Role of Planned Giving Grows in Today’s Economy
Article The importance of planned giving in educational advancement has grown significantly since the so-called “Great Recession,” said a trio of expert practitioners at a recent CASE conference.

Taking LGBT Fundraising and Engagement Strategies Out of the Closet
Product This webinar looks at strategies and planned gift initiatives that will serve, engage and increase giving from lesbian, gay, bi and transgendered alumni. This multimedia file is a recording of a webinar presented Dec. 13, 2012.

Stewarding the Ultimate Gift
CURRENTS Article Medical schools hold memorial services to honor donations to anatomy programs.

Power of Legacy and Planned Gifts: How Nonprofits and Donors Work Together to Change the World
Product This book presents a multi-stage process to help small and mid-sized institutions undertake a planned giving effort. Topics include four steps to creating a stream of gifts, setting the stage for legacy gifts, integrating legacy gifts into daily work, gift tools and transparency and ethics. Includes exercises, figures, worksheets and tables to help guide the reader.

Key Decisions: Women and Estate Planning
Product This webinar examines how to work successfully with female donors. In includes information on best practices in discussing estate planning with women, what the donor tells her attorney about the gift after the fundraiser leaves the room, and how to manage the conversations and the challenges unique to female philanthropists. This recorded webinar is part 2 of a two-part series presented in partnership with the Women's Philanthropy Institute at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. It was originally presented May 19, 2011.

Major Gifts in 2011 and Beyond
Product This webinar discusses the new tax environment, which has created immense opportunities for major gifts for capital campaigns, major gifts programs and endowment campaigns. The speaker discusses how organizations can benefit from this situation and help donors increase their giving. This multimedia file is a recording of a webinar originally presented Feb. 17, 2011.

Gift Planning in 2011 and Beyond
Product This webinar presents storytelling is the single most powerful communication tool that any advancement professional possesses. Participants learn specific ways to use stories to effectively engage an audience, inspire action and advance an organization's mission. This multimedia file is a recording of a webinar originally presented Feb. 10, 2011.

Establishing a Planned Giving Program
Dean Regenovich for the School of Philanthropy at Indiana University
Article This article, pre-course reading for the School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, discusses factors that contribute to institutional readiness for a planned giving program, gift options, marketing the program, and prospect identification.

Bizarre Bequests and Strange Scholarships
CURRENTS Article The National Scholarship Research Service gathers data annually on some 250,000 scholarships. This story is about the 1 percent of those that are quite unusual, even silly.

Keys to a Fruitful Future
CURRENTS Article Planned giving experts discuss the strategies and vehicles that can be particularly successful during a recession.

Down Economy is Prime Time for Planned Giving Strategies
Article If there has ever been a time that challenged educational fundraisers, this is it—thanks in large part to the recent volatility in the financial sector.

How to Raise Planned Gifts by Mail
Product This book dicusses how effective direct mail can fan the flame of donor interest in making a planned gift. The author discusses how to increase the return on direct mail efforts by focusing on the quality of the mail list, the content of the appeal and the design or format of the piece--in that order.

Principal, Major, and Special Giving Programs: Berry College - Silver Medal
Best Practice Berry College set a campaign goal to add 172 new members to the Berry Heritage Society, a recognition society for those who make planned gift provisions in their will. As Berry entered the campaign's final year (FY 2005-06), 42 new members were needed to reach the goal. An initiative to overhaul the entire planned giving program was launched. The "Leave a Legacy" initiative resulted in comprehensive program improvements and 45 new Heritage Society members.

Advance Work: A Will to Give
CURRENTS Article If older alumni and donors are your bequest prospects, you might want to lower your age range, according to a recent report on the topic.

Establishing and Developing a Planned Giving Program
Product This webinar focuses on Kirkwood Community College's planned giving program, which was launched in 1994 with one full-time staff person dedicated to planned giving and raised more than $14 million in expectancies and realized gifts in 13 years. The presentation looks at a planned giving as a source of long-term private support for community colleges, independent schools and other smaller organizations. This multimedia file is a recording of a webinar originally presented in 2007.

Independent School Advancement: Deferred Giving
Product This guide is an overview of deferred giving techniques and best practices for those who are planning to launch a formal program or just looking for new ideas, written by a seasoned colleague who understands the constraints on independent school time and budgets. This is part of the Independent School Advancement series.

Community College Advancement: Planned Giving
Product This guide walks the reader through planned giving programs at four community colleges, covering how and why they got started, how they've been successful and where they are headed. The authors discuss their own institution’s program in the greatest detail, focusing on Kirkwood Community College’s initial efforts and current practices. A look at the other institutions provides additional approaches and philosophies. Includes the full text of Kirkwood’s fundraising standards, gift policies, investment policy and more. This is one of a series of electronic papers written for and by community college development professionals. The series covers annual giving, planned giving, total resource development, public-private partnerships and the role of the president in advancement.

Motive Operandi
CURRENTS Article Author Cindy Sterling conducted research concerning gender differences in planned giving at small liberal arts colleges in the Northeast. Among other things, Sterling quantifies the amounts and types of planned gifts women and men make, explains why women made their giving choices, and suggests strategies planned giving officers can use to strengthen their solicitation efforts. A sidebar identifies key planned giving terms with which all development officers should be familiar.

AdvanceWork: Managed Philanthropy
CURRENTS Article Last fall the U.S. Internal Revenue Service approved a new planned giving vehicle that allows donors to manage how their gifts are invested for up to 10 years. Developed by Winklevoss Consultants, the Donor Managed Investment Account program will likely appeal to donors seeking flexibility, accountability, and control in their giving.

Give and Let Give
CURRENTS Article Charitable gift annuities are a great tool for shepherding planned gifts to an institution, but unfortunately, few people fully understand how they work. The author, a director of gift and estate planning with 19 years of banking experience, explains the basic structure of a charitable gift annuity, predicts the future giving habits of CGA donors, and offers guidelines for marketing the CGA option to prospects.

AdvanceWork: Planned Giving Gets a Boost
CURRENTS Article A new alliance of American, Canadian, and European planned giving organizations is providing support to fund raisers around the world as they seek to launch new planned giving groups or improve cultural understanding and government support of charitable giving.

Seeing the Light
CURRENTS Article An informal online survey of more than 30 development veterans offers strategies for building and sustaining support despite a recession, problems with the stock market and state and federal budgets, and military actions. Advice includes continuing to conduct asks of leadership prospects, emphasizing the value of the institution’s mission, focusing on the most resonant priorities, and promoting creative forms of giving. This article is of interest to campaign and major gift fund raisers.

AdvanceWork: The Power of Planned Giving
CURRENTS Article Debunk these five common misconceptions to gear up this valuable area of development

Classic CURRENTS: Planned Giving
Product A collection of CURRENTS articles explains how to recognize a donor's needs and respond with the right planned giving strategy; develop and implement marketing efforts that make an impact; strengthen staff and programs by hiring professionals with the right blend of skills and expertise; and manage trusts to balance the needs of a business office and donors.

A Big Plan for Small-Office Planned Giving
CURRENTS Article Coppes, a consultant who specializes in independent school planned-giving programs, offers advice for small development offices getting started in planned giving. Important steps include: 1) Articulate how major gifts fit into your institution's mission and vision. 2) Create a budget. 3) Get CEO commitment and board approval. 4) Hire a planned-giving adviser. 5) Identify potential givers and recruit a leadership team. 6) Adopt planned-giving policies and guidelines. 7) Coordinate plans with the business office. 8) Create a planned-giving society. 9) Create a marketing plan, newsletter, and other support materials. 10) Work planned giving into your major gift cultivation process. 11) Make personal visits. 12) Ask for gifts, but don't push. 13) Create a stewardship plan. 14) Organize, delegate, and follow up.

Eternal Gratitude
CURRENTS Article Effective planned-gift recognition and stewardship can prevent donors from changing revocable gifts and help cultivate future planned and outright gifts. An initial problem is identifying planned-gift donors, who sometimes do not wish to make their plans known. Once you do identify them, you can thank them with personal visits, letters, or phone calls; by maintaining personal contact; by developing a planned-gift recognition society; by offering token thank-you gifts; by conducting special events for planned-gift donors; and by naming them in publications. For donors of life-income gifts, mail checks with a personal cover letter and conduct periodic "customer satisfaction" surveys. Endowment givers should receive annual letters from the beneficiaries of their gifts and be invited to annual endowment appreciation events.

Planned Giving Simplified: The Gift, the Giver, and the Gift Planner
Product A charitable gift planning expert defines a planned gift, explains why a planned giving program is necessary and how it will benefit the institution, estimates what it will cost and when it will pay off, and describes how it will fit into the overall mission of the institution.

Art of Planned Giving: Understanding Donors and the Culture of Giving
Product This book looks at planned giving through personal insights and level-headed advice and will help the reader understand, develop and use interpersonal skills that are essential to every planned giving officer.