Explaining Planned-Giving Options to Donors

Educating donors about their giving options is crucial to boosting your organization’s planned-giving efforts.

When the Ocean Conservancy first started to seek planned gifts, the nonprofit had few materials to inform donors of their options. To remedy that, the organization worked with Phyllis Freedman, a planned-giving marketing consultant, to develop materials that outline the various types of planned gifts the Ocean Conservancy accepts and their advantages.

This particular document explains different ways to leave a bequest and includes sample language for donors to include in their wills.

The booklet focuses on the donor, and that should be the point of all your materials, Ms. Freedman says.

“It’s all about what the donors’ values are, what their passions are, what they want to accomplish with their lives,” she says.

Nonprofits could make this type of document available for download, mail it to prospects who request more information, or take it to meetings with potential donors.