Why Major & Planned
Gifts of Assets?

Advancing your gift planning efforts is most effective way to significantly increase your total donation revenue. Only 2.3 percent of household wealth is held in cash or checking accounts, yet most fundraising strategies focus their energy on this small portion. The remaining 97.7 percent—which includes real estate, stocks, bonds, retirement plans, and business interests—is where transformational gifts originate. This is also where your donors hold their wealth, identity, and sense of possibility.

Research shows (download .pdf) that when you discuss cash with donors, you anchor them in disposable income—an area that is currently constrained by inflation and rising costs. This conversation tends to become smaller and more cautious. In contrast, when you discuss assets, you shift their perspective. They start thinking in terms of wealth and feel wealthier, which can expand their generosity to match this new frame of mind. This is why the largest gifts in America rarely come from checking accounts. In fact, a national study of major gifts to colleges found that 60 percent of the largest donations included no cash at all.

Encouraging donors to give through their assets is not just a strategic choice; it is essential. We are on the brink of the largest wealth transfer the world has ever seen. Every day, over 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65, and this will continue for the next 25 years. Their asset base is 50 percent larger than that of the generations that follow. If your organization is not inviting these donors to consider asset-based giving and estate planning, someone else already is.

Planned gifts—especially bequests—are likely to be the largest contributions an organization will receive. In the United States, the average bequest ranges from $35,000 to $70,000. Organizations that cultivate a reservoir of bequests can start realizing stable, meaningful income within just five to ten years. Moreover, when a donor includes your organization in their will, their annual giving increases by 77 percent and remains elevated for at least eight years. They begin to see their wealth as “donation-possible,” and start thinking like true philanthropists.