WHY PLANNED GIVING/ENDOWMENT CAPACITY BUILDING?

Community Need: Healthy charities are a critical element of a “healthy” community.  While many Arizona charities effectively address the needs of the communities they serve, they often survive “paycheck-to-paycheck” which prevents them from planning for long-term growth and continuity.

Programmatic instability often reflects an inadequacy of endowment funding coupled with a lack of understanding by Boards as to the importance of planned giving.  Endowments enhance financial stability and allow charities to focus on delivery of quality programs.

An effective way to cultivate endowments is by training Boards and staff to build organizational capacity for planned gifts.  Low endowments in Arizona charities indicate inactive and/or sporadic efforts to seek and secure significant gifts through wills, trusts and other estate planning tools.

Arizona charities need help in building endowments.  A comprehensive approach has been developed which includes an educational process for Boards, assistance in developing policies and procedures for soliciting, accepting and managing planned gifts, staff development, and practical tools to assist in the prospecting, marketing, securing and nurturing planned giving donors.  A sustained effort which cultivates planned gifts from long-term constituents can secure the financial future of a nonprofit organization.


What Your Organization Will Achieve Through the Program

  1. Understand planned giving and endowments.
  2. Develop a plan and assess your readiness for endowment fundraising.
  3. Develop the organization’s case for endowment support.
  4. Identify and begin to cultivate and solicit prospective endowment donors.
  5. Develop and establish necessary policies, including gift acceptance, windfall, investment and spending.
  6. Develop and implement a donor stewardship program.
  7. Develop and implement marketing strategies for planned giving and endowment building.
  8. Develop a system to report and measure success.


Program Benefits

  1. To the Organization:
    • Creates an ongoing source of future income
    • Enhances organizational stability and credibility
    • Reduces urgency of annual fundraising activities
    • Allows for future growth and program expansion
    • Provides for programmatic independence from external forces
    • Allows for financial management flexibility
    • Builds a pipeline of future gifts
    • Promotes outright gifts to annual and capital campaigns
  1. To the Donor:
    • Perpetuates the donor’s values and priorities
    • Creates a permanent tribute to the donor and family
    • Makes an investment in the future
    • Endows annual gifts
    • May provide lifetime income
    • Alleviates burden of managing some assets
    • Permits additional contributions over time
  1. To the Development Department:
    • Protects against escalation of annual fundraising goals
    • Offer additional options for donors
    • Ensures organizational resources are devoted to it
    • Attracts new donors
    • Brings focus to donors objectives


  
© 2009 Arizona Planned Giving Institute & Arizona Endowment Building Initiative