Editor’s Note:  The Planned Giving Pulse interviewed several industry leaders about the future of the planned giving industry. 

JUDITH E. NICHOLS, Ph.D., CFRE: Judith Nichols is a development practitioner, author and consultant with a variety of not-for-profit clients across the USA, Canada, Australia, South America, the United Kingdom, and Europe. She specializes in helping organizations understand the implications of changing demographics and psychographics on fundraising, marketing, and membership.

Planned Giving Pulse:  Where is the Planned Giving Industry Going in the Next Decade?  Does the next decade belong to gift planners?

Judith Nichols:  Generally I would say if we learn how to market planned giving it is very positive.  The reason I say that is that, in a sense, it is going to become the only way that people will make major gifts as longevity increases. 

In reality we have used methods for marketing planned giving which have appealed to a very small group.  94% of all planned gifts are straight bequests.  A lot of people aren’t interested in the methods we are promoting.  We have a long way to go.

Pulse:  What are Some of the Main Issues?

J.  Nichols:  A general criticism of fundraising is that we are focused on methodologies versus our audience.  For example, we keep hearing about the intergenerational transfer of wealth.  No one really knows what will become of that money.  The time to be marketing to get that money is now, when the adult children of that generation are not feeling particularly territorial about that money.  We need to market to the baby boomers and get them to give their parents permission to give us that money.  If people live another 20 or 30 years it’s going to be hard for them to give it to charity.  It’s one thing to give big charitable gifts when you don’t have the money in hand; it’s another when you have the money.

If properly marketed, planned giving can become the charitable mutual fund of the first half of the 21^st century.  There’s no reason why planned giving as a vehicle can’t become the responsible retirement vehicle of choice for a younger generation.

If you start looking at generation X, this is the prime age audience to talk to about a great way of building up money for your future – giving it to charity – knowing that down the road – whether its an annuity or trust – it’s going to pay you back.  We are not used to marketing to anyone who is not going to use our services within 10 years.  We need to educate people about marketing to younger potential donors.  It puts an ethical onus on charities to make sure their finances are in order long term.

I also think that some of our audiences of colour and immigrant audiences have been totally left out of the mix.  How do we approach different audiences without assuming that when we’re talking about planned giving, we’re talking about a million dollar trust.  The Archdiocese of Seattle did a great job in the ‘90s of making it possible for blue collar families in their 30s to make planned gifts.  They created a program where volunteer attorneys drew up simple wills for those families.  Ultimately, 28% of those having wills made up put the archdiocese in the will compared to 2% normally. 

I did a program in the ‘90s with Girl Scouts where, because we knew that the mothers of girl scouts tended to be baby boomer mothers, we sent a mailing out talking about them being caregivers to their own mothers, suggesting that a paid up home could assist them in paying for their aging parents’ care.

The reality is that nobody really knows how much wealth is transferring down and the assumption that 1/3 of that wealth will be given to charity automatically by the inheritors may be overly optimistic.  I don’t think it’s just going to fall into our hands.  The question is what kind of communication are we really doing with the audience who is going to leave the money and those who are going to receive (boomer and buster audiences), which is going to make both sides feel this is what they want to do.

Pulse:  What other issues do you think gift planners will face in the future?

J. Nichols:  One of the main issues for the future is ethics.  It’s important that we are making sure that we understand our obligation to donors.  Planned giving is going to take a much longer span of years over the 20^th century.  That creates issues for us.  For example, smaller grassroots organizations – should they administer planned giving directly or do it through a community foundation or some other vehicle.  How would they handle it if they were given such a trust?  

Pulse:  What can be done to address these issues?

J. Nichols:  Professionals and their gatekeepers need to get a dialogue going between the philanthropy community and the general public.  I don’t think planned giving is well understood by fundraising professionals or the public.  Planned giving needs to be integrated into all fundraising – after all - it’s the same donors.

I think we made some good strides with the Leave A Legacy campaign, but there is marketing that needs to go on 365 days a year and be ongoing because the potential audience is changing.