How to Emphasize Blended Gifts in Your Fundraising

Historically, planned gift officers have focused their engagement exclusively on planned gifts. In doing so, they have operated their portfolios with the hope of employing the best planned gift techniques possible to lead to large estate-type gifts. In many cases, where institutional prospects had the capacity for both major and planned gifts, development organizations had to deal with confusion, duplication and conflict between a major and a planned gift officer when dealing with portfolio assignments and gift strategy. 

Major and planned gift officers follow fundraising processes with prospects and donors to identify, cultivate, solicit and steward prospects, leading to new and increased gifts over time, as their relationship deepens with donors. Many activities between major gifts and planned gift officers remain the same, while obvious differences come into play due to the type of gift sought.

Major gift officers solely sought donors with the capacity to make major gifts, and planned gift officers focused on prospects with the result being a planned gift. Each role represents a singular but important function in the generation of significant revenue for organizations. Major gifts are cash-equivalent gifts given over a donor’s lifetime, while planned gifts involve assets and can be revocable or irrevocable. A bequest, for example, does not come into play until the death of the donor. 

Thinking of a prospect with the possibility of a blended, major/planned gift, or a cash/asset scenario, may not have been introduced to all fundraising professionals as part of their fundraising program. 

The Blended Gifts Fundraising Strategy

The term “blended gift” is the future of gift planning. It joins major gifts with planned gifts for an exciting donor opportunity. Instead of having only one avenue of giving to consider, a prospect can consider two types of gift offerings in one request. When approached in a holistic way, prospects and donors love the fact that an organization is thinking in a short- and long-term strategic way, while looking out for the donor’s broader interests. 

A blended gift includes a combination of cash and other assets, such as bequests, charitable gift annuities, life insurance, real estate, retirement funds and stock. This concept can be used to provide a prospect with an expanded idea of how their gifts can be used to create a maximum effect. 

The blended gift concept needs to become the foundation of a fundraising strategic plan. It helps the charity and the donor. Here are three steps to prepare your organization to ask for blended gifts.

1. Qualify Your Donors

To begin the blended gift engagement, use your database to qualify your donors and determine their gift capacity. Seek to prioritize donors on a variety of variables. Determine which donors in your portfolio should be solicited first using the blended gift strategy. Make sure you are continuously improving communication and relationships with your donors. Use your time wisely to maximize your return on investment (ROI.) Not every prospect is the best candidate for this strategy.

2. Create a Blended Gift Strategy

The concept of blended gifts involves a dual-solicitation strategy between major and planned gift officers. It is meant to maximize and transform donor aspirations, while improving development staff performance. Development professionals need to develop a solicitation mentality that reshapes their approach to donor asks — now viewed in a broader perspective. What is important for this blended-gift concept to work is to understand the prospects’ or donors’ assets, personal and family long-term needs and their giving preferences and priorities. 

Fundraisers also need to have portfolios where select donors can make annual, major and planned gifts simultaneously in one ask. Blended gifts address a variety of donor objectives, including those that are philanthropic, financial and personal in nature. Blended gifts change the giving process from transactional to transformational through personalized philanthropy, a process of combining donor interests plus personal financial situations with compelling institutional needs. 

Have your major gift officers think in terms of utilizing planned giving concepts and your planned gift officers think about securing gifts using major gift concepts. This can happen with a blended-gift ask approach, but will not completely work unless you develop a strong development program, excellent institutional finance and accounting program, and complete organizational leadership support of short- and long-term fundraising priorities to enhance your mission. 

Joint training between major gift officers and planned gift officers is critical to the success of this concept. Both types of officers need to know how major gifts and planned gifts work in their organization, and how they can be combined for maximum effectiveness. Priorities for organizational fundraising need to be sharpened. The introduction of legacy gifts and endowments must be a focal point for the development program. Educate staff, board, and volunteers on the importance of long-term gifts. Blended gifts represent the future of legacy giving.

3. Engage Your Donor

Ultimate success with this strategy depends on the degree of relationship with the prospect. Is the prospect open to have a personal conversation about their dreams for the organization and share their willingness to discuss their personal financial situation. This type of true engagement occurs when a potential donor feels you are doing something for them, not just asking for money. 

This exchange happens when you meet donors face to face, send them birthday cards, give them random yet personal thank-you notes or gifts and constantly make them feel special. It is not what you say but what you do to make sure this engagement turns into a strong relationship over time. With a planned gift typically involved in a blended-gift scenario, your intention is to make sure your organization has a lasting bond throughout the life of the donor.

A Blended Gift Success Story

The blended gift technique combines current gifts into a long-term estate gift plan while using planned gifts through endowments, which keeps gift plans in place for perpetuity. I used a blended gift technique to secure a multimillion-dollar gift years ago, when a donor agreed to make cash gifts initially with the final gift being a planned gift. 

I was fortunate to work at an institution that included a hospital foundation where the board of directors committed to providing assistance with lead generation, cultivation and solicitation for major, principal and planned gifts. I realized through research and luck that a board member, who as a wealth adviser, had a remarkably close connection with a woman who regularly attended organizational events through the years. This woman also cared for a wealthy prospect and loved the organization. 

I asked for a visit with the board member and the woman to discuss a strategy for soliciting the wealthy prospect. We rehearsed the ask before the three of us met with the prospect. I introduced a blended-gift concept for the prospect to consider, which helped secure a multimillion-dollar gift.

This gift was intended for capital (building landscape) and endowment (to maintain the landscape) purposes, which fit exactly with the donors’ dreams and interests. That strategy increased the size of the initial gift intention and provided the idea of a legacy in memory of his wife. The donor began to make cash gifts to underwrite the capital project and seed an endowment fund, which was fully funded through a multimillion-dollar bequest after his passing. 

The blended-gift program’s success depends upon a high level of staff commitment, knowledge and willingness to implement this concept. If you want to see greater financial returns and lifelong engagement of your donors, emphasize blended gifts in your fundraising arsenal.

The preceding blog was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.