Planned Giving Services

For charities and nonprofits, finding and maintaining sources of funding can be the most difficult and time-consuming task of all. This constant search for money exhausts resources that could be better spent elsewhere.

• Bequest Intention
• Definition: The bequest intention is the donor’s notice of their intention to make a planned gift. It is not a legally binding commitment but a courtesy so that the nonprofit can expect future donations.
• Quick tip: Honor your donors who’ve made a bequest intention as you would your major donors but keep the expenses to a minimum due to the contribution’s non-binding nature.
• Bequest Expectancy
• Definition: It’s the approximate value of future planned gifts based on your nonprofit’s previous planned giving data. Bequest expectancy helps nonprofits visualize future revenue.
• Quick tip: Nonprofits will approach bequest expectancy differently. Many take an average from a multi-year period (e.g., 5 years). Just make sure to eliminate any outliers before calculating.
• Planned Gift Notification
• Definition: This is the official notification that your organization will receive once a planned gift has come to fruition. It might take some time to determine the exact gift amount.
• Quick tip: Since a planned gift notification may not produce a clear figure at first (e.g., the donor pledged a percentage of their estate), you can use data on the donor to gauge an amount.

• Non-Probate Transfer Vehicles
• Definition: These “Transfer on Death Deeds” allow planned donors to bypass the probate process (i.e., the process by which a will is proved in court) and give directly to your nonprofit.
• Quick tip: Non-probate transfer vehicles can be used for real estate, savings and checking accounts, the money market, and other investment funds (such as retirement or life insurance).
• Non-Cash Asset
• Definition: A gift that is not cash. These gifts often take the form of securities, life insurance policies, retirement accounts, or real property.
• Quick tip: Non-cash assets are the opposite of cash assets or gifts that are cash. Different non-cash assets may require different processes for receiving them or different value assessments for determining their worth.
• Real Property
• Definition: Real property consists of land, additional property on that land (such as buildings or machinery), and the property rights associated with that land.
• Quick tip: Real property can either be encumbered or unencumbered. You will receive encumbered real property when a third party has some sort of claim to the property (mortgages or other payment plans, for example).

• Charitable Bequest
• Definition: The charitable bequest is the official statement in a will, a trust, or an estate plan that designates a gift to a specific charity.
• Quick tip: Gift amounts are stated in three main ways in charitable bequests. A specific amount is the exact amount of money that a donor will give. A percentage amount is a percentage of what the donor will give (such as a percentage of their estate). A remainder amount is the leftover funds that you’ll receive once the donor has paid their other bequests.
• Charitable Gift Annuity
• Definition: Charitable gift annuity occurs when a donor makes an agreement with a nonprofit. The donor gives a large amount of money to the nonprofit. The nonprofit then pays the donor an annual set income from that sum until the pay period ends (usually with the donor’s death). The nonprofit retains the leftover funds.
• Quick tip: Charitable gift annuities can take various forms, and states will have different laws regarding each type of charitable gift annuity. Familiarize yourself with the laws in your state.
• Charitable Remainder Trust
• Definition: A charitable remainder trust is a trust gifted to a charity that pays an annual amount to the trustee(s). Once the trust is complete, the charity receives the remaining funds. A charitable remainder annuity trust pays an amount each year, while a charitable remainder unitrust pays a percentage of the remaining trust fund.
• Quick tip: In a charitable lead trust, the charity receives an annual amount from the trust fund, and the beneficiaries receive the remainder of the funds when the trust term ends.

• For Donors
• Sizeable tax break
• From a fiscal perspective, tax breaks are a huge advantage to making a planned giving arrangement. The specifics will vary according to a range of factors, so you’ll need to evaluate the possibilities on a case-by-case basis. 
• Sizeable tax break
• Donors can give to a certain campaign or to the annual fund, but rarely do they have the chance to detail exactly how their money should be spent within the organization. Planned gifts put complete power in the donor’s hands.
• For Nonprofits
• Capitalize on donor loyalty
• Many donors want to give major gifts in their lifetimes but don’t have the financial flexibility to do so. Planned giving lets donors give those large gifts after they have passed away when life expenses won’t interfere.
• Receive the largest yearly gifts
• Historically, planned gifts are up there with major gifts in terms of the donation amount. For example, charitable bequests are 2.74 times larger than donors’ lifetime charitable giving. As we’ve said, they’re at the top of the donor pyramid.