Planned Giving Basics: Recognizing the Gift in Front of You
Bequests, beneficiary designations, and the signals a long-time donor sends; how to respond with gratitude and refer well. The gift most shops miss because nobody in year one was told to look.
Through the Human Services lens
This module opens with the shape every human-services shop eventually lives: a letter from a lawyer, a donor who gave thirty-five dollars a year for decades, and nobody who ever visited or thanked her properly. That story is close to the norm in this sector, since a one-person shop's attention naturally goes to this month's grant deadline and this week's intake line, leaving the loyalty list untouched for years. The signals worksheet's hour of work, run against a food bank or shelter's own donor history, usually turns up more legacy-ready names than the organization's entire current major-gifts pipeline, because loyalty at this scale has been accumulating quietly the whole time nobody was looking.
Continuing education
1.00 points
Securing the Gift · Relationship Building
Learning objectives
- Explain what a planned gift is, why bequests are the largest gifts most organizations ever receive, and why loyalty matters more than wealth in identifying them.
- Describe bequests and beneficiary designations in plain terms, including what the donor does, what the organization does, and what neither should say about tax.
- Respond to a donor who mentions a legacy intention with gratitude, record it correctly, and refer the conversation to the right person.
- Read the organization's file for the signals of legacy readiness and produce a short list for the ED.
Designed for CFRE continuing education. Not yet accepted; no CFRE points can be claimed.
Lessons
- 16 min
Video lesson
The gift in front of you
II See · Securing the Gift
- 16 min
Field guide· PDF
Bequests and beneficiary designations, in plain terms
V Receive · Securing the Gift
- 16 min
Template· DOCX
Legacy response letters and the referral note
V Receive · Relationship Building
- 14 min
Worksheet· XLSX
Signals worksheet: reading your file for legacy readiness
VI Accompany · Relationship Building
This is members-only material.
Members get every lesson, template, and worksheet in all eight tracks, plus the support to put them to work in your shop.
More in this stage
Fundamentals & Ethics
How Fundraising Works
The map you weren't given: where the money comes from, why people give, and what a development program is made of.
Major & Principal Gifts
Your First Donor Conversations
Scripts, practice, and nerve for the conversations that fund your mission: discovery visits, thank-you calls, and your first ask.
Annual Giving & Direct Response
The Annual Fund, Explained
Appeals, segments, and the giving calendar: how recurring annual revenue gets built, one season at a time.