Planned Giving for Libraries Prepared by Christine Graham

The Perfect Recipient of a Planned Gift When people plan a lifetime gift, they usually want: A long history and a familiar cause Assured continuity A welcome for all Hope for the future Happy memories Comfort as we age A sense of community Conservative management of our hard-earned dollars

Different kinds of gifts 0 The spontaneous gift 0 The recurring gift… 0 A current major gift… 0 A lifetime planned gift…. making a difference for the future…from accumulated assets

The Organizational Life Cycle of Gifts Membership Annual gifts Special project gifts Capital and endowment gifts Planned gifts

Planned Gifts Planned Gifts are just tools. Most important is the human spirit and the desire to give. Prospects first think of their own lives and families…. Then, with a planned or lifetime gift, your donor thinks about the causes they have cared most deeply about. You can’t rush the donor.. You can build a relationship, and be ready when they are.

Your prospect needs…  Personal awareness : of his own needs, family needs, community needs…  Financial awareness  Generosity  Commitment to libraries and community  A desire to create a legacy

In making a Planned Gift, your donor might receive:  Thanks  Tax Deductions  Income during one’s life  Additional ways to give to family  Peace of mind  Preservation of property  Resolution of disputes  Friendship and Relationships  JOY!

How does this benefit you?  Security  Flexibility  Reliable income  More ways to recognize your donors  Greater ability to plan  More?....learn to talk about this with your prospect

Your donor might consider an immediate gift:  Stock and bonds, property: things one can decide today  Transfers from Retirement accounts,  Gifting of cash-value insurance policies All with tax benefits for the donor now.

An irrevocable (guaranteed) gift upon the donor’s death  A gift that also provides the donor lifetime income and tax advantages:  Charitable Gift Annuities,  Charitable Remainder Trusts  Life Estates, such as a donor’s home with life tenancy  Life insurance with cash value, or where the organization owns the policy, during the donor’s lifetime.  (And the oddity among planned gifts: A Lead Trust where the nonprofit gets the income during the donor’s life, and the second generation heir inherits the Trust at the donor’s death.)

A Revocable Gift upon the donors’ death  Bequests:  Cash  Property  Life Insurance where the donor owned the policy but the nonprofit was the beneficiary  Proceeds from a Trust

What You Can Do  Create a Legacy Society  Know your donors!  Select gifts types you can encourage  Find a advisor or two  Develop simple materials  Identify likely prospects and send materials  Offer tours, meetings, and an occasional educational program  Include an article about planned giving in every newsletter and info on your website  Be ‘present’ with the info  Recognize and thank your planned givers

Build Your Resources even if they are modest… The Cause Professional advisors You: the PG officer Warmth: Listening skills and empathy Intellectual curiosity and creativity Knowledge of vehicles Marketing plan Policies

….Create a Legacy Society  A way to keep your planned gift ‘promisers’ engaged and committed  A way to acknowledge gifts received  A way to make the program sociable, joyful and comfortable  A model for others to strive toward  A way to keep the organization committed too….even when the planned gift program is quiet  A formal means of setting planned giving GOALS

Identify Your Prospects, learn their stories prospect wealthinterestsFamilyAgeGenderProperty History with your npo Worriesneeds

Train Yourselves to Think About Planned Gifts and the Donors  Tell briefly about a person you think might be a prospect for your organization…..  What makes you think they might make a planned gift?  What more do you need to know about them?  How would you get to know this new information?  What do you think they might want to know?  How could you begin this conversation with them?

Typical Clues:  A prospect wants to give but doesn ’ t ‘ have cash or ‘it is not a good time’  A donor has an opportunity to make money (‘a taxable event’) and would like to offset taxes  A donor has unneeded property such as an inheritance  Your donor expresses distaste for paying significant capital gains tax  Your donor needs secure and reliable income  Your donor feels restricted by living expenses because selling assets incurs so much tax  Others?

Hints for Success  Keep it simple and creative  Focus on the people not the methods, learn their needs and desires  Start with bequests and gradually add other options  Focus on a very small number of prospects  Only develop strategies for regular donors  Enjoy your meetings with your prospects  Focus on the long term

Preparing Yourself:  Be Curious: Listen  Learn all you can about gift and estate planning  Make relationships the keystone of your fundraising program  Be a donor….know the joy  Write your own will  Explore ways to be philanthropic  Establish bequests for your favorite causes

More thoughts? 0 Christine Graham Burlington and North Bennington Vermont