It s All About CONVERSING with Donors

Transcription

1 National Conference on Philanthropic Planning CONFERENCE PAPER It s All About CONVERSING with Donors Elfrena Foord, CFP, CAP Judee Daniels, CFRE

2 Contents About The Presenters... 2 Learn About The California Project That Inspired This Approach... 3 Outcomes... 5 Pump Up Planned Giving Program... 5 Introduction to Conversational Approach... 6 What Stops You?... 6 Individual exercise... 7 Key Assumptions To This Conversation Approach... 8 The Discovery Conversation... 9 Fundraising ASK vs. Discovery Conversation... 9 Four Simple Steps: Discovery Conversation Gain Conversation Confidence The Would Consider Conversation Implementation So what? Call to Action Don t Let This Story Be About Your CBO! Appendices Legislative Resolution How to Create the Who to Talk to List Discovery Conversation: Step-by-Step More Conversation Responses Would Consider Conversation Pump Up Planned Giving Program Building Your Professional Backup Team Works Cited Contact Information Daniels & Foord 1

3 About The Presenters (L-R: Elfrena Foord, CFP, CAP & Judee Daniels, CFRE) Hello, I m Elfrena Foord, a Certified Financial Planner and a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy, a relatively new designation. I have owned a financial planning firm in Sacramento for the last 28 years. My inheritance was given away. My grandfather and his 2 brothers started grocery stores in the 1920s and sold them in There was no family member to take over. My family inherited a little money but most of the money from the business sale went into a charitable trust. One reaction that I could have had is they gave away my mother s inheritance and essentially mine too! Our family was comfortable enough but we weren t filthy rich. Instead of money, I inherited the opportunity to earn enough to create my own financial independence. I also inherited the honor of serving with my brother, sister and niece as co-trustees to give away grants to Sacramento charities. Because of my experience, I believe that a gift to charity in your will is first and foremost, a gift to your family. I believe you would be doing a great service to families to assist them in putting charitable gifts in their estate plans. With no charitable gifts, inheritances are all about the money. With gifts to charities, it s about values and making a difference. A great family legacy! I m Judee Daniels, CFRE Certified Fund Raising Executive, I ve directed the development efforts of and consulted with CBOs for over 20 years. AND I believe that everyone can afford an after-lifetime gift! Neither my husband nor I had a family model of philanthropic giving, outside of his family s generosity to their church. But we have been very intentioned in our contributions and have modeled, since our children were very young, giving back to the communities that shaped our family experiences and personal values. How? At birthdays and holidays we included a gift to a CBO in honor of each child. Usually these gifts met a need they could understand, like scouting and local animal shelters. Now over 40 years later, not only our adult children, but nieces, nephews and extended family have adopted our philanthropic gift traditions. Last year my 43 year old nephew knew I was planning a trip to Romania to trace my grandparents roots and his Christmas gift to me was a donation in my honor for the restoration of the Black Churches of Northeastern Romania and his notecard read, Thank you, Aunt Judee, for teaching me the true spirit of giving! For my birthday, my wonderful daughter-in-law gave me a soup bowl not just any soup bowl, but one she d bid on at a fund raising soup kitchen event. Plus my daughter adopted an Orca whale in my name! Every family can create a legacy of generosity. Daniels & Foord 2

4 Learn About The California Project That Inspired This Approach You may have heard of the California Plan Your Giving Project (CPYG) or of October 1st being California Plan Your Giving Day. If you re not from California maybe you ve heard of Iowa Plan Your Giving or the Seattle region s pilot program Leave 10. Well, the CPYG Project launched in 2010 is the model that prompted both of those efforts and is the project that gave rise to the conversation approach we present in this paper. Encouraging Californians to leave the world a better place through estate giving Over 550 Californians to date -- Leaving $75 - $200 million to nonprofit agencies WHAT IS IT? Since 2010, the California Legislature has annually declared October 1 st as California Plan Your Giving Day. There are over 550 pledges on from generous Californians who have shared their decisions to include charity in their estate plans. The estimated impact on October 1, 2014 was between $75-$250 million and continues to grow as Californians add their gift decisions to the project website. WHO PARTICIPATES? To increase the number of after-lifetime gifts, California Plan Your Giving s strategic plan engages: 1. CBO s (Community Benefit Organizations) see page 4 for definition. Implement a new conversational approach. The system is easy and actionable. It engages leadership, staff and volunteers with long time loyal donors. An 8-month Pump Up Planned Giving program was launched in 20 to introduce and train CBO staff and volunteers in using the more than 20 tools developed to enhance mind-set shifts and learn how to implement this new conversational approach. 2. Estate Attorneys and Financial Advisors Client Philanthropic Engagement Tool The 2010 Bank of America (Bank of America, 2010) High Net Worth Philanthropy Study found that 80% of clients expect their advisors to bring up the subject of philanthropy, but less than 10% ask! Here s the breakdown by type of advisor: a. CPA- 5.7% b. Attorneys 6.3% c. Wealth Advisors 8.0% One of the reasons is that advisors don t know a comfortable way to raise this subject. The CPYG Project s Estate Attorney & Financial Advisor Tool was developed to show advisors types of questions that can be easily asked to open the subject and spur clients thinking about philanthropy. It can be found at under the Resources tab. Daniels & Foord 3

5 The language of the California Legislative Resolution (page 15) strengthens the significant role planned gifts play in the lives of our citizenry and in our state. CBOs are encouraged to officially join the California Plan Your Giving Project to promote their efforts as being aligned with a larger public movement. At this point, please go to your computer/smart phone and take a look at the CPYG PSAs that we ve developed. ( Look at the short PSAs, especially the ones entitled Generosity and My Dad. Viewing these two PSAs will provide you greater insight into how the conversations around making an after-lifetime gifts are shifting. You may capture and utilize these video snippets at will from the CPYG website. One CBO used the My Dad video in an message prior to Father s Day to encourage the conversation. The CPYG Project is strictly a volunteer advocacy movement which raises no funds and which offers FREE resources on its webpage. Again, the project s purpose is to encourage individuals to decide to include charity in their after-lifetime gift plans, when donors no longer need their money and to increase the conversations about such decisions. TERMINOLOGY Refrain from using insider jargon While the resolution is steeped in the planned giving jargon of our sector, remember it s Legislative legalese. We strongly recommend you abandon such terminology when conversing with the public. Why?. We all understand the term planned gift but research shows that the public doesn t. The term planned giving, referring to your planned giving program and legacy are insider/internal jargon borne out by the research of Stelter, Sharpe and James. The full Stelter 2012 Report (Metrics That Matter: Links between Advisors, Donors & Nonprofits, 2013) revealed numerous findings which should be of interest to anyone interested in increasing after lifetime gifts, but here we wish to highlight just one: 62% of donors interviewed were NOT familiar with the term planned gift. Throughout this paper we will use terms such as gift to charity left in your will and after-lifetime gift when you don t need the money anymore. These are terms the public can understand. Your CBO (Community Benefit Organization) is more than its non-profit status We use CBO in lieu of 501 c 3 or non-profit. Why CBO? We believe and want you to communicate that your organization is more than its tax status. In fact the language of your IRS Letter of Determination states you are incorporated as a public benefit corporation. Because your efforts benefit the communities you serve, we use CBO community benefit organization. CBO Boards love this change of reference and are eager to have public conversations utilizing this term and participate in the CPYG Project to elevate the importance of making after-lifetime gift decisions. CPYG Nugget: If your mission statement begins XYZ is a 501c3 non-profit organization that yada yada, you just lost my attention! You ve used up 7 of the first 10 words I m most likely to listen to and never mentioned what your CBO does. People want to hear about what you do! And people really want to know how XYZ organization benefits their community! CPYG Project is changing the conversations around planning today to give tomorrow. How excited do you get when you hear the terms legacy society or endowment society? Daniels & Foord 4

6 Well personally, we don t and neither does most of the general public. Creative and strategic thinking in the naming of an after-lifetime giving circle generates a connection to the mission and can more emotionally convey the purpose of the funds given in this manner. For example: A tree foundation might call their legacy society The Grove. It conveys a grouping of mature trees that shelter the younger generation. A food bank that refers to their after-lifetime gift donors as being members of The No Empty Plates Circle tells others in the community much more than society or legacy circle could ever convey. Let s examine some of the outcomes since the CPYG Project began in 2010: Outcomes 1. Over 550 generous Californians have shared their decisions to include CBOs in their after-lifetime gifts on the project s website. a. You can see which generous Californians in your cities have shared their after-lifetime gift intentions on the CPYG website. 2. $75 million will transfer from just 19 of those Californians to their favorite CBOs. a. How do we know? One estate planning attorney who participated in one of the project s early professional think tank sessions includes questions for his clients to 1) see if they have a philanthropic, after-lifetime gift interest and 2) he knows the $$ amounts his clients are leaving to CBOs. He has told us that the 19 clients who have shared their intentions on the website are gifting over $75M to CBOs throughout Northern California. b. Just imagine the value of the after-lifetime gift decisions from those other 500+ generous Californians. 3. Communities have approached the project and their conversations from a community perspective. The city of Long Beach s community foundation took this prospective and had their first conversations using this approach with their civic leaders, major industry board chairs and CEO s. Then they approached the community of Long Beach at large to convey what a generous community Long Beach was and encouraged others. Check out one of the Long Beach City generous citizen profiles by clicking here. Pump Up Planned Giving Program This program was developed as an outgrowth of the statewide project. It was created in direct response to the numerous inquiries we were receiving from CBOs who were seeking an actionable system to either re-ignite or launch a planned giving program. Benchmarks of success and compelling results achieved this year: 2014 Cohort Results: 100% of CBO s launched or re-ignited after-lifetime giving circles. Utilizing the discovery and would consider conversations with Board members and long-time donors, they built a core of founding members for their circles and leveraged October 1, 2014 California Plan Your Giving Day for their major public announcements. Sharing donors after-lifetime gift decisions and their gifts impact as newsletter stories in the months preceding October 1 st had laid the inspirational connection for the launch of their circles. Refer to Appendices for more cohort details. Daniels & Foord 5

7 Introduction to Conversational Approach Please ponder these 5 rhetorical questions: Would you like to find out from your long-time donors which ones would be open to consider an after lifetime gift? If you could have a conversation that was comfortable for you and your loyal donor about making a life gift when they no longer need their money, would you do it? If you could trust your volunteer leadership to have these conversations, would you? Would you have such a conversation even when you don t have planned giving expertise? How would you like to do this without additional planned giving expertise, and no additional cost nor staff, and no consultant -- Plus uncover donor satisfaction in the process? In the past 20 years ( ) charitable bequests more than doubled, in real dollars (Giving USA, 20). This same report reveals a giving gap between annual charitable giving in which 70-80% of Americans participate and the fact that only about 5% have a charitable estate plan (Dr. Russell N. James, III, 2013). Though this % is small, it still accounts for 8% of the overall charitable giving which was $24.14 billion in 20 and was $23.41 billion in 2012 (Dr. Russell N. James, III, 2013). With this amazing potential why aren t CBOs conversing about the opportunity for their donors to do more than they think they can? If you were to ask your donors in a conversation, What if you could do both leave money to your family and make a gift to charity? Wouldn t they be curious? So why don t you converse with them to seek their opinions? The approach presented here focuses on the basics -- getting a bequest. Most after-lifetime gifts are bequests. What Stops You? What do you think people say are the most common things missing in their ability to converse about an afterlifetime gift? Typically the two missing pieces we hear most from professionals and volunteers who say they have a planned giving program or want to start a program are: 1) Who they should talk to and 2) What to say? 1) Who should you converse with about making an after-lifetime gift when donors no longer need their money? Tip: We recommend you begin by identifying the CBO s 5 year and longer CONSISTENT annual donors. Please refer to the appendices for more information on creating your donor list for this approach. 2) The second missing piece most people share with us is they are unsure of what to say. Yes, it feels awkward to converse with donors about their death and getting their $$ -- this conversation approach is the answer. You are not talking about their death and you aren t making an ask. Just because you have a segmented list of donors to talk to and know what to say, using our tools--it isn t enough! During our workshops and cohort trainings we have had CBO leaders share their mental and emotional hurdles that have stopped them even when they had the right tools in hand. We learned this last year. A Daniels & Foord 6

8 seasoned development director had 1 successful Discovery Conversation call and then stopped. You could hear the fear in her voice. She shared with us her mental and emotional hurdles that were stopping her. So in our 2015 Pump Up Planned Giving Program, we will be adding the following exercise. We d like you to benefit from it now. Individual exercise (Jot down your thoughts in the spaces provided) If you have a list of long time donors to contact and you have a conversation tool you like and are comfortable with, why might you find yourself not contacting your donors? Yep, your reluctance about actually talking with the donor. Right now, take a moment to honestly face any negative thoughts you have about conversing with a donor about an after-lifetime gift. List 4 fears, concerns, negative feelings or thoughts you have about talking to donors about after-lifetime gifts. 1. _ 2. _ 3. _ 4. _ Daniels & Foord 7

9 Here are some of the most common fears expressed by veteran staff, new development professionals and volunteer leadership alike, and even some estate planning attorneys: Seasoned and new development professionals are concerned: o that they will offend a consistent donor to the point they will stop giving annually, o that they will get in over their head when the donor starts asking questions about specific ways to make after-lifetime gifts and the tax advantages o they don t have a personal relationship with the donor Estate planning attorneys are often reluctant, believe it or not, to raise the issue about leaving a gift to charity with their clients for fear of seeming judgmental if the client is not so inclined. The discovery and would consider conversation tools can take away these fears and others. The CBOs that we have worked with have validated this. Now that you have reflected and we have some of your fears out in the open, you begin to see how your feelings and thoughts might impede after-lifetime gift conversations even when you have a proven tool in hand! Key Assumptions To This Conversation Approach First, this is a conversation with a loyal donor who has already demonstrated their love of your mission and trust that you will accomplish it by giving you their valuable money every year. Second, the donor talks and you listen. Then, you ask more questions and listen. The first two goals of the Discovery Conversation are related to donor stewardship actions with which you should already be very comfortable Your attitude influences the conversation exchange. If you don t embrace the steps of this approach with confidence and anticipate valuable outcomes, it will come across to the donor. If the donor says anything negative or contrary to what you want to hear, it MUST ALL BE OK with YOU. Resist the urge to start talking about specifics. This is an interview seeking opinions NOT a solicitation. And finally, Having presented this workshop throughout the state, we have learned that it is important for you to first experience the conversation, rather than using first impressions or a quick evaluation based on your opinion of role-playing. Yes, despite the fact that this is a conference paper, role-playing with each of these tools is beneficial. This paper provides you with the cornerstone tool from our Pump Up Planned Giving Program the Discovery Conversation. Those who have used it say it makes conversing with the donor easy and enjoyable for both parties. Daniels & Foord 8

10 The Discovery Conversation Understanding the assumptions just presented is the beginning of a successful implementation of this approach and its tools. Building upon those assumptions, one needs to have an understanding, first of what this tool IS NOT before jumping into its content. And then, recognize the basic difference between a fundraising ASK interaction and the Discovery Conversation interaction.. What the Discovery Conversation is not: It is not an ask. It is not to give the donor information. o If the donor wants information, CBO rep promises to get it to them at a later time It is not a rigid script to follow exactly as worded. o Those who use this conversation adapt the electronic template to language they feel comfortable with, but must be sure not to miss any of the four key steps. What the Discovery Conversation is: First and foremost, it is an opportunity to chat with donors who already love and trust your CBO Second, it is a guided conversation in which the donor speaks and you listen. And you ask more questions and listen. Remember, this is not the time to present a brain dump on everything you want the donor to know about the wonderful work you are doing, nor to share the wealth of knowledge (curse of knowledge) that you have on the myriad of vehicles that can achieve an after-lifetime gift decision. Fundraising ASK vs. Discovery Conversation It is critical to acknowledge that the discovery conversation interaction is different from a fundraising ASK interaction. In a fundraising ASK interaction, if the person says No -- it is a rejection. The rejection could be because of 1) the CBO s mission, 2) your presentation, or 3) you somehow your personalities didn t jell. With the Discovery Conversation interaction it is important to remember that you are speaking with a long time donor who is already in your CBO s Fan Club and they say I love the CBO s mission, every year with their annual gift. Therefore if they should answer No it is not a rejection! Because after-lifetime giving is a personal decision, it might just not be right for them. Maybe it just doesn t mesh with the donor s current life circumstances. Maybe it s just not the time in their life or they want to think more about this. Now please go to the Appendices and pull out Tool #1 Discovery Conversation. Don t read it yet, as it is most effective when you understand the following rationale for each of the four (4) steps and the questions within each of the steps. Daniels & Foord 9

11 Four Simple Steps: Discovery Conversation This conversation tool has four simple steps: 1. Recognition Sincerely thank the donor with specificity for their long term support 2. Stewardship Find the emotional connection that first inspired the donor to make a gift to your CBO 3. Present the idea of making an after-lifetime gift 4. Discover if the donor Would Ever Consider this type of future gift themselves STEP 1 Recognition Tips: Be as specific as possible. Fully acknowledge the importance of their continuous support for X number of years both financial and volunteer hours. Be invested emotionally in your expression of gratitude for their contribution. For example, a superficial recognition comment by the CBO representative might sound like this: Jane, we are so appreciative of your long time support. Thank you. Such a superficial thank you really only leaves the donor with one response You are welcome. And perhaps leads to an inference on the part of the donor that this is just another thank you call before they ask me for another gift. A more sincere in-depth recognition comment by the CBO representative could sound like this: Jane, we are so appreciative of your long time generosity. Did you realize that your have been supporting our mission for more than 12 years? This opens the chance for a donor reaction Donor: Really, I can t believe it s been that long. Your gifts make it possible for us to continue our work. We couldn t do it without you and other generous people like you. Step 2 Stewardship Tips: Finding the donor s personal/emotional connection to the mission opens the opportunity to strengthen their relationship with the CBO. Having someone interested in the reason they gave originally and why they have continued to give conveys a much different relationship than just simply thanking them for their donations. The donor can infer that there is a genuine interest. As you move through Step 2, listen for weak or strong emotional connections. I help the Food Bank because we all know, people need to eat. Or stronger like this example: I am so grateful for being able to afford the wonderful food I get to eat that I just need to help others that are struggling to just have enough to eat. Or they may be extremely personal like, I remember when my Dad lost his job for a short while and some nights I went to bed hungry. As you listen to your donor s response you will use the Discovery Conversation Form to capture the donor s comments. The data can then be added to the donor s record in planning the next interaction. Daniels & Foord 10

12 Of significant note is the concept of an after-lifetime gift being the last chapter that a person writes in their life s story a visualized autobiography as, Dr. Russell James states. He also presents the concept of CBOs being a synthetic family for donors. See (Dr. Russell N. James, III, 2013) Emotional connections to CBOs missions are donor specific and, if revealed, deeply enhance the CBO s appreciation of the donor s generosity. Here again, (Dr. Russell N. James, III, 2013) offers us a specific example of the life circumstances for one donor that led to his after-lifetime gift CBO designations. See this response from an 89 year-old, married male: In my will, there s the Youth Hostel Association, first of all it s where my wife and I met. Then there s the Ramblers Associations. We ve walked a lot with the local group then finally, the Cancer Research. My father died of cancer and so I have supported them ever since he died. (Routley, 20) Step 3 Presenting the Idea & Getting Feedback Tips: Each of the questions in Step 3 have a specific purpose, namely: Question: Does this idea make sense to you? o Intended to verify that the donor isn t confused about what you are saying Question: Have you heard of other people making charitable gifts in this way? o Intended to find out if the donor is aware that the idea of making gifts through wills is a common practice What do you think about us encouraging our donors to leave a gift in their will when they no longer need their money? o Get the donor s general idea of how they think people would react to the idea Remind yourself when you ask these 3 NEUTRAL questions that you have no idea how the donor may respond. Just be aware that you might stir up responses that seem unrelated to what you asked. Focus on the all-important mindset whatever they say is just perfect and you respond with acceptance and without judgment! Here is an example where you could get snagged on the question about what other people think of the idea. The donor responds, People s kids would be so mad if they gave their inheritance away! And you jump on their bandwagon by replying, How could they? It s not THEIR money. People shouldn t let their kids dictate to them like that. Don t succumb to the temptation to agree and expand on what they say, but rather respond from a position of having heard them and accepting what they said. We would recommend the following reply to the same donor response: I hear what you re saying and I m sure some people feel that way. But don t take that donor response as a signal, by inference, that you shouldn t proceed to the 4 th step of discovering if they would ever consider such a gift. People have a lot of different reactions to the idea of making an after-lifetime gift that have EVERYTHING to do with THEM and NOTHING to do with YOU or the CBO. So don t take what they say personally. Their reactions might be based on the fact that: They haven t done an estate plan and know they should so they feel guilty They have automatic thinking such as only blood relatives or the children should get the money Daniels & Foord

13 They don t have a charitable mindset for the money left when they pass. It s not that they are against it, they just have never really thought about it until you called. Some CBOs take the opportunity to gather the thoughts from their long term donors on other issues with this same conversation tool. Here are some examples. We would like your thoughts about how to enhance our image in the community. First, what do you think is our image? Second, can you think of any ways to improve it? We introduced a new program 1 year ago about. Were you aware that we did that? What is your impression of this new service advancing our mission of. Our mission is. We were considering changing the wording to. Can you give me your opinion of this change? Do you have any ideas of a better way to express it? We see this organization being around for 50, 75, 100 years, hopefully forever. How might we express this idea so that our donors can be inspired by being part of something bigger than meeting important needs today and next year? Gain Conversation Confidence You now have a proven tool. You know which donors to speak with and we know that practicing by role-playing builds confidence for development professionals and volunteer leadership, but right now, it s very likely that many reading this conference paper may be having a knee-jerk reaction to the idea of role-playing. It s almost like the knee-jerk responses donors may have to the idea of considering an after-lifetime gift decision. Don t stop here. Press on! Why? CBOs using this conversation approach increase after-lifetime gift decisions. Practice the conversation with people that you consider safe no risk. However before you call that safe person, acknowledge the fear of not wanting to appear unpolished before friends, family or colleagues who truly can be safe. To encourage you to take the practice plunge, look at these three (3) actual practice conversation outcomes. 1. CBO: Foundation for California Community Colleges a. The Vice President of Development for the Foundation was practicing via phone, with a long time Board member. i. At the end of the conversation the Board member expressed positive reactions to customizing this Discovery Conversation tool for use with loyal donors AND ii. He further stated, I think you and I should get together over coffee so we can iron out the details of my plans to leave a gift in my will. 2. CBO: Children s Cancer Foundation a. The Executive Director was practicing with a board member face to face. i. The practice ended with the board member stating that she had been postponing the discussion of including the CBO in her end of life giving. The board member asked for the legal information ( tax ID#, etc.) went home and discussed it with her husband, completed the gift and ii. Went online at the CPYG Project and joined the list of growing generous Californians 3. CBO: Museum ( that was originally founded and partially endowed by a bequest gift 85 years ago) a. The CEO was practicing with a longtime supporter and well-known community leader. i. In fact the CEO was hoping to recruit this donor as a volunteer to join the Discovery Conversation efforts to call other loyal donors. Daniels & Foord 12

14 ii. At the end of the conversation, the donor agreed to volunteer which was terrific. But even better than that, the practice uncovered this donor s previously unrevealed sixfigure, after-lifetime gift already in his plan. We found it interesting that in the Stelter 2012 report referenced earlier, 60% of their suspects who participated in their -minute interview moved to the position of being likely prospects. Once you ve practiced and begin conversing with loyal donors, you will see that the Discovery Conversation moves loyal donors from the category of suspect meaning you suspect they might be a person who would make an after-lifetime gift to either NO they aren t (which is actually a good thing), now you won t wonder and won t waste time cultivating in that vein. Or it was discovered that YES they would consider such a gift and now you don t wonder, but have a viable prospect ready for your next interaction. As a further demonstration of the lack of conversations with donors about after-lifetime gifts, Judee s personal interaction at each workshop we present is of interest. As Judee shares: I find it quite interesting that in presenting this conversational approach to CBOs throughout the state, and mentioning in each of those workshops that I have several CBOs in my estate plan and none, I say again, none of them have ever had a conversation with me about my after-lifetime gift intentions. Note that I am a long time donor to numerous CBOs. During a CBO board training session late last fall, I shared that I had unrevealed after-lifetime gift decisions in my future gift plans and right then and there, the new development director asked me if I could stay after the training to answer a few administration questions for her and I did. After a few accountability questions, she asked me if she could have a conversation with me about my after-lifetime gift plans. My answer Not presently, but because you want to have a conversation about it, let s just skip the conversation and know that I am going home to update by IRA beneficiary designations to include this CBO. And I completed the update that evening. Why? Because I love the mission and someone finally asked to have such a conversation. The Would Consider Conversation This is for those donors who said they would consider such a gift in your initial conversation This second tool is another donor touch and is used to review the donor s would consider statement without assuming that they had thought about their casual response too deeply. You don t want to assume too much and this 2 nd tool allows you to gently re-enter that conversation to gain a clearer idea of the donor s current deeper thinking. As you can see, the donor s responses are captured right on the conversation template. This form can be used to easily enter the information into the donor s record for use in planning the next interaction. Implementation Implementation of this conversation approach for discovering likely after-lifetime gift prospects from among your loyal donors is fairly simple. There are two approaches to implementation and success has been achieved with both. The first approach uses a collaboration of trained volunteers and staff and the second approach uses staff only. Daniels & Foord 13

15 Before you decide which approach to use, you have some preparation with respect to ranking your donors to discover which ones should comprise your first list of suspects with whom you will have a discovery conversation. See appendix for How to Create the Who to Talk to List First is the team approach with volunteers helping conduct discovery conversations to uncover your best afterlifetime gift prospects. This approach is predicated on selecting volunteers who are good listeners and can stay on subject to achieve the four steps of the Discovery Conversation. Now select the first 40 donors from your segmented list and set a goal to get at least 20% of these donors to move from suspect to the Would Consider prospect group. Maintain accountability with time frames for volunteer action completion and frequent check-in. If you choose the second approach, staff only approach, follow the same ranking criteria, but with the addition of indicating which month each long-term annual donor usually sends in their gift. Select the first 25 donors. Schedule on your calendar to call 2 donors each month (the month in which their annual gift normally comes). When that annual gift arrives, pick up the phone and thank them for their current gift and ask if they could give you a few minutes to share their opinions (use the Discovery Conversation format). And voila you re having conversations about making after-lifetime gifts. So what? You now have two proven conversation tools in hand. You ve acknowledged some personal fears about conversing about after-lifetime gifts. You know which segment of donors to first converse with. Will your participation in our workshop session or reading this conference paper be just another CEU check mark? Or will you accept this call to action and make discovery conversations about after-lifetime gifts part of your routine fundraising efforts? Call to Action Decide to include your favorite community benefit organization (CBO) in your after-lifetime gift plans Share that decision with your family and the CBO/s you choose they d like to thank you during your lifetime If you are a Californian, go to and share your pledge decision. Practice the Discovery Conversation with a long time, current donor and see what you discover! Monthly, have a Discovery Conversation with 2 long-time, loyal donors Don t Let This Story Be About Your CBO! A conversation with Elfrena and her friend Art: My friend Art told me that one of his favorite charities that he gives to regularly each year had a notice in their newsletter. Please put us in your will. The correct name of our organization is ABC and our tax id# is 123. Art said he found that kind of CREEPY because the CBO had never had a conversation with him about this and he was totally open to the idea. In summary, we have given you a simple way to know who to call and a conversation template to know what to say. We hope this approach allows you to never have any of YOUR donors say One of my favorite charities never talked to me about an after-lifetime gift. Daniels & Foord 14

16 Appendices Legislative Resolution Legislative Resolution California Plan Your Giving Day This measure would recognize and support the importance of gift planning by declaring October 1, 2014 as California Plan Your Giving Day. WHEREAS, Gift planning opens up options for donors, including identifying assets for donation that may otherwise be unavailable to charities; and WHEREAS, Gift planning enables donors who are currently unable or reluctant to make a gift to establish a plan to make a gift of their assets at a later date; and WHEREAS, Gift planning is a source of endowment that provides for the possibility of long-term funding for charitable purposes; and WHEREAS, Gift planning is usually a result of charitable estate planning that enables donors to combine financial goals with charitable gift giving; and WHEREAS, Gift planning through testamentary arrangements provides for estate tax savings and permits donors to leave a lasting legacy to charity; and WHEREAS, Gift planning provides the public with the option of reallocating assets, that are otherwise subject to taxation, to social capital, thereby controlling the use and purpose of a person s charitable giving; and WHEREAS, Gift planning proves to be gratifying for donors who designate their giving to organizations that share values similar to the donor; and WHEREAS, Gift planning allows for the creation of charitable gift annuities, permitted by California law, to provide a charitable tax deduction and an assured lifetime income; and WHEREAS, Gift planning helps charities build rainy day funds that are then available to assist in unexpected emergencies, such as the relief efforts in Haiti; and WHEREAS, Gift planning has a major impact on the future viability of charitable organizations that are highly dependent on the philanthropic spirit of its donors; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the State of California and the Legislature recognizes and supports the importance of gift planning awareness by declaring October 1, 2013, as California Plan Your Giving Day; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution Daniels & Foord 15

17 How to Create the Who to Talk to List If you don t collect age information on your donors does that mean you can t viably rank them? If you keep supporters personal data on 3 x 5 notecards and not in a sophisticated electronic donor database, does that mean you have no after-lifetime gift suspects? Of course not! You still have significant details on cumulative giving and length of support to aid you. Note that with increased economic uncertainties, there is a growing trend for younger individuals to design their future giving. An excellent summary of generational estate planning trends can be found in Stelter s 2013 metrics survey and the 2010 Bank of America white paper. (See Works Cited) Don t forget to consider those who have benefitted from your programs or services, if appropriate. Here again, there is often organizational reluctance and appropriately so in certain instances, to refrain from including program recipients as prospects. However, experience does support that despite the fact that a family may have received services from say, American Red Cross, when their home burned down, that while they are not in a position to be immediately ranked as an after-lifetime gift suspect wouldn t it behoove American Red Cross disaster teams to share this clients information with the development department for future consideration? Wouldn t family members whose loved ones have benefitted from your hospice program have just as much, if not more passion, for your CBO and be ranked higher than let s say an annual donor for the past ten years? The main point consider every constituency aligned with your mission, be they volunteers, current donors, or past recipients of program services when you rank suspected after-lifetime gift donors. Use the supporter s relationship to the organization to enhance and fine tune their ranking. TIP: Remember ranking supporters is not an individual exercise. Call upon long-time board members and team members to build your suspects profiles. Now what? Determine the data criteria you will use for segmenting/ranking o We strongly suggest using 5 years or longer consistent giving as the simplest criteria. Denote strongest internal donor relationship o Does the donor have the closest relationship with you, the executive director, a board member, etc.? Define who will call the suspects that no one knows o The structure of the discovery conversation is such that, while it is best to know the person, it works even when you don t know them. Divide # of top suspects by the number of weeks you plan to focus on discovering which suspects are prospects. o We divide by 28 as it is the number of weeks in the PUPG Program. Daniels & Foord 16

18 Discovery Conversation: Step-by-Step STEP 1 FIND OUT IF THEY ARE A SATISFIED DONOR You Donor Reply Your Response Hello, (donor name), I m (your name w/organization). I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me. Do you have a moment? Thank you for your long-standing support. Have you been happy with your donor experience? What else can we do to enhance your donor experience? STEP 2 FIND EMOTIONAL CONNECTION You Donor Reply Your Response (Insert name/s), your loyal support is invaluable. May I ask you, what inspired your first gift to (insert CBO name)? Has anything specific inspired your continuous giving? (Feedback: tell them what you heard. Use exact words they said.) Did I get that right? (Go deeper) Tell me more about that. STEP 3 PRESENT IDEA AND GET FEEDBACK You Donor Reply Your Response As you know, our mission is to (short but passionate) (If it fits, use their stated inspiration) Your inspiration of, when you made your first gift is an expression of your commitment to those we serve. Because we want to continue our good work forever, one of the ways we can do this is to receive gifts from someone s will left to us when donors no longer need their money. People can plan today to give tomorrow. Does this idea make sense to you? Have you ever heard of people supporting nonprofits they value in this way? What do you think about us encouraging our donors to give to us through their wills? (If their reaction is negative, ask them to tell you more about their feelings.) (If the reaction is very, very negative, thank them for their time, comments & fidelity of support) Daniels & Foord 17

19 STEP 4 EXPLORE THE EVER CONSIDER You Donor Reply Your Response (Insert name), if we decided to start/expand our program to seek gifts through wills, would you ever consider including some money to (insert CBO name) in your plans? If Response is Yes I m glad to hear that you would consider including some money in your plan to our organization. We want to share the results of our conversations with you and other loyal donors in the next 4-6 weeks.. When would be a good time to call you again with our results? If Response is No CONCLUSION You Donor Reply Your Response Thank you for the insights you ve shared and for your time. We appreciate it so much. I can understand how you feel that way. It is an important decision and I know we will have other donors that likely feel the same way. If you could share your feelings/reasons for not wishing to consider a gift through your will, it would really help me understand if our plan/endowment concept can succeed with other loyal donors. Is that No, not now or is that No, not ever? Is there anything that could change in our organization or in your relationship to the organization for Not ever to become Not now? Daniels & Foord 18

20 More Conversation Responses Additional Possibilities under Response is No in STEP #3- Questions to delve deeper (Note: green font denotes what CBO rep might say) People want to leave money to their kids. New Question: How do you think people would feel if they understood that they could do BOTH money to kids and to charity? If donor is hesitant: We aren t talking about a large amount to charity. For example, $10,000 to charity would only be $5,000 less to each of 2 children. How do you think children would react to getting a little less? Do you think that children could be proud of their parents for leaving a little money to a charity that was important to their parents? New Question: We have found that a gift in a will to charity is also a gift to the family. The family gets an added sense of pride that their family shares and helps others. How do you think others would respond to this idea that this kind of gift doesn t take away, but is a gift left behind to the family? I/People don t have that much money to consider charity. New Question: Many people feel that way because they don t consider their house being sold and just a small amount going to charity. Do you think that perspective could open up a possible charitable gift for people? People don t want to spend money for an attorney fee. New Question: Indeed. There are a couple of options that don t involve an attorney. If there was a way to do it and not incur a legal fee, do you think that would open up the possibility for people? Other possible things to research: If we were to have a program to encourage giving through people s wills, what do you think people would want in order to acknowledge such a gift? 1. Something permanent such as their name on our donor recognition wall? 2. A letter to the family 3. Nothing needed. 4. Other If the organization is using bequests to grow an endowment fund, what is endowment? This money would go to an endowment program that will provide help to (insert organization s cause) for years to come. Only the income from the endowment fund would be used every year so the giving would go on forever. Donor replies: I m leaving everything to my children and grandchildren Caller reaction: (Enthusiastically and genuinely reply): (Insert name), that s so wonderful that your family will benefit from all your good financial planning! Some donors have told us that their families are so moved and inspired when they learn a small amount is left to (insert CBO name) by them. All families are different. How do you think your family would feel if you included a small gift to charity in your plan? Donor replies in some manner that they would consider making a gift to charity: Caller reaction: Terrific! Thank you for your consideration. A lot of people don t feel like they know how to leave a gift to charity, once they ve considered and decided to do so. Could that be a concern of yours? Donor replies: YES Caller reaction: Please tell me more about that. Daniels & Foord 19

21 Donor replies: Not wanting to change their plan, incur a legal fee. Caller reaction: If there was a way to do it without (changing the plan, incurring a fee), would you be more open to considering a gift? Donor replies: YES. Caller reaction: There is an easy way to do a gift as well as receiving a tax advantage if you have a retirement plan or life insurance. Does that happen to be an asset that you have? 1. Donor replies YES a. Caller reaction: Then you could benefit from a gift to us in your will. (beneficiary designation form) 2. Donor replies: NO. a. Caller reaction. Do you have a bank CD or bank account? i. Donor: Yes. 1. Caller reaction: There is an easy way for you to do a gift. (Transfer on Death TOD designation) 2. We can get you information on this option if you decide you want to leave a gift. Daniels & Foord 20

22 Would Consider Conversation STEP 1 RECONNECT AFTER DISCOVER CONVERSATION YOU Hi (insert donor s name). This is (your name). When you participated in our donor feedback call on (insert date) you and I chatted about (insert CBO s name) new effort to (ask/increase) support through estate planning. Your opinions were extremely useful. Like you, most of our donors were very satisfied with their donor experiences with (insert CBO name). The only dissatisfactions we heard were (insert a sample) and we are (insert solution) to improve. As a result of speaking with you and other donors, we have decided to (insert decision) so that the income from this source will be used for (insert its use). STEP 2 REMIND & CLARIFY MISSION CONNECTION You said your personal connection with (CBO name) was (insert what they stated.) Did I get that right? That was a common response from other long-term donors as well. STEP 3 PRESENT IDEA AND GET FEEDBACK YOU DONOR REPLY YOUR RESPONSE When we last spoke you mentioned you would consider thinking about leaving a gift to (CBO name) in your own estate plan. Do you recall that? (Yes or No, continue) Now some people don t remember and some just say yes off the cuff and haven t really thought too deeply about the question. So I wanted to revisit it and ask you would you consider leaving (insert CBO Name) an after-lifetime gift? Who else would you like to have involved in your decision? (Spouse, children, financial advisor?) Anyone else?) Have you thought about how much you might leave? For example, some people think in terms of a specific dollar amount and others think of a percentage of an asset such as a retirement plan. The next thing most people, who want to leave a gift, want to know is How do I leave a future gift? Is that a question for you? Who else? How much? If donor responds YES to go to next column Donor reply NO : Thank you for letting me know. Tell me, is that no not now or no not ever? Is there anything else about the work (CBO ) is doing that you would like to chat about or have me pass along to the Board? We so appreciate your current giving and thank you again for speaking with me. Goodbye Donor reply MAYBE : Would you be willing to share why you might WANT to consider a gift and why you might NOT WANT to? We appreciate that you could have both those opinions. Donor reply YES : Thank you (insert donor s name)! That s good to hear. Your continued desire to support (CBO name) by leaving a future gift tells us you know our mission is making a difference. Is that something that you would be open to discussing in more depth with me now? If yes Do you want to hear the 3 most common and easy ways you can do it? 1. You can leave a gift to (CBO name) from your life insurance, annuity or retirement plans. It s easy to do with a simple change on a new beneficiary form. 2. You can make a change in your current estate or will simply by writing a post-script called an amendment to your will or living trust. You may need an attorney to make this change. 3.You can put (CBO name) as a beneficiary on an account that you have at a bank, mutual fund company or other financial institution by making it a TOD account to transfer upon your death a portion of or the full balance of the account. Daniels & Foord 21

23 If NO IF no I m glad to hear that you know your next step. May I give you (CBO s) legal name and tax ID# for your official documents? STEP 3 CONTINUED YOU DONOR REPLY YOUR RESPONSE Which one of these 3 ways do you think would work best for you? Donor selects one of the 3 ways Do you know exactly how to do that method? (See article entitled Leaving our Fingerprints on the CPYG website to see the details on how to execute each of the methods. You may wish to provide your donor with a copy of the article.) Would you like one of our experts to help you select the best option for you? If Donor not able to select which is the best method Donor answers NO doesn t want help Thank you (insert donor name). I am inspired by your generous decision to include (insert CBO) in your future giving and I look forward to welcoming you into the (insert name of after-lifetime giving circle). Thank you. Goodbye Donor answers Yes they would like help Donor answers YES want to be contacted We have a professional who will provide a 1-hour complimentary consult for our donor, either in person or on the phone. Would you like their contact information or shall we ask THEM to contact you directly? What s the best time and number for our advisor to call to set up the free 1-hour consultation? CONCLUSION YOU DONOR YOUR RESPONSE Thank you (insert donor name). I am inspired by your generous decision to include (insert CBO) in your future giving and I look forward to welcoming you into the (insert name of after-lifetime giving circle). Thank you. Goodbye Note: NOW YOU HAVE A KNOWN AFTER-LIFETIME GIFT IN THE MAKING. CELEBRATE! THEN STEWARD THE GIFT TO COMPLETION. Daniels & Foord 22

24 2015 Pump Up Planned Giving Program Application period for 2015 Cohort opened October 1, 2014 Program runs January 2015 October 1, 2015 Challenge: While many Community Benefit Organizations (CBO = 501 c3) believe a growing endowment fund will help to sustain them, and that a planned giving program is important, most are in need of an actionable structure to help get started or take their planned giving efforts to the next level for their long-term financial stability. Solution: By engaging in this 8-month program, your CBO will have put in place the core infrastructure of a gift planning program, identified your best gift planning prospects, and implemented an approach to maintain and enhance your stewardship of future gift donors. The statewide co-chairs of the California Plan Your Giving Project (CPYG) developed this model program to encourage, instruct, nurture, and support select CBOs on their path to establishing and operating successful and appropriate after-lifetime giving and endowment-building programs. Selection Process: CBOs must submit an application and organizational materials to the California Plan Your Giving Project by November 26, This cycle of the 8-month Pump Up Planned Giving (PUPG) Program is limited to 10 CBOs. Applicants will be notified of their selection by December 5, Activities and trainings occur over the following eight-month period and end officially on October 1, 2015 (California Plan Your Giving Day). Please note individual goals and board trainings are customized. Who Participates? All CBOs who wish to create and/or improve a program to increase after-lifetime gifts may apply to participate in the 8-month PUPG Program. The 8 months of focused consulting fee is $950. What are the PUPG Program Components? Each CBO is assigned a PUPG professional coach. A planned giving review/audit to determine organizational readiness is conducted. Monthly cohort conference calls draw upon peer and expert knowledge to converse about current goals or challenges and establish next steps. PUPG coach is available by phone or throughout the program. If the team approach (highly recommended by coaches) is adopted, trainings are included for up to 4 PUPG team members. Weekly online action tracking of five (5) simple tactics by CBOs is monitored by coach. PUPG program time line requires investing at least 4 hours per month to insure launch or re-ignition of an after-lifetime gift program. Daniels & Foord 23

25 PUPG Participant Quotes This is an approach with ready-to-go tools that I can use! Executive Director, NCADD Northern California Council on Alcohol & Drug Dependence Sacramento Region Note: This executive director was new to CBO management & had no development staff We added two new members to the YMC Heritage Club this month, both because we took the time to talk with them. This is exactly what I ve been looking for! Jay Lowden, CFRE President & CEO YMCA of Superior California Ray Tretheway Executive Director Sacramento Tree Foundation 2013 When I just tested the conversation script concept with a long-time board member, he said it was probably time that he and I talk seriously about him making a planned gift decision! Kerry Wood Vice President Development Foundation of California Community Colleges The conversation tool takes the fear out for both sides of the conversation! Kathy Fleming Executive Director Fairytale Town This PUPG approach is easy and actionable. Johnny Avots-Smith Assistant Director of Annual and Special Giving University of San Francisco Hi Judee, I continue to find clarity and purposefulness in your refinements. Ray Tretheway Executive Director Sacramento Tree Foundation 2014 Daniels & Foord 24

26 PUPG Program Participants 2014 CBO* participants: o The Haggin Museum Stockton o Women s Center-Youth & Family Services Stockton o Keaton Raphael Memorial Foundation Roseville 2014 New PUPG Graduate Program o Sacramento Tree Foundation Sacramento o YMCA of Superior California Multiple Counties 2013 Cohort participants represented the broad fabric of community benefit organizations from a variety of mission focuses: o o o o o o o Fairytale Town -- Sacramento Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services -- Sacramento LGBT Community Center -- Sacramento Volunteers of America -- Sacramento Sacramento Tree Foundation - Sacramento YMCA of Superior California Multiple Counties Sierra Forever Families -- Sacramento 2012 PUPG CBO participants included: o Breathe California Sacramento o Putah Creek Council -- Winters o Northern Council on Alcohol and Drug Addiction Sacramento Region o Society for the Blind -- Sacramento o The River Exchange Dunsmuir *Community Benefit Organization (CBO) is a term created and adopted by the statewide project to replace the use of the terms non-profit or 501 c3 when referring to a charitable organization. Your organization is more than its tax status. Its mission benefits the community, plus your IRS letter of determination states incorporated as a public benefit corporation. Daniels & Foord 25

27 Building Your Professional Backup Team You do not need to be an educated planned giving specialist in order to engage in after-lifetime gift conversations with your loyal donors. But you do need to have resources in case you need them. There are 3 basic ways that people can give you a gift. 1. Put you in their will or estate plan as a beneficiary. Be sure that they have your correct legal name and tax ID number. 2. Put you as a beneficiary, or partial beneficiary, of a retirement plan account, a life insurance policy or an annuity. If there are taxes to be paid when you withdrew funds from a retirement plan, for example, a gift to charity avoids the tax bite and 100% of the money goes to the charity. 3. Put you as a TOD (Transfer on Death) registration for a specific asset, specific investment account or specific cash account. Note: Currently some states do not allow TOD s on real estate assets. As of the writing of the paper, September 1, 2014, California is one state that excludes real estate assets for TOD s. If you have donors with questions beyond your ability, you will want to line up resources to support your organization. Options include: 1. Talk to your local community foundation to see if they have resources that you can utilize. 2. Talk to other charities in your community to see if they have suggestions of who they use. 3. Develop relationships with estate planning attorneys, CPAs, and Certified Financial Planners who specialize in estate planning. Ask if you can call them for advice, without a fee, if you get in a situation where you need help. This gives you experience with that person that will help you screen them to see if they are appropriate for talking to your donors. Some advisors will offer to give a free hour for donors to answer their questions. One estate attorney offered to put a charity in someone s estate plan for free. He knew that most people have other changes they want to make that would lead to fees he could bill. 4. If an estate advisor is open to it, you may ask them to be on your Board of Directors. Daniels & Foord 26

28 Works Cited Bank of America. (2010). High Net Worth Philanthropy Study. Dr. Russell N. James, III. (2013). Inside the mind of the bequest donor (1st ed.). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Giving USA. (20). Annual Findings Report. Metrics That Matter: Links between Advisors, Donors & Nonprofits. (2013). Routley, C. (20). Leaving a charitable legacy: social influence, the self and symplicy immortality. Bristol, U.K.: University of the West of England. Daniels & Foord 27

29 Contact Information California Plan Your Giving Website: Elfrena Foord, CFP, CAP Phone: Judee Daniels, CFRE Phone: Daniels & Foord 28

30 It s All About CONVERSING with Donors! Presented to Partnership for Philanthropic Planning -- National Conference October 16, :00 :00 a.m. Statewide Co-chairs: Judee Daniels, CFRE Elfrena Foord, CFP, CAP info@californiaplanyourgiving.org efoord@efoord.com FUNDRAISING ASK INTERACTION CBO rep Prospective Donor YES NO Rejection of: CBO Mission You Your Presentation 100% Launch We Don t Give to Animal Shelters 1

31 DISCOVERY CONVERSATION INTERACTION CBO rep Long Term Donor Discovery Conversation YES CBO Fan Club They say I love the CBO every year! NO After lifetime giving is a personal decision No= Doesn t work for the donor personally NOT a rejection In my will, there s the Youth Hostel Association, first of all it s where my wife and I met. Then there s the Ramblers Associations. We ve walked a lot with the local group then finally, the Cancer Research. My father died of cancer and so I have supported them ever since he died. Male, 89 Married (Routley, 20, p ) 2

32 Statewide Co-chairs: Judee Daniels, CFRE info@californiaplanyourgiving.org Elfrena Foord, CFP, CAP efoord@efoord.com Create/Update Your Will Include favorite CBO in your plan Practice Discovery Conversation with safe long-time current donor & see what happens Each month have a Discovery Conversation with 2 long-time, loyal donors 3