One of the most interesting parts of planned giving is that you never know what is going to happen! Planned gifts will surprise you. In an earlier blog, I talked about the planned gift that I DIDN’T accept. That was not even close to the most interesting gift that I ever received.
And this one isn’t either. But it was something I never expected.
Normally, a planned gift is from the estate of one person. But what would happen if it were from more than one person? Well, I found out!
A letter appeared in my mailbox from an attorney regarding my organization being named as the beneficiary of a gift in an estate. We had never heard of this person. Calling the lawyer, he explained that we were actually the sole beneficiary of the estate.
The process was in its early stages, and within about six months, we would have more information about the resolution timing. The attorney gave me a ballpark of the estate and asked me to check in with him in three months to gauge the progress. A house needed to be sold, stock certificates found, and other odds and ends were ongoing.
When I called after three months, there was some surprising news. The person who passed, his mom passed as well, a few weeks after I spoke to the attorney. Because her son was her sole heir, the money from her estate flowed into his estate.
This created a whole new layer of complexity, and the payout was delayed to complete his mom’s estate before the lawyer could finalize his estate. During the course of my travels, I had dinner with the attorney and the executor, a family friend. The first payout was equal to his original estimate.
Eventually, both estates were finalized, and we received a much larger gift than was ever expected. You really never know what will happen with a planned gift. Buckle up and get ready!
michael@lifelegacy.io
Retaining donors is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. Learn practical strategies nonprofits can use to improve donor retention and grow sustainably.
If you need a single, compelling reason to prioritize planned giving this year, here it is: around 46 billion dollars flows to charities every year through bequests. In fact, the latest Giving USA numbers show that bequests in 2024 totaled about $45.84 billion—roughly 8% of all U.S. charitable giving for the year. That’s not a rounding error; it’s a transformative funding stream your mission can’t afford to ignore.
Identifying the best donor personas for planned giving is all about understanding who is most likely to make long-term, legacy-based contributions—and why. These donors aren’t just generous; they’re deeply aligned with your mission and often thinking about the impact they’ll leave behind. Here’s how to pinpoint them:
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