¾Gifts to Charities - Development Officer's Page

If you are the founder, president or development officer of a charitable institution, you have found the ideal program for increasing gifts from smaller donors to your foundation, endowment or reserve funds.  This is particularly true if you rely solely on private funding.

OUR PARADIGM

We view gifts as being one of three types: Type 1-Annual Gifts to meet current operating expenses.  Type 2-Capital Gifts to build, acquire or expand facilities.  Type 3-Planned Gifts to increase foundation, endowment or reserve funds...so named because they are usually made by larger donors, distributed as part of an estate settlement process at the donor's passing, and therefore require a significant amount of planning.

OUR PURPOSE

The purpose of this page is to present an overview of a simple strategy to raise $1,000,000 in planned gifts from smaller donors.  We use $1,000,000 as a model because it can be easily divided by 10 or two if your goal is to raise $100,000 or $500,000...or multiplied by five or 50 if your goal is $5,000,000 or $50,000,000.  And we use $1,000,000 because it may be more easily raised than one might imagine; we explain why below. 

First, this focus on smaller donors is significant for these four reasons:

1. The number of smaller donors is considerably greater than the number of larger donors, thus representing a wide and deep pool of potential contributors

2. The sum of the aggregate gifts from smaller donors could be substantial, thus augmenting endowments from larger donors

3. The diversification to many smaller donors from reliance on a few larger donors could represent a prudent Gift-Source Diversification strategy to hedge against fiscal setbacks of large donors whose gifts may be exposed to downturns similar to those following the oil, real estate and dot.com booms

4. The willingness of many smaller donors to give more may be a simple function of providing motivation and methods that are sufficiently attractive

DONOR MOTIVATION: RECOGNITION

There is a segment of every nonprofit’s donor base whose principal motivation to give can be summarized in one word: recognition.  We generally think of these as large donors.  However, many smaller donors want the same thing, and want it for the same two reasons: Public acknowledgement by an independent third party (1) that they lived and (2) that during their lives they made a difference.

Interestingly, for many, this kind of public acknowledgement is not sought as a matter of pride.  It is, instead, motivated by the hope of leaving one last example…one last lesson…one last reminder, especially to children and grandchildren, of the importance of generosity and stewardship. 

For others, it’s a way of saying, “Thanks”, “Keep up the good work”, " I want to honor a special person".

For large donors, such reminders often find form in the practice of placing their names on building or wings.  For smaller donors, the practice of “naming” is more difficult because—if the size of the facility is proportionate to the size of the gift—their names would appear on stair rails and storerooms.

There is also more to recognition through naming opportunities than naming—for both large and small donors.  As an example, a small donor may be as disinclined to give a $10,000 life insurance policy as a large donor to give a $10,000,000 stock portfolio if their gifts are to be recognized only once—whether that once is in a single annual listing of contributors in the first case, or a name on a building for a single day in the second.  The missing element in both cases is span of time…sense of legacy…enduring testament that says, “I was here.  I made a difference”.

DONOR METHOD: GRANDgift SYSTEMS

What smaller donors often want is a simple, inexpensive, guaranteed way to give gifts over several years…gifts that remind your organization—again and again, year after year—of their thanks, their support, and their commitment to its mission…gifts that make a difference in its future...gifts that make a difference in the lives of others.

By simple, they mean making gifts without the complications of changing wills, using trusts or placing burdens on executors.

By inexpensive, they mean funding thousands in annual endowments gifts from manageable monthly payments.

By guaranteed, they mean assuring that the cash for the gifts will be there, even if they pass away prematurely, before making all monthly payments.

They also want it to be easy to arrange, without the hassle of a sales person…want payments that are, when properly arranged, income tax deductible…and want your part in the solicitation process to be effortless, requiring little time and no cost to the charity.

The ideal program for smaller donors is GRANDgift SYSTEMS.

IN SUMMARY: EASY

The ideal--and easy--program for institutions is GRANDgift SYSTEMS, forthese four reasons:

1. Easy for your staff because we get your directive and objectives, then go to work.  We:

  l Create and print a booklet to quickly and clearly tell your story

  l Assemble, apply postage and mail the booklets to your donors

  l Prepare and send information to those requesting it

  l File and deliver final documents to your office

  l Collect premiums, manage records and distribute gifts to you

2. Easy for your donors because they are positioned quietly and independently consider the program

3. Easy on your budget because we provide all services--all of the above--free of charge

4. Easy math because only 100 donors arranging $1,000 annual gifts paid over 10 years = $1,000,000

MORE INFORMATION

For a free preliminary outline of a program for your charity, click here.

For more information on the program from a donor's perspective, click here.

For information on Equitable Life & Casualty Insurance Company, click here.

For more information about GRANDgift SYSTEMS Planning Center, click here.

To see our most recent press release and backgrounder, click here.

To return to the Home Page, click here.