The Ocean Conservancy’s Planned-Gift Confirmation Form

Each donor who makes a planned gift to the Ocean Conservancy gets a thank-you phone call from Charlotte Meyer, the organization’s director of planned giving, followed by a welcome package that includes this form.

The form allows supporters to share how they’d like to be recognized as members of the Ocean Legacy Society, the nonprofit’s planned-giving donor group.

While some nonprofits ask for the gift’s value, you won’t see that on this form.

“It shouldn’t be the very first thing you ask people when they notify you,” says Phyllis Freedman, the planned-giving marketing consultant who helped the organization develop materials for people interested in leaving a gift.

“Whether it’s a bequest or a gift of retirement assets or a life insurance policy, those are very personal questions that are better asked once you’ve established a personal relationship with somebody,” she says.