Nonprofit Adviser

My colleague Ben Gose recently explored the likelihood of an upcoming wealth transfer as aging baby boomers near or hit their 70s and think about planning their estates. For years it seems, experts have been predicting a great wealth transfer — with potential windfalls for charities — yet it has not occurred to date. Some experts believe this time may be different because boomers are such a large generation, and they have more wealth than their parents did. They advise fundraisers to sharpen thinking about which donors to target, how to determine when a donor is ready to give, and ways to work with wealth and philanthropy advisers.

Make sure donors’ advisers know about your charity or community foundation, and that you accept planned gifts, so you’ll be on their radar when estate planning is underway. It is also smart to keep in mind that small donors who may not be capable of giving a large gift right now could end up in a position to make a big estate gift. People who don’t consider themselves rich may nevertheless own real estate that has grown valuable over the years. “Someone who is giving you $20 a month may be living in a $1.5 million house,” Patrick Schmitt, a co-founder of will-making software company FreeWill, recently told the Chronicle. “And there are lots of those folks.”

To learn more about making sure some of the upcoming wealth transfer ends up at your nonprofit, read How to Position Your Nonprofit for the Wealth Transfer.

You may also be interested in:

• How to Boost Planned Giving — and Build a Healthy Future for Your Nonprofit and
• Don’t Ignore Next_Gen as the Wealth Transfer Begins.

Have a good week,
Maria Di Mento
Senior Reporter

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