A Give & Take reader recently asked, “What would be a good educational piece to encourage donors to think about a broader range of giving options?”
We asked Senior Consultant Aviva Shiff Boedecker to share her thoughts in response to this question.
Boedecker: The Sharpe brochure “5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Gifts” and the booklet “Your Guide to Effective Giving in 2016” are among those that can be used to help donors as they are considering immediate gifts while introducing other gift planning concepts in a donor-friendly manner. “5 Ways” is also a good choice for enclosing in acknowledgments, especially cash gifts, for those who might have the capacity to make larger noncash gifts.
“Your Guide” can also be a good choice for use as year-end thank-you gift solicitations for major/regular donors, board members, etc., along with a note that says something like, “We appreciate your support and realize that you probably give to other organizations besides us. In appreciation, we are sharing information we hope will help you to make all your gifts this year end in the way that will be most efficient for you, in addition to making a difference for others.”
Sharpe offers a complete library of gift planning booklets that are professionally written and designed to inform, educate and motivate your donors about some of the most popular and effective ways to make charitable gifts.
Created by the industry’s most experienced team of writers, gift planners, graphic designers and technical experts, these booklets are excellent ways to provide additional information to interested donors and advisors and to promote various gift planning tools in targeted communications.
Many booklets also include technical advisory sections that feature additional information to help advisors assist their clients in the gift planning process. ■
Aviva Shiff Boedecker is a Sharpe Group Senior Consultant who has more than 30 years of experience as a director of planned giving. She is a past president of the Northern California Planned Giving Council and the Marin County Estate Planning Council. Aviva writes for many planned giving publications and is a frequent lecturer on gift planning. Aviva is an alumna of the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
