Fundraisers have long struggled with how to persuade people to leave nonprofits their money. Suggesting to donors that they leave a bequest often involves “death reminders” that may undermine fundraising, says Russell James III, a researcher at Texas Tech University. Mr. James wanted to see what the response might be if, instead of focusing on the benefits a gift would provide after a donor’s death, a message was crafted to focus on gifts made by people while they were still alive.
In an online survey of 4,592 people, Mr. James tested several bequest messages. First, he asked the participants whether they had prepared wills and how they wanted their bodies to be handled after death, to get them thinking about estate-planning issues. Next, he tested potential donors’ willingness to give to a broad slate of 40 charities.
Then he sought responses to three messages that asked people whether they would give a bequest. One of the messages cited a national study showing that “one-third of all heirs receiving their inheritances spend their entire inheritance within a few months.” Another message informed participants that among Americans, it is common for people to “leave 5 percent or 10 percent of their estate to a charity when they die.” The third message offered 75-word vignettes describing people who had made bequests and the benefits that resulted.
The participants responded best to the messages involving donors’ life stories, and they gave more if the donors profiled were still alive. The results showed, for instance, that a message stating that “School janitor Lester Holmes died in 1992. After school today, he’ll help an 8-year-old understand math” could be used successfully to elicit a bequest to support tutoring programs. But a message that said “School janitor Lester Holmes signed his will today. One day his charitable bequest will help ...” was even more effective. Mr. James measured the gap between donors’ stated intentions to give regularly and their willingness to make a bequest to the same charities. When living-donor stories were used, the gap narrowed by 60 percent.
In crafting a message aimed at inspiring people to make bequests, it may be more important to show a living donor making a connection with the charity, Mr. James says, rather than including details about the charity’s successes and goals.
“Estate planning is like writing the last chapter in your autobiography,” he says.—Alex Daniels
“Encouraging Charitable Bequests: a Test of Message Effectiveness” is a working paper under review.
