The Pentera Blog
Are You Putting Your Donors’ Bequest Intentions in Jeopardy?
It’s well known in planned giving circles that donor stewardship is vital to increasing the chances of today’s intended bequests becoming actual gifts in the future. Nevertheless, some organizations undervalue the importance of stewarding planned gift donors. Joe Bull, founder and principal of Philanthropy Advisory Counsel, LLC, in a Pentera webinar shared several notable statistics from researcher Russell James, Ph.D., of Texas Tech University to help you make a strong case for the importance of stewardship at your organization:
- Planned giving donors may change their minds. Research has shown around one-third of confirmed planned gifts do not result in actual gifts when donors pass away, and only 55% of estate gifts remain in someone’s will for at least ten years. So it’s vital to stay in touch with planned giving donors after they make their gift designation.
- No, planned gifts do not compete with annual gifts. In fact, annual gifts increase 75% after an estate gift is added. And the propensity for someone to make a major gift is also higher after they create an estate gift.
- Donor stewardship is a marathon, not a sprint. The median age of death for a bequest donor is about 88—meaning it is likely stewardship for any one donor can last 20 years or more, However, the cost of procuring a new donor is far higher than keeping an existing one.
Pentera’s seminal study on planned giving and legacy societies, called the Planned Giving Study, conducted by the IU School of Philanthropy, showed that organizations with robust and active legacy societies receive larger planned gifts and that legacy societies also help significantly deepen relationships with their planned giving donors and subsequently receive additional planned gifts because society members are more likely to be stewarded.
Joe Bull offered suggestions for several immediate steps organizations can take to steward planned giving donors:
- Provide special, behind-the-scenes experiences for planned giving donors, such as private tours or conversations with people working on the front-lines of your organization’s mission.
- Check in with your gift annuity donors on occasion. For example, you can ask them if their payments are arriving as expected.
- Send handwritten notes. Whether tech savvy or not, donors appreciate the personal touch of a handwritten note of thanks.
- Make sure your donors know who their designated donor relations contact person is, and make sure there is a back-up contact person who is also known to the donor.
Bull says that by including your organization in their will, the donor has elevated your organization to the level of “family” in their mind. Stewardship is not only necessary to help maintain that relationship, it is also—as Bull says—the right thing to do.
You can access the full webinar by clicking here.
