving - WSJ.com: "t may be tough expanding your wealth in an economy that is teetering, but giving it away to heirs is getting a whole lot easier, thanks to rock-bottom interest rates.

Some estate-planning professionals are urging clients to take advantage of the situation by setting up grantor-retained annuity trusts, vehicles designed to minimize or eliminate gift taxes on wealth transferred out of an investor's estate during his or her lifetime."

More Big Donations Were Bequests in 2008 - Chronicle.com

More Big Donations Were Bequests in 2008 - Chronicle.com: "More than half of the donations from America’s top 10 philanthropists last year came in the form of bequests, The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Philanthropy 50 survey has determined."

Bequests, Celebrities, Foundations, and the Economy: a Conference Notebook From National Research Meeting - Philanthropy.com

Bequests, Celebrities, Foundations, and the Economy: a Conference Notebook From National Research Meeting - Philanthropy.com: "Bequests, Celebrities, Foundations, and the Economy: a Conference Notebook From National Research Meeting

By Debra E. Blum

Philadelphia

Too many nonprofit scholars are boosters — ignoring the serious problems that mar the nonprofit world, and the organizations that are involved in activities that harm society, says a prominent philanthropy researcher.

David Horton Smith, founder of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, took the opportunity of the group’s annual meeting here this week to chastise its members for ignoring what he called “the dark side of the nonprofit sector.”"

The NonProfit Times - Help Boomers Plan Their Giving

The NonProfit Times - The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management: "Help Boomers Plan Their Giving

By Mark Hrywna

The Baby Boomers are starting to retire and that means they likely are thinking about their wills, creating estate plans, and yes, giving some of their wealth to charity.

Gift planning is part of the comprehensive development effort at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, said Regina Watson, director of gift planning, which includes foundations, major gifts and planned gifts. The majority of gifts are bequests, charitable gift annuities and other legacy gifts, she said."