Legacy or Life?
Hello everyone,
I hope you are enjoying your summer. We had a great vacation with our kids to Kentucky Lake. It's a huge lake--200 miles long and 8 miles across at its widest point--not a lake well suited for a novice boater like myself. I had no idea a lake, outside of the Great Lakes, could develop over 3-foot white caps on a sunny, only somewhat breezy day, smile…. We found it to be a little unnerving at times in the middle of the lake, but lots of fun.
As I reflect on what remains of summer and being "in the middle of the lake", I connected with a great article about planned giving. The focus of the article was about how so often we make planned giving about legacy, what happens after you die. A researcher decided to test the effectiveness of a "legacy" message compared to messages about life.
For example, rather than sharing a story about how Charlie, the former custodian, made an endowment gift in 1992 that allows children today to receive after school tutoring, he instead tested a story about John, the current custodian, who just signed his will today. John's will provides for a future gift that will support programming that will benefit children in the years to come. What the researcher found was that donors responded more to messages about life and "John-type" stories, than they did to "Charlie-type” legacy stories. They concluded that for the donor, planned giving is like writing the last chapters of life, not about death.
It is an interesting study and got me thinking about how I see myself as it relates to planned giving. It would be a good question for you to test out with your own donors, maybe in a small, intimate focus group. Bring them together and ask them to talk about how your organization is part of life "in the middle of the lake." Share an example of someone who just signed you into their will or a planned gift, and what it means to them as they envision leaving the "middle" for the "shore." Explore how they see your organization being part of their life story and the impact planned giving has now, not just in the future.
May God bless you all,
Warmly,
Jamie
Recent Research & News
Giving, Standards of Living Inversely Related, Study Finds
Residents of communities with a higher-than-average standard of living, little poverty, and low crime give a smaller portion of their income to charity than those in less well-off communities, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. Read the article HERE.
The Three Legs of a Non-Profit Stool
A well run non-profit has a leader who clearly understands that there are three critical legs to the non-profit stool – functions that must be carefully balanced for the organization to be effective. Read the article HERE.
