Being new to planned giving can be overwhelming. Here are some tips to get you started in your new role.
1. How will you measure your success? It’s important to establish realistic goals for yourself so you can communicate these to your leadership. For instance, goals could be increasing your legacy society membership or securing planned giving commitments from board members.
2. Educate your colleagues about planned giving. Don’t forget to share your successes with other staff. This could be an update about a prospective donor, the story behind a recent bequest or a sample of a marketing mailing.
3. Results take time. People make planned gifts on their own timetables, which unfortunately do not have anything to do with the end of your fiscal year. And you may not see the response you expect from your planned giving mailings immediately because people often don’t act right away. Many times, people will put the information in their “estate planning file” to be reviewed later when they get around to doing their estate planning. Even then, they may not tell you about the gift ahead of time.
4. You don’t need to know all the technicalities. Relationship-building skills are more important to long-term success; a consultant in the mentor/coaching role can help with technical questions. Attending professional training as well as local and national conferences will allow you to begin to learn the “ins and outs” of planned giving while establishing important contacts and growing your professional network. ■
