What I wish boards knew about Gifts in Wills…
— Written by Karl Tischler, Founder & Idealist, Marlin Communications.
I know I’m biased, but to me Gifts in Wills are the most beautiful of all fundraising types. Over the past twenty years, it’s been my pleasure and privilege to have worked in this space. Here, I’d like to share a few thoughts about what I wish boards knew about this very special type of fundraising.
Just a wee note; I don’t write this because of any particular ‘issue’, gripe or inadequacy. Moreso because I think that if boards had a greater appreciation and awareness, then there’d be a greater effort made to value and nurture this kind of fundraising.
So here are my top tips:
1. Don’t ever take any bequest for granted:
Every bequest received and every donor who chooses to include a Gift in their Will is utterly sacred. Even if the bequest has come from an unknown source, your organisation was chosen and that choice should be honoured. Doubly so if the source is known to the organisation.
2. Concentrate on being as visionary as you can:
Choosing to leave a Gift in one’s Will is a future facing act. Your organisation is entrusted in the most profound way to solve a pressing problem; your role is to solve that, or at the very least, try. Your vision is a promise that you can and should be completely committed to. If this is uncomfortable, leave.
3. Embrace being profound:
Why do we tend to treat profundity and being ‘emotional’ as some sort of weakness or failing? Stop pursuing ‘professionalism’ and aloof rationality. Yours is the charities business and we deal in the kinds of causes that are literally priceless. Your profundity should reflect the nature of this.
4. Invest in a proven team and invest for the very long-term:
Gifts in Wills fundraising has one of the highest returns on investment—more than $25 raised for every dollar invested. Too few organisations treat the Gifts in Wills fundraiser as the rock-stars they are and proceed to create the kind of nonsensical ‘return in year one’ pressures for any efforts made. When a significant bequest is realised in five, ten or fifteen years, it’s the efforts of today’s Gift in Will fundraiser that should be thanked, and the wisdom of today’s board recognised.
5. Understand what needs your donor’s want met:
In the quiet of reflection or in the noise of anxiety, almost everyone asks themselves these questions:
- ‘What was the point of my life?’
- ‘How will I matter once I’m gone?’
- ‘What will my kids think of me?’
- ‘What do I really care about?’
It’s incumbent on charities to at least be able to answer some of these and know exactly what needs your donor’s want met most.
6. Everyone, at some stage, seeks meaning:
For people who are the right age and stage, charities provide the most priceless of things; meaning and purpose. We tend to forget this. And because meaning and purpose are ‘intangible’ we tend to dismiss it in preference to other, easier needs. We forget that ‘meaning and purpose’ is always satisfied by what one defines it as, and what one is searching for.
7. Treat your GIW programme as the asset that it deserves to be:
It’s quite possible for the total value of some Gifts in Wills programmes to be in excess of $50 or even $100 million. Consider the enormity of that for a moment… and ask yourself; ‘Would a commercial organisation treat such future largesse so flippantly!?’
8. Ensure that there’s a clear offer; understand and immerse in that:
Every board member should know this truism: ‘You get to a point in life when the most precious thing you have is the past.’ Having a clear Gift in Will offer will satisfy that. A big part of your role is to understand and immerse yourself in that offer. Maybe, by doing so, you will also be moved to include a Gift in your Will.
9. Don’t try to predict death:
Why have a target over something that you can’t control? Far too much Gift in Will fundraising has a prescriptive income target. Whilst it’s certainly possible to use rolling seven year averages as a gauge of what may be coming in, you are far better off having an activity-based programme that secures a future amount, rather than trying to predict your supporter’s mortality.
10. Prepare for the inevitable:
No, not death. But the assured and historic transfer of wealth that’s coming your way over the next several decades. This wealth will go from one generation, to another already wealthy generation. Charities will benefit, your role is to ensure your organisation is in the position to do so.
