Planned giving is more than a financial strategy—it’s a cornerstone of long-term sustainability for nonprofits. Over $84 trillion is expected to transfer between generations by 2045, with $12 trillion earmarked for charitable causes. Yet, only 5.3% of U.S. households currently include a charitable gift in their estate plan, leaving an enormous opportunity for nonprofits to secure transformational gifts that can support their mission for decades.
By engaging donors in planned giving conversations, you foster deeper connections and ensure your organization becomes a meaningful part of their legacy. Using tools and education to demystify estate planning can make it accessible and compelling for supporters, opening doors to this untapped potential.
The key to unlocking this opportunity starts with understanding your donors. By evaluating donor data in your CRM—such as identifying recurring donors or those with a long history of giving—you can pinpoint the supporters most likely to include your organization in their legacy plans. This responsive, data-driven approach strengthens relationships and ensures you’re prioritizing conversations with donors already deeply invested in your mission. The question isn’t whether to focus on planned giving—it’s whether you’re ready to act on the unprecedented potential to move your mission forward.
In the world of fundraising, it’s easy to find yourself juggling multiple platforms—one for marketing, another for event management, prospecting, volunteer coordination, and more. The problem? These tools rarely talk to one another, creating knowledge silos and inefficiencies.
Here’s the truth: Fundraising success hinges on connection. An integrated experience eliminates inefficiencies and empowers you to respond to donors’ needs with precision. This is especially true for planned giving, where understanding donor behavior is key to identifying and cultivating legacy gifts.
Imagine tools that seamlessly communicate, providing a clear, consolidated view of your donor data—pinpointing recurring donors or loyal supporters most likely to consider planned giving.
That’s why LifeLegacy’s Giving Suite, fully integrated with Virtuous, changes the game. No more silos. No more guesswork. Just smarter fundraising connected to your planned giving program. So, ask yourself (if you’re not using Virtuous): Can your CRM do this?
A Connected Planned Giving Approach
LifeLegacy ensures nonprofits never miss a planned gift. In the last year, LifeLegacy has helped organizations secure hundreds of millions of dollars in pledged gifts while tailoring our tools to fit your unique needs.
But what makes LifeLegacy truly stand out is our integration capability. We don’t just offer customizable, affordable tools—we offer tools that talk to your CRM.
With LifeLegacy’s Giving Suite, nonprofits gain access to a turnkey solution: an online will, QCD tool, gift intention tracker, DAF/Stock/Crypto options, and even a marketing playbook—all seamlessly integrated with Virtuous.
Goodbye, data silos. Hello, effortless planned giving fundraising.
Why a Connected Approach to Planned Giving Matters
The Great Wealth Transfer is here. Over $84 trillion in assets will pass to younger generations in the coming decades, with an estimated 14% destined for philanthropy. If your organization isn’t prepared to facilitate planned gifts, you risk being left behind.
Consider this: 95% of donor wealth is tied up in assets—not cash. Having an integrated planned giving tool like LifeLegacy, paired with Virtuous, ensures you can identify, organize, and steward these transformative gifts. This isn’t just an opportunity—it’s a necessity for long-term financial stability and mission growth.
How a Responsive Approach to Planned Giving Saved an Org
In 2018, Michael Bittel’s organization’s fundraising events fell short by $650,000, and the entire team felt the pressure of such a significant gap. As the year drew to a close, they were unsure how they would make up the deficit—until December 18th, when their organization received notification of a $683,000 planned gift. Michael and the team knew they were in the donor’s estate plans but had no idea of the magnitude of the gift. If you ask Michael, he’ll tell you how he’ll never forget calling my boss that day to share the incredible news: the deficit was covered. It was one of the most rewarding moments of his fundraising career.
However, that experience was the turning point for their organization. It highlighted the importance of a connected and responsive approach to fundraising. By integrating tools like LifeLegacy’s Giving Suite, their nonprofit gained better visibility into planned gift commitments and the ability to facilitate those gifts more seamlessly. This shift allowed their organization to not only respond to fundraising ebbs and flows more effectively but also build a stronger, more informed strategy to ensure our mission remains sustainable for the long term.
Get Your Data in One Place in 30 Seconds
Adding new platforms to your fundraising toolkit can often feel like creating more silos—data stuck in one place, inaccessible when you need it most. But with LifeLegacy and Virtuous, your tools and data work together seamlessly. No more platform hopping or piecing together scattered information. Instead, you get a single source of truth that saves time and keeps your focus where it belongs: on your donors.
Why does this matter for planned giving? Research shows that donors who include planned gifts in their estate plans give an average of 3x more over their lifetime compared to those who only give annually. Ensuring that planned giving data is readily available within your CRM empowers you to nurture these relationships with ease and efficiency.
Here’s how it works:
- Simple Setup: Just copy and paste your Virtuous API key into LifeLegacy’s Giving Suite. That’s it. You’re connected in less than 30 seconds.
- Seamless Data Syncing: Donor records in Virtuous are updated with planned giving details automatically. If a record doesn’t exist, LifeLegacy creates one for you, complete with donor info, planned gift amounts, and more.
- Real-Time Insights: As soon as a gift is made on LifeLegacy, you instantly see donor names, gift sizes, and contact info in Virtuous.
- Data You Can Act On: Donors with planned gifts are 50% more likely to engage with personalized stewardship campaigns. With this integration, you’ll always have up-to-date insights, enabling you to tailor your outreach and maximize donor engagement.
With LifeLegacy and Virtuous, you’re not just saving time—you’re amplifying your impact. By eliminating manual data entry, you can focus on what matters most: cultivating donor relationships and growing your mission.
Your fundraising toolkit should work for you, not create more work.
A connected fundraising ecosystem means less time wrestling with data and more time building donor relationships. Can your CRM deliver that?
The CRM That Keeps You Ahead
Responsive Fundraising is at the heart of Virtuous. Responsive Fundraising helps increase planned giving by fostering deeper donor relationships through personalized engagement and timely communication. By understanding donors’ values, interests, and giving behaviors, nonprofits can build trust and demonstrate long-term impact, making supporters more inclined to include the organization in their estate plans. Using data-driven insights with Virtuous, nonprofits can identify and nurture potential planned giving donors, ensuring they receive relevant messaging at the right moments.
Ready to Become a More Responsive Fundraiser?
In today’s competitive fundraising landscape, integration is no longer optional. It’s the key to being a responsive, strategic, and impactful fundraiser. Tools like LifeLegacy’s Giving Suite and Virtuous empower you to elevate your fundraising strategy (planned giving in this use case) without adding to your workload or taking away from mission-critical funds.
Take the next step. Let us show you how integration can transform your fundraising efforts by talking to our team of responsive fundraising experts. It’s the best way to fulfill the vision of your mission.
