Planned Giving - Are you Ready?

First of all the qualifier - I am not a fundraising expert.

I am interested in planned giving because I think this is a key ingredient to long term sustainability and is very often overlooked by smaller nonprofits. If fundraising is an issue in my strategic planning consulting work (it usually is) I usually like to see planned giving as part of the mix of their future plans.

It does take more work than an annual appeal and requires that certain systems be set up to function properly so like a trip to the dentist it is often delayed. But like the trip to the dentist, the upfront discomfort of setting up what needs to be done first is well worth the lasting results. A recent article in
provided some baseline entry points that a nonprofit should meet before starting a planned giving program. I thought I would share those with you today:

The non-profit should be at least 10 years old and have an established annual giving program that is growing year to year in donations.

At least 10 - 15 of the donors should have given every year for more than five years.

You should already have an establised major gifts program because this is your relationship base.

My thought for the day...Think about how establishing a Planned Giving Program can work for your organization...and do some homework on the subject. There is plenty of information out there on this subject.



Philanthropy Journal

Marion Conway Consulting