Should you hire an advisor or a fundraiser?

At a conference earlier this year, an ED proudly told me they hired a full-time staff member to establish their Planned Giving fundraising.

“That’s great!” I said, “it’s difficult to find Planned Giving staff. How did you find her? Where was she before?”

I then learned she came from banking – she was a financial advisor. She wanted to shift careers and “give back”.

Good for her – but I secretly questioned if she was the right choice for this mid-sized charity starting their first Planned Giving program.

During break, I quickly looked up this charity’s website and found their “ways to give” page was riddled with technical aspects of complex gifts.

No inspiring WHY.

No Planned Giving Case for Support guiding their messaging - which means they’re unknowingly missing out on large gifts.

If you’ve followed my work, you’ll know I recommend charities dedicate no more than 20% of their Planned Giving content to the “how” of complex gifts - the rest should be inspiring WHY messages.

But if you look at the largest charities out there, you might see that they have “gift planning advisors” on staff.

Or maybe you’ve seen compelling marketing from firms that provide advisors for charities.

For a charity new to Planned Giving, hiring an advisor can seem like a “quick fix”.

After all, you want gifts of assets. Why not hire someone to get out there and explain these gifts to your donors? Surely, if they simply know about gifts of life insurance, they will want to set one up for your cause.

Unfortunately, there are no “magic wands” in fundraising - and Planned Giving is no exception.

Jumping to hire a gift planning advisor BEFORE you’ve set up your Planned Giving program like running a wealth screening on your donor list, then rushing to make major gift asks.

Planned Giving takes time and consistency to be successful.

You need to have a program in place that identifies and cultivates donors before you make the ask – often over years, not months.

Cultivation is relationship-building. It’s emotional. It’s sharing powerful WHY messages that support deep conversations with your donors about their hopes and dreams for the future.

That’s why every Planned Giving program NEEDS at least one fundraiser (on-staff or a fractional/ done-for-you consultant) with dedicated Planned Giving fundraising expertise – not just knowledge of the technicalities of complex gifts.

(That’s not saying advisors don’t have deep conversations with their clients - but advising and fundraising are different jobs. An advisor wanting to pivot to fundraising would do well on a team with other Planned Giving fundraisers who can mentor them in their new role.)

But then why are large universities hiring full-time gift planners?

When can an advisor help your nonprofit?

Advisors can take an existing Planned Giving program to the next level.

I wouldn’t recommend hiring one until you’ve set up a Planned Giving program with excellent communications, had meaningful conversations with donors about their giving, and established a pipeline of “hand raisers” who are interested in planning a future gift.

But remember - advisors are an addition to fundraising, not a replacement for it.

And you don’t need one to run a successful program. As I mentioned in my fundraiser’s guide to complex gifts, it’s fine to have a rough knowledge of complex gifts, then tell your donor to speak with their advisor.

However, not every donor has an advisor keen on charitable gift planning. That’s why having an advisor through an agency or on-staff can help you.

But when you’re only in the first few years of a formal Planned Giving program, you won’t miss many opportunities by not having your own gift planning advisor – so don’t sweat it!

Now get out there and do what you do best - inspiring your donors to give!

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