Insomnia Cures

I came across 3 articles from Financial Planning Magazine that might be worth your time to glance over.  Admittedly this is first class Geek reading, but the Donor Advisor Fund article may offer some info you didn't know.  The article on Charitable Trusts focuses on Charitable Lead Trusts which are extremely rare, but it is important to know the concept of "Valuation Discounts" since it applies to any number of potential real and personal property gifts.  Finally, the Advisor article might be a good one to send to those Financial Advisors you've been courting.   Bottom line - read these when counting sheep is just not working!

1.  Donor-Advised Funds Outperforming Family Foundations

 

2.  Spike in Charitable Donations Creates Advisor Opportunity

 

3.  New Approach for Charitable Trusts





The Cart and the Horse

It is ever so tempting to start off your program with the cart and horse in the wrong positions.  You can easily spend all your time and energy writing policies and printing brochures and doing everything to get ready to talk to donors.  I've done it and I can tell you that policies and brochures do not bring in gifts.  So, from everything I've learned from others with far better ideas than mine, the best next step to take in starting your program is to start talking to donors - any donors. 



Start with an elevator speech.  It is your sales pitch and it should take no longer than the time it would take to ride an elevator from the ground to the penthouse.  You can read my current elevator speech by clicking HERE (a reminder that I upload these documents to Google Drive and they are supposed to be virus free).  It is current because it changes all the time in the never ending attempt to make the message better.  I spent a lot of time intially practicing this speech on my fellow UWCA employees and our elevator only goes 5 floors.  I would highly recommend doing the same in your organization.  Once your boss likes what you have to say, call a few volunteers and ask if you can practice with them.  You never know, it could start them thinking about making a Legacy gift. 

 

As your confidence builds, your message will get better and then will come the day when you find yourself standing next to a 20 year donor in an elevator and you will be ready.  More importantly, you will have developed the message that will also work well in letters, brochures, and websites.  Soon you will land your first gift and then you can write retread some policies.

PPP

PPP is the national organization for planned giving.  Formerly the National Committee on Planned Giving (NCPG), PPP is dedicated to the promotion of charitable gift planning through research, education, advocacy, community dialogue and the setting of standards and best practices in philanthropic planning.  The website at www.pppnet.org is home to a wealth of information including the Valuation Standards for Charitable Planned Gifts.  This answers the question of how do you count planned gifts received by your United Way in your campaigns. 

PPP is also the gateway to your local Planned Giving Council. Many areas host these organizations dedicated to furthering planned giving in local communities.  In Birmingham, I am a member of the Alabama Planned Giving Council along with other planned giving professionals, CPAs, estate planning attorneys, and financial advisors.  Our website is found at alabamaplannedgiving.org.  The Planned Giving Council in your area is a good way to link up with other professionals who will help you get started with your own program.

5 Easy (and Good) Steps to Start a PG Program

Starting a Planned Giving program at a small (or any size) United Way can be a rather daunting task.  There are any number of "How-to" resources that can leave you with that glazed over look and the absolute certainty that it will never work.  Don't give up!  Today I came across a really good blog post that makes it all seem possible.

Go to The NYSARC Blog and there you will find an article by their development consultant, Judi Taylor Cantor, well worth reading.  Planned Giving doesn't have to be complicated and Judi's article illustrates this idea so well.  It might be a while before you are ready to offer your donors Charitable Gift Annuities (step 5), but when you reach that point, remember the United Way Worldwide Charitable Gift Annuity program as well as United Way Life.  These 2 programs offer your United Way all the benefits without many of the administrative  headaches.  Finally Judi's concluding comments on patience should be taped to everyone's wall and read daily.

The entire website is also excellent and a few minutes spent following the links will offer even more valuable resources for starting your program.  There is a link on the right side of the page that will take you to more of The Fundraising Files written by Judi.

  

Great Resources from Kathryn Miree

Anybody in the planned giving world needs to visit Kathryn Miree's website at www.kathrynmireeandassociates[dot]com.  Go to the Resources Library and you will find a wealth of free information including articles, sample forms, and links to other good sites. 

Kathryn is a member of our Tocqueville Society and the Tocqueville Legacy Circle.  She is a part Board Chair and Chair of the Legacy Cabinet.  

Hope you enjoy(ed) your Memorial Day Weekend.

Some Great UWW Resources

Obviously if we are going to talk about planned giving resources for local United Way's, we have to list UW Online - not just because they are the mother ship, but because you are going to find some great tools and ideas there. 

They have greatly improved United Way Online in recent months and the site is much easier to navigate.  Go to "Resource and Tools", "Give", and then click on "Endowment and Gift Planning Service Center."  It's well worth the time you can spend exploring the different topics and resources.

I was looking at other planned giving websites the other day and came across The University of Texas and their planned giving website at www.gftpln.org/Home.do?orgId=450.  Their planned giving website is by Crescendo (who I will talk about tomorrow), but what caught my eye was the Resources section on the right side.  Take a look at their Sample Language and Forms, Estate Intention Letter, and Gift Planning Guide.  These are definitely ideas worth borrowing.

More tomorrow.