Feb
25
2011

Finance Friday: Legacy Generosity in the Church

An article by Jon

Who are the most capable givers in your church? You may think they’re the people who write the one big check in December, give the largest weekly contributions, drive the flashy cars, or have a couple vacation homes. You may be (and often are) right, but this is not always the case. The faithful annual givers who may not appear to have a particular abundance of wealth are the best prospects for planned gifts. These people have proven to be generous, they believe in your mission, they believe in your leadership, and they support you however they can.

There is no doubt there are people in your church who wish they could give more, but they don’t know how. For many of them, there is an opportunity in planned giving, or legacy generosity. In order to engage in legacy generosity you must be prepared to overcome three challenges: misconceptions about planned giving, awareness of planned giving, and the planned giving process. Here are a few practical steps to identify possibilities for accelerated generosity through charitable gift planning, unlocking a whole new channel of support in your church.

Education

Hold a few events to explain some of the vehicles that might allow people to give at a higher level. Don’t just hold the events for those who may show up – make sure you invite some of your most faithful and most capable senior citizen and middle aged givers. These events will be a learning experience for your congregation and will clear up the most common misconceptions about planned giving:

You must be older
You must be wealthy
You must die before you can give
Planned gifts are too complicated

Many in your congregation have never been told about ways they can accelerate a gift, provide huge value for the church, receive a tremendous tax benefit, while still taking care of their family and the other charities they care about at the same time. There are many options for people to accelerate an estate gift, unload appreciated stock, property, or cash. These gifts will not come to fruition in the same timeline that a major gift for a typical generosity initiative will, but they are worth the time and effort. Simply educating your people will prove to be valuable in the future.

Develop your Process

In addition to hosting events for awareness, you should be prepared to show each person the process. The best way to do this is to create a list of recommended providers who can help set up the charitable gift. In other words, after they become aware of what can be accomplished through a charitable gift plan, make it super easy for them to implement it.

Follow-up

Be intentional about following up with the people who attend the events (and those who could not) and ask if the conversation sparked any interest or questions. It is guaranteed that your church members’ alma maters, graduate schools, hospitals, and favorite charities are already or will be asking them for the same type of gifts. If the vision for your church speaks to them, that same gift could benefit the church directly. It would be a shame to hear of a church member’s planned gift to another organization, wonder why they didn’t give that to the church, and have them tell you “because I wasn’t asked.”

Educate Yourself

I know you may be thinking “I don’t know anything about planned giving” and that’s okay, you are not alone. There are likely people in your church who can help you generate a list of trusted contacts in this area. If this is a foreign language to you, I encourage you to learn a little more (here is a tool that can help you get started learning). Even one of these gifts could be transformational for your ministry and create a legacy opportunity for the giver that will truly outlive their life.

Jon is a strategist for Generis, and he partners with churches, missions organizations, and independent schools as they seek to accelerate generosity and advance their mission. His key focus is counsel for developing a culture of generosity, whether it is in conjunction with a capital funds project or with some other type of vision funding. With a passion to serve the church and para-church organizations he has served a wide variety of churches and non-profits, and draws from experience founded in institutional development and a marketing education. Jon collaborates with many different ministry, business, and educational leaders. He works with high capacity donors, governing & advisory boards, and in many areas that create successful vision and fundraising – marketing & publications, media & production, annual giving, planned giving, major gift development, and alumni relations. Contact him: jon@generis.com @jonsturdevant 630.430.7796