House OKs IRA Rollover

House Approves IRA Charitable Rollover, and Senate Expected to Consider Provision in the Fall.

The IRA charitable rollover took a big step toward being reinstituted this week when the House of Representatives passed a bill that would make it permanent.

Cultivate Small Gifts and They Multiply

Joe Schmoe dies and leaves a million dollars to a college that has never heard of him: He didn’t attend, wasn’t a sports booster, didn’t use the library.… But he lived in the college town all his life, and neighbors say he used to walk his dog around the campus perimeter.

Donor Stewardship: More Than Thank You Notes

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines stewardship as “the office, duties, and obligations of a steward” and “the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care ”

Webinar offers "Cliff's Notes" on Simple Gift Plans and How to Help Donors with Assets

Pamela Jones Davidson, an attorney and experienced planned giving consultant who has presented nationally, will conduct a Pentera Webinar on Wednesday, Oct. 30, providing a “Cliff’s Notes” version of gift plans.

Planned Giving Pros Flock to Pentera Seminar

A new tax law was passed in January, and planned giving is forever changed. That was the featured message at Pentera’s recent three-day advanced planned giving seminar in Saratoga Springs, New York.

The Autobiographical Connection - Why Your Donors' Life Stories Matter

MRI studies show a visible brain response between donor recollections of their life stories and their willingness to engage in charitable bequest giving, according to Russell James III, JD, PhD, professor at Texas Tech University. What does that mean for planned giving professionals? It means that your focus should be donor-centric. In other words, when soliciting a bequest, or other planned gift, you will want to ask about and listen to your donor’s life story rather than simply communicating the needs of your organization.

Crafting Better Donor Thank You Letters

When it comes to writing donor appreciation letters, how can you make your written communications stand apart and get noticed? Think about the mail you receive on a daily basis. Which pieces do you toss away, which pieces do you take a moment to browse through, and which pieces do you set aside to read more carefully at a future date? Likely, your donors are not much different than you in their mail-sorting habits. If something catches their attention, either visually or by way of a topic that sounds engaging, then it has a greater chance of getting read.

Prepare Today for Tomorrow's Donors

In planned giving, like any field, it's smart to anticipate future trends. One trend that planned giving professionals won't want to miss is the upcoming cohort of Generation Y donors. Marketers are paying attention to this group because it numbers over 70 million. These individuals are currently ages 19-36. They are also described as the Millennial Generation or Echo Boomers. Below are things you need to know to prepare now for Generation Y donors.

Ten Key Legacy Dreams to Explore With Your Donors

For planned giving professionals, successful solicitation of potential donors involves more than just uncovering a person’s level of wealth and interest in your organization. It also entails knowing what motivates donors to make meaningful philanthropic gifts.

While it may not show up on the job description, discovering your donors’ legacy dreams is one of your significant planned giving responsibilities. By acquiring such knowledge, you can then better understand how to communicate with donors so as to encourage their heartfelt philanthropic impulse.

Many people may give to the same organization or to similar causes, but they likely have different reasons for doing so. Below are five legacy motivators to explore with donors as they contemplate supporting your organization. We’ll continue this topic with additional legacy dreams in Part II.

Four Vital Tips for Cultivating Women Donors

Women’s experiences in planned giving often differ from those of men. For instance, many women from the Silent generation or Baby Boomer generation may not be directly involved in financial planning until a crisis—such as the death of a spouse or parent. But according to financial experts, waiting until a woman is widowed or in the midst of a crisis to plan her estate is too late. Smart estate planning is on-going.

That’s where planned giving professionals can be of service. Follow these four tips to better cultivate your women donors:

Put Your Planned Giving Marketing to Work

As most planned giving professionals know, one key ingredient for success in any philanthropic endeavor involves proactively visiting donors. You have to put in the time and effort to reach your potential donors. In other words, making the necessary calls and donor visits to get your message out, connect with potential donors, and steward those loyal donors who support your mission. While calls and visits are necessary, marketing is also an essential element for getting the word out to a broader audience about the benefits of planned giving, while also prepping those in your portfolio about giving opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t know about.


Here’s how marketing boosts your efforts—and your results:

Targeted Marketing: Asking Appropriately

Research shows that the two main reasons that potential donors don’t give are:

1. They haven’t been asked.
2. They don’t support the mission of the organization.

There’s a third reason: Potential donors who do support the mission may say no because “the ask” was not appropriate to their circumstances (such as soliciting an unrestricted gift from younger donors who tend to be more interested in specific impact and accountability). One way to ensure appropriateness is with targeted marketing pieces—and this is relatively easy for universities because they already have two key
pieces of targeting information: degree earned and years since graduation (which identifies the generational cohort).