Easy and Accessible Planned Giving for Nonprofits
When you hear planned giving, what comes to mind?
Complicated legal documents?
Estate planning attorneys?
A sophisticated planned giving department?
A huge nonprofit with a development team of 12 people?
If you're leading or fundraising for a small or midsize nonprofit, planned giving can feel like something you'll get around to someday, once you have the staff, budget, website, marketing materials, and expertise to do it properly.
But according to planned giving expert Tony Martignetti, you may be making it much more complicated than it needs to be.
Tony joined me on The Influential Nonprofit to talk about making planned giving for nonprofits simple, accessible, and affordable, especially for small and midsize organizations.
His central message?
Start.
You don't need an elaborate planned giving campaign. You don't need to understand every possible type of planned gift. You don't even need a dedicated planned giving webpage before you begin.
You need to identify the right donors and start having conversations.
What Is Planned Giving for Nonprofits?
Planned giving allows donors to arrange a charitable gift as part of their long-term financial or estate planning.
There are many different types of planned gifts, but Tony recommends that small and midsize nonprofits avoid getting overwhelmed by all the possibilities when they're getting started.
Instead, start with one of the simplest and most familiar options:
Gifts in wills, also known as charitable bequests or legacy gifts.
Most adults already understand the basic concept of a will. That means your organization doesn't have to begin by educating donors about complicated financial instruments.
You can begin by talking with loyal supporters about whether they would consider including your nonprofit in their will.
That's it.
You Don't Need a Huge Planned Giving Program to Get Started
One of the biggest myths surrounding planned giving fundraising is that nonprofits need an entire infrastructure before they can begin.
A planned giving webpage.
Brochures.
Marketing campaigns.
Legal expertise.
Multiple gift options.
A dedicated planned giving officer.
Tony's approach challenges that idea.
In fact, he argues that once you've had your first meaningful conversation with a prospective legacy donor, you've launched your planned giving program.
You can celebrate.
The rest can grow from there.
This is particularly important for small nonprofits where the executive director may also be responsible for fundraising, communications, operations, and countless other responsibilities.
You don't need to create another massive project.
You need to start the conversation.
A Simple 3-Step Planned Giving Strategy
Tony breaks the launch of a planned giving program into three basic steps:
Identify your top planned giving prospects. Look first at the donors who have demonstrated consistent, long-term commitment to your organization.
Start with gifts in wills. Don't overwhelm yourself or your donors with every possible planned giving vehicle.
Cultivate and solicit those top prospects. Begin having individual conversations about supporting your organization's work for the long term.
Notice what's missing.
There's no "build an elaborate planned giving website" step.
There's no "become an estate planning expert" step.
There's no "create a 30-page planned giving brochure" step.
The emphasis is on relationships.
And that's what fundraising should be about anyway.
Who Are Your Best Planned Giving Prospects?
Your first planned giving prospects aren't necessarily your wealthiest donors.
Start with loyalty.
Who has consistently supported your organization?
Who deeply understands your mission?
Who has been giving for 10, 20, or even 30 years?
Those donors have already demonstrated that your mission matters to them.
If your nonprofit is younger, "long term" will naturally look different. Tony suggests that organizations generally have at least five years of history before beginning this work.
For a nonprofit that's only six or seven years old, someone who has been giving for four or five years may be one of your most loyal supporters.
You don't need hundreds of prospects either.
Start with a handful.
Two.
Three.
Five.
Have meaningful conversations and learn from them.
Planned Giving Isn't a Conversation About Death
This is one of the biggest mindset barriers around legacy giving for nonprofits.
Fundraisers can feel uncomfortable talking about wills because they believe they're essentially talking to donors about dying.
Tony strongly challenges that framing.
Instead, he views planned giving as a conversation about the life and future of your mission.
Your donor already cares about the work.
You care about the work.
That's the common ground.
The conversation becomes:
How can the work you care about continue into the future?
That feels very different from sitting across the table talking about someone's death.
You're talking about impact.
Legacy.
Values.
Community.
And the future of something they have already demonstrated they care about.
How to Start a Planned Giving Conversation With a Donor
So, what do you actually say?
You don't need to surprise someone over lunch with:
"Have you put us in your will?"
Be transparent about why you'd like to meet.
You might explain that your organization is thinking more intentionally about long-term support and that you'd appreciate an opportunity to talk about whether they would consider supporting the organization through their estate plans.
If they ask what you mean, explain that you're beginning conversations with loyal supporters about gifts in wills.
Then, during the meeting, bring the conversation back to your shared commitment to the mission.
They've supported you for years.
They understand why the work matters.
You can acknowledge that loyalty and ask whether they would consider including the organization in their will.
And then listen.
Fundraising doesn't have to be more complicated than that.
Why One-on-One Donor Conversations Can Be More Effective
I shared an example with Tony of an animal shelter that introduced planned giving through a gathering of top prospects.
It worked.
But Tony offered an important consideration for smaller nonprofits: bandwidth.
If you organize an event for 30 prospective legacy donors, what happens afterward?
You still need to follow up.
You still need individual conversations.
You still need to develop those relationships.
For a nonprofit with limited staff, starting with a few one-on-one conversations can be much more manageable.
Rather than spending your limited capacity planning an event, put that energy directly into donor relationships.
You Don't Need to Understand Every Type of Planned Gift
Another reason fundraisers procrastinate on starting a planned giving program is fear of being asked a question they can't answer.
What about charitable gift annuities?
What about life insurance?
What about charitable trusts?
What about donor-advised funds?
There are many ways donors can make charitable gifts.
But you don't have to master all of them before starting.
Tony recommends focusing your early planned giving communications on gifts in wills.
If a donor wants to explore a more complicated giving vehicle, you can refer them to their estate planning attorney, financial adviser, or other appropriate professional.
You don't need to become their lawyer.
You need to be able to have the relationship conversation.
Stop Waiting Until You Have Everything Figured Out
This is where the planned giving conversation connects to something I talk about constantly in nonprofit leadership.
We often tell ourselves:
Once I know enough, I'll start.
Once the website is ready, I'll start.
Once we have the brochure, I'll start.
Once I'm confident enough, I'll start.
But sometimes all that preparation is actually resistance.
We're trying to eliminate fear before taking action.
And that's rarely how growth works.
We don't eradicate fear.
We learn how to move through it.
Your first planned giving conversation might feel uncomfortable.
That's okay.
Your fifth will probably feel easier.
And by the time you're ready to build a webpage or develop a larger planned giving marketing strategy, you'll have something incredibly valuable that you didn't have before:
Real conversations with real donors.
You'll know the questions they ask.
You'll understand what resonates.
You'll know how they talk about legacy.
You'll have better language for your marketing.
You may even have donor testimonials.
What Happens When a Donor Says Yes?
A donor tells you they've included your nonprofit in their will.
Now what?
First, celebrate and thank them.
This person has chosen to place your organization alongside other people and causes that matter deeply to them.
That deserves genuine gratitude.
Tony recommends personal acknowledgement, including handwritten thank-you notes when appropriate.
Then update your CRM or donor database so the donor is recognized as a planned giving donor.
From there, stewardship becomes incredibly important.
Don't get the commitment and disappear.
Continue building the relationship.
How to Steward Legacy Donors
Planned giving stewardship doesn't have to be expensive or elaborate.
It needs to make donors feel valued and connected.
You might create special communications for planned giving donors, invite them to meaningful organizational events, recognize them as insiders, or provide opportunities to see the impact of your mission firsthand.
Most importantly, continue saying thank you.
A donor who has included your organization in their estate plans has made an extraordinary commitment to your mission.
Treat the relationship accordingly.
Use Planned Giving Testimonials to Grow Your Program
Once donors begin making legacy commitments, their stories can help normalize planned giving for others.
With permission, you could feature a donor explaining why they included your organization in their will.
That testimonial could eventually appear in an email, newsletter, direct-mail piece, or planned giving webpage.
Instead of your organization saying:
"You should consider leaving us a gift."
Another supporter is saying:
"Here's why I chose to do it."
That's powerful social proof.
And it's another reason you don't necessarily need all your marketing materials before beginning.
Start with conversations.
Your marketing strategy can grow from what you learn.
Planned Giving Is Still Relationship-Based Fundraising
Tony also shared what he calls the "Martignetti Meal Plan."
The basic idea is that meals can create a natural environment for donor conversations.
There's an established rhythm.
You sit together.
You have time.
The conversation can unfold naturally.
But this isn't a rule.
If restaurant meetings make you uncomfortable, don't force yourself to use them.
Meet at your office.
Meet at the donor's office.
Choose an environment where you and the donor can have a comfortable, meaningful conversation.
The location isn't the strategy.
The relationship is the strategy.
Planned Giving Can Work for Small Nonprofits
One of my favorite examples Tony shared involved a small historical organization.
It had one full-time employee, an executive director, with volunteers supporting the rest of the work. Its annual budget was around $300,000.
The organization sent a planned giving mailing to approximately 200 people.
Six responded indicating either that the organization was already included in their will or that they intended to include it.
That's an important reminder.
You may already have legacy donors.
You simply don't know because you've never asked.
Planned Giving Doesn't Have to Be Complicated
If you're an executive director with a small staff or a fundraiser trying to juggle a hundred priorities, you don't need to turn planned giving into another overwhelming initiative.
You don't need everything figured out before you begin.
You don't need every gift option.
You don't need to become a lawyer.
You don't need an enormous marketing budget.
You don't need the perfect webpage.
Start with your relationships.
Identify the people who have demonstrated long-term commitment to your mission.
Start with gifts in wills.
And have the conversation.
Because you never know what's possible until you ask.
Start Your Planned Giving Program With One Conversation
Look at your donor database.
Who has been there year after year?
Who consistently supports your mission?
Who understands your work deeply?
Who would you feel comfortable sitting down with and talking about the long-term future of your mission?
Start there.
One donor.
One conversation.
One invitation to consider a legacy gift.
You can build the webpage later.
You can develop the marketing materials later.
You can expand your planned giving strategy later.
For now, just start.
Ready to Make Planned Giving Simple for Your Nonprofit?
If planned giving has always felt too complicated, expensive, or intimidating for your organization, Tony Martignetti's Planned Giving Accelerated is designed specifically for small and midsize nonprofits that want a practical way to begin.
And if you want to become more confident having donor conversations, making meaningful asks, and building stronger fundraising relationships, connect with me. I work with nonprofit leaders, fundraising teams, and boards to make relationship-building and courageous communication feel more natural, authentic, and effective.
You don't need to know everything before you begin.
You just need to start the conversation.