A great prospect for a planned gift is a donor who has already made one.
In his studies on charitable bequests and planned giving, Russell James found that donors who make one planned gift are highly predisposed to making additional planned gifts. He explains this through concepts like identity reinforcement and psychological ownership. Once donors see themselves as legacy donors, they are more likely to continue acting in ways that reinforce this identity.
How then, do you ensure your planned gift donors continue to see themselves in this way?
An active legacy society is one important way.
Legacy societies provide a crucial framework from which you can continue to strengthen bonds between your nonprofit and your planned giving donors. Membership allows these donors to take ownership of this part of their identity: someone committed to leaving a lasting impact on the causes they care about, even after their lifetime.
Nurturing your existing donors is important because—repeat after me—a great prospect for a legacy gift is a donor who has already made one.
Side note: Legacy societies ensure that your cherished donors don’t fall through the cracks during a staff or leadership transition.
With donor retention a top challenge, the care you take with your legacy society can directly impact your donors’ feelings of appreciation and future giving behavior.
Start Here to Get Your Legacy Society Going Again…
Be serious—and intentional—about reviving your legacy society.
Start by reviewing your current legacy society list.
- Is it accurate? Perhaps you’ve had staff turnover or competing priorities, and the maintenance of the legacy society has fallen through the cracks. Review your donor database for indicators that a donor has made a gift in their will. Is there a field that is marked when a notification is received? Run a report and compare it with your list. Also, check in with your finance department for any recent realized planned gifts and make sure they are on your list.
- Do you have permission to share these donors’ names in your materials? If you’re not sure, don’t proceed until you know. Block off a few hours to make personal phone calls to thank the donor and seek their permission.
- Have you invited your legacy donors to share how they would like their names to be listed? It’s crucial to ensure their preferences are honored, as listing a donor’s name in a way that doesn’t align with their identity can lead to unintended offense. Email your donor asking them to verify how they would like to be listed. This can be as easy as having them hit reply or pointing them to a form on a microsite to submit their preference.
Tip: Send a survey asking your donors to share why they support your nonprofit. Take this opportunity to have them indicate if they have made a planned gift and whether they have notified the nonprofit. This will help you verify your list and may open the door for further conversation with the donor.
Then…
- Make sure your legacy society has a name.
Share it, far and wide, especially in all legacy society promotional material. For donors, your society’s name is synonymous with a planned gift and all the special recognition that comes along with it. - Add a legacy society page to your existing planned giving website.
It’s a low-cost but essential step. Consistently add donor quotes and short donor spotlight stories on the page. Donor stories offer another avenue of showing appreciation for donor gifts, as well as providing social proof, reinforcing the mantra “people like us do things like this.”
Tip: Include the society’s name and logo prominently on the page.
- Integrate legacy society messaging with other appeals.
The idea is to consistently prime the donor pump by planting the planned giving message. To rev up again, start small by creating a recurring planned giving column or section in your fundraising newsletter, enewsletter, magazine and annual report, highlighting the benefits of society membership. Keep the language easy to understand and emotive; resist the urge to use industry jargon.
Try something like this: When you make a planned gift to our organization, you join like-minded supporters in our legacy society, helping us create lasting change that will make a difference for generations to come. - Include a headshot and contact information, wherever, whenever.
This includes the society page and all direct mail, emails and other digital and print outreach. There needs to be a face, not just a name, that people can connect with.
- Show “touchable” impact.
Drill down to show impact on a relatable, personal level.
“Scholarships created through estate gifts like yours saved each student $3,500 per year in tuition this year.”
“Your planned gift put a smile on John’s face today. He knows that the efforts to provide safe water to his village will continue into the future thanks to gifts like yours.”
Include a mix of virtual and in-person touchpoints:
- Personally deliver annual reports to legacy society members with notes of gratitude from your team and/or leadership. Ahead of time, tab the pages that show they made a difference.
- Invite them on facility or programming tours as part of an exclusive group of donors who have created a planned gift.
- Think outside the box. For example, if your organization offers theatre or arts programs, have participants create a small gift of appreciation or perform a thank-you skit. Record and send to legacy society members.
Host “get-to-know-you” events:
Get your legacy members and recipients together. Try a lunch; perhaps a family-style picnic on your organization’s grounds, program site or facility. Make it joyous, fun and stress-free; simply a time to gather, so donors can put a face to their gift. Like we said, have some fun. Try these ideas.
- Pair donors and recipients for a scavenger hunt that highlights donors’ gifts in action (e.g., lifesaving equipment purchased, or food pantries expanded).
- Make a donor treasure map with points of interest as another way donors can see their impact. End at a treasure chest where donors get an appropriate and meaningful thank-you gift from recipients.
2025 Is the Year…
An active and energized legacy society strengthens the bond between your organization and planned giving donors. It becomes another “person” on your team or an extension of you. Have other thoughts on reviving a legacy society? Perk us up by sharing them below.