Deep Dive: Fundraising Foundations
A mid-sized charity I worked at relied on estate gifts. In fact, there was a revenue line dedicated to them. Every year, they expected to receive at least $500,000 - but it was often more.
ONE average estate gift is $50,000. Gifts-in-wills have the power to transform a nonprofit.
After all, half a million dollars is only 10 of these gifts.
However, this revenue line cannot be developed in isolation.
Donors who leave transformational gifts in their Wills are deeply connected to their charities of choice. They believe so strongly in these causes that they’re listed beside their family in how they want to be remembered.
Generally, that means these donors:
Give to their charities year-over-year.
Due to effective marketing and communications, they understand the impact they’re making.
The fundraisers they speak with have skills to develop strong relationships with them and speak to their values.
They’re asked for donations in a clear and concise way, so they understand their hard-earned dollars are needed.
THESE are the fundraising foundations.
And it’s what a successful Planned Giving program is built on.
You need an effective individual giving program, from marketing to annual giving and major gifts.
But if you’re struggling to retain your donors,
if you don’t have a solid fundraising plan that’s consistently implemented,
if you’re not investing in marketing and fundraising,
👉 you’re not going to be successful in Planned Giving.
In practical terms, you must have a bare minimum of 100 donors who have given for 3 or more years in a row to launch Planned Giving. (At any amount - loyalty is the most important metric for Planned Giving potential).
Often smaller organizations trip up here. They’re struggling. They want more revenue from individual donors. When they hear me talk about $50,000 estate gifts their eyes light up and then they try to haphazardly launch a program.
That’s when the cracks in the foundations are revealed.
Instead, these charities need to shift their focus to improve their overall fundraising. Planned Giving won’t “save” an ineffective individual giving program. And launching one too early takes precious time and resources away from building your fundraising foundations.
If you’re reading this and realize you need to do more to grow your individual giving fundraising, here are a few trusted experts that can help:
Charity Shift: THE expert for fundraising plans for small fundraising teams.
Further Together: A community centred Fractional Fundraising agency with an excellent track record.
Marcela Zafra: An expert in communications and marketing for small shops.
However, if you have a strong individual giving program, then Planned Giving will unlock substantial growth and stability for your nonprofit! As long as it’s done well. The articles coming up in the next few weeks will teach you how to do just that!
This is part 1 of a 4-part series diving into the new Estate Gifts Donor Cycle model - a training tool developed by Tess Conrad, CFRE for understanding gifts-in-wills best practices.
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