How To Set Up Your Planned Giving Data

Story time!

After increasing a client’s individual giving by 240% (primarily through major gifts of assets and DAFs), he told me a highlight of our work together was the database work we did! Yes, he was thrilled to have more unrestricted dollars to carry out the mission, but right up there was his DATA.  

And I get it. There’s a certain sense of ease that comes from good data. You know where every donor is at in their journey. You can pull reports in minutes that tell you what to focus on next. The fundraising program run smoothly.

Data is a top-priority task for nearly all my “done-for-you” and “done-with-you” planned giving clients. The work is meticulous and tailored, completed with the help of my data specialist, Aldera Chisholm. Despite that, I challenged myself to create this DIY guide for you – how to set up planned giving in your database, no matter the CRM you use!

This guide is designed to be your jumping off point, to help you determine what you need so you can work with your own database specialist to make it happen. Here it is:

1 - Tracking Planned Giving hand-raisers: This is the foundational piece to manage your donor pipeline. It needs to be in a reportable field and should have a date attached to it. Here is each “hand raiser stage” you need to add:

PG Expectancy or pledge (Someone who has left a gift in Will or another legacy gift. Ideally track if it’s a Will, registered account, insurance, or DAF in notes or even “proposals”)

PG Prospect or “interested” (Someone who has raised their hand to let you know they’re interested in a legacy gift).

PG Intending (Someone who has let you know they intend to leave a legacy gift the next time they update their Will/ plans)

PG Not Now (Someone who has let you know they might be interested in the future, but aren’t open to conversations about it right now)

PG Declined (Someone who has told you they are not interested in legacy giving).

PG Realized (For estate gifts that you receive notice of. Also ensure you have consistent procedures to record estate gifts)  

2 - BONUS: PG hand-raiser archives: While not 100% necessary for an early-stage program, I highly recommend you create a field with the above hand-raiser fields with the word “past” or “archived” in front of it. For example, “past planned giving prospect”. This allows you to see movement in the pipeline and asses your success. (For example, how long does it take for a prospect to convert to a pledge? This data will show you).  

3 - “Do not solicit for PG”: This is a solicit code I recommend you create when you start communicating with your donors about legacy giving. This allows you to easily remove any donors who respond negatively to planned giving (luckily it’s not common, but there’s always one or two!)

4 - Ensure proper soft credits go to your DAF donors: For example, if a donor switches from cash giving to giving through their DAF, will they end up on your “lapsed” list? Are you properly tracking your DAFs and the donors they belong to, or do they all sit under a foundation’s file? (And most DAFs are not completely anonymous – develop systems to identify and communicate with the DAF donor based on the information you’re given).

5 - Record what donors have DAFs, even if they’re not actively giving from them, and ideally in a reportable field. This could be as simple as a “has DAF” custom field. DAFs are increasing in popularity and will likely be a tool for legacy giving, so it’s important to know who these donors are.

6 - And finally, ensure your donors’ giving history is accurate. This is foundational to legacy giving success. For example, is it clear when a transaction is a true donation vs. a ticket purchase? Is your CRM free from duplicate files? Legacy gifts come from loyal donors, so you need to be able to easily report on and understand your donors’ giving.

There you have it! The essentials you need to add planned giving to your database.

One thing I’d like to note: Some databases are very limited in their capabilities, and I don’t know of a single one that accommodates planned giving perfectly. It’s okay to use work-arounds to get this work done, as long as those workarounds are documented and consistent.

Data is the P, “Program Architecture”, in my PLAN framework for successful legacy giving programs. If you need a partner and strategist to grow you planned giving, learn more here and reach out for a discovery call.

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