Research conducted by the respected Russell James, Ph.D. shows that most realized bequests to charities (i.e. bequests that actually land in your charity’s bank account) are made in the final years before death. Even more damning is the determination that by the ten-year mark, more than 30 percent of donors remove their charitable gift-in-will.
Many fundraising leaders see this data and take a reactive approach to it. They say “well, that’s the way it is”, and ignore any donor who is younger than 75 when it comes to gifts-in-wills.
Yet I, and many other legacy giving experts, have a different philosophy. In fact, I tell my clients that our ideal age range for legacy giving messages and conversations is in the age range of roughly sixty to seventy-five. The reason for this is two-fold:
- The decision to leave a gift-in-will takes years. We need a runway.
- Even though 30 percent of donors change their bequests after the ten-year mark, the majority of donors over age seventy-five typically have made their final will and are unlikely to change it.
People typically change their wills due to major life events (i.e. a death in the family, buying a home, etc.), and hardly ever go to a lawyer’s office simply to add a charity. Getting in the will sooner is better–as long as you can stay there. Which brings me to my next key point.
Getting to the motives
The real question here is why thirty percent of donors are removing bequests to charities after ten years.
The default assumption I’ve heard from fundraisers is that these donors are upset with the charity in some way. But the reality Prof. James has pointed out is that many of them simply forget.
If a donor is updating their will with a new lawyer (even if it’s at the same office), that lawyer often won’t refer to the previous will. They’ll simply give them the standard questionnaire to start from scratch. So, if it slips your donor’s mind that they had a bequest for you, it will be forgotten and left out. It’s also a matter of circumstance that not all lawyers ask their clients if they’d like to give to charity. It’s on your donor to bring it up.
Yet so many charities exacerbate this problem by removing legacy donors from communications lists out of fear of “bothering” them.
If a donor gets ghosted after they leave their gift, why would they continue to remember your organization?
Prof. James’ data is true, and it’s bleak. But a lot of data on fundraising trends are bleak. We continue to barely surpass a fifty percent retention rate, and the vast majority of nonprofits are under $1 million in revenue.
Many charities I advise far exceed industry standards, with 60 to 70 per cent retention or higher. They have strong monthly giving programs and have shot past the $1 million mark years ago.
It’s also worth noting:
- Any stat about realized gifts-in-wills is retroactive by nature–it only applies to a few years ago, at best. So, that means this past trend doesn’t have to continue if we change our actions.
- If many charities beat the industry standard of a 50 per cent donor retention rate, there are things you can do to beat the standard of 30 per cent of donors removing charities from their will.
The key to beating the thirty percent standard is stewardship. That’s because, truthfully, well thought out planned giving stewardship isn’t the norm. Many charities focus heavily on getting “hand raisers” (i.e. the acquisition), then call to thank those who have left a gift in their will and send them an annual report at best.
Effective planned fiving stewardship means you’re regularly communicating with your “hand raiser” via touchpoints that are different and more personalized than what your annual giving list gets.
And this stewardship must be based on their pledge, not their annual giving. And you need systems and processes to maintain it even when there’s staff turnover.
This is why running a planned giving program is about so much more than marketing. You need comprehensive strategies and processes to run it effectively. A pledge is only a pledge; it still needs to be cultivated for decades to get the donation. Remember, a planned giving program is bigger than any one staff member or any single campaign.
Tess Conrad is a seasoned fundraising professional with over 10 years of experience and has held her CFRE (Certified Fundraising Executive) since 2021. She also holds a Certificate in Fundraising Management from BCIT. She loves Planned Giving—the type of fundraising she believes drives the most meaningful relationships between nonprofits and their supporters. Her Planned Giving fundraising has brought in $300,000 to $2 million in future revenue for new and existing Planned Giving programs at mid-sized organizations.
