Issue 4
April 2008

In This Issue:

Preparing for a Planned Giving Program

The decision has been made: Your organization is going to start a planned giving program. Now, how are you going to track your planned giving prospects?

Ultimately, planned giving is about building relationships. Keeping track of your staffs’ contacts and following up with donors becomes paramount, as well as tracking donors’ information and interests. MatchMaker FundRaising Software was designed to track a donor’s information in one place, making the information easily accessible and strengthening communication with the donor. By using the tools in MatchMaker FundRaising Software, you can administer, view and manage your endowment funds from a single information source – helping you to grow your funding efforts through increased donor cultivation.

For information about how MatchMaker FundRaising Software can support your fundraising efforts, check out our web site at www.MatchMakerFRS.com or call 800.752.3100.

Welcome to MatchTips!

MatchTips, a quarterly newsletter from MatchMaker FundRaising Software, will provide fundraising tips and technology information to nonprofit organizations. Volume 4 discusses the development of a Planned Giving Program. Below are helpful tips that will enhance your organization's fundraising.

Planned Giving 90% Relationships - 10% Techniques

Written by Ron Huddleston, The Huddleston Group
http://www.ronhuddleston.com

I am often amused when I attend the myriad of Planned Giving conferences and workshops across the country promoting the next best technique that maybe, on a good day, one out of hundred of us would ever use. While all of the discussion revolves around the “technique” of the day, the power of relationships can get lost.

Fifteen years ago I had an opportunity to mentor a senior fundraising executive on planned giving in his new role as Vice President of Planned Giving for a hospital in Northern California. While I was preaching the accolades of charitable remainder trust, gift annuities and bequests, he spent the next few years making friends. He first directed his attention to caring for his donors and their family's estate planning needs, not the needs of his hospital. By focusing on his donor’s priorities he has been able to establish relationships that few of us could ever match. Let me share some examples of the things that my friend Rick has done for six different donors.

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Are You Marketing Planned Giving Effectively Or At All?

Written by Ted Meyers, ACFRE, Integrated Development Solutions
http://www.idsfund.com

  • Do you have a plan for your organization to benefit from the $10 Trillion in wealth transfer held by Americans over age 55?
  • Do your donors know how to leave a bequest to your organization without having to ask?
  • Are you consistently providing your donors with the information they need to include you in their estate plans?

To get your donors to think about planned giving, you have to get the message out there, but what message and how, who, and where do we promote or market planned gifts?

First, we need to realize that according to the National Committee on Planned Giving (NCPG), 80% of all planned gifts are bequests, Also, did you know, that since 1990 bequests have accounted for more than $40 billion in planned gifts income to charitable organizations?

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Assessing Organizational Readiness For A Planned Giving Program

Excerpt from "Are You Ready for Planned Giving? A Guide to Evaluating Organizational Readiness for Nonprofit Executives and Volunteer Trustees" National Committee on Planned Giving
http://www.ncpg.org

This guide was designed to provide a basic roadmap for the journey into gift planning. But don't overlook other essentials necessary to be effective in the fund development field. It is important to have a strong fund development and public relations program in place as a foundation upon which to build a gift planning program. Before you begin, try to look at your organization from the donor's perspective by conducting a mission-effectiveness survey. If the answers to any of the following points are not affirmative, you must address those areas first, before beginning a gift planning program:

  1. How visible is the organization? Does the public know the organization's name?
  2. Is the public aware of the organization's activities?
  3. Is there evidence the organization is a legitimate charitable organization? Does it have a well-communicated, future-oriented mission statement? A vision statement? A strategic plan which is publicized?
  4. Is the volunteer Board of Directors representative of a cross-section of the organization's constituency? Do they have limited terms of office and are they elected or appointed to office?
  5. Can you be certain that volunteers, benefactors and employees are receiving appropriate compensation and/or benefits from the organization?
  6. Is the organization financially well-managed and able to professionally administer large contributions? Does the organization have a long-term mission? Is the organization perceived as stable, with constituents who are confident that the organization will be around for a while?
  7. Does the organization follow government regulations? Does it hold 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and 170 charitable status with the Internal Revenue Service? Does it hold any required state or city licenses to solicit funds? Does it publish and/or make available upon request an annual report or current financial statement?
  8. What percentage of contributions is used for fund raising? How does this compare to similar charitable organizations?
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