Gift Planning (more commonly known as planned giving) is an area of fundraising that refers to several specific gift types that can be funded with cash, equity, or property. About 40% of educational institutions use the term gift planning, and about 99% of financial advisors use the words planned giving. (Read why financial advisors are becoming more involved in the planned giving world.)

Planned gifts are referred to as such because they require more planning, negotiation and counsel than many other gifts. Planned gifts can result in immediate income, income to charity over time or serve to delay a gift for life or other period of time while the donor or others retain income and/or access to the assets used to fund the gift. Because of the current or future charitable benefits, a number of state and/or federal income tax, capital gains, estate and gift benefits are associated with giving in this way.

Efforts to encourage planned gifts are popular among thousands of colleges, universities, hospitals, museums and community foundations in the United States. Funds generated through planned gifts are devoted to current funding needs as well as capital projects and endowments. Currently PlannedGiving.Com serves over 2,000 such nonprofits.

Reports published during and after the Great Depression of the 1930s indicate that planned gifts provided a higher percentage of philanthropic dollars than in times of economic prosperity. Every nonprofit should be pursuing planned giving.

This page is a mile deep. Lot's of downloads here which all point to PlannedGiving.Net. Think of this page as the Legal Zoom of the planned giving community.

Read through this page and bookmark it. We guarantee you will need it sooner or later.

The first three products below are delivered via US. Mail.

Planned Giving Pocket Guide

The Ultimate Quick Reference Planned Giving Pocket Guide is our most popular product. Over 4,000 sold. 's not another ways-of-giving brochure — it's a "why's of giving" that helps you better understand the upside and downside of different giving options for both you and your prospects. More.

Pocket Guide for Board Members

This Pocket Guide for Board Members Informs your board members, volunteers, and philanthropists about planned gifts in clear, non-technical language. It's a great "touch" piece, giveaway at board meetings, or even for newbies among your staff. Hand them out to Annual Giving folks as well. More.

Planned Giving Tomorrow (free)

Planned Giving is about Tomorrow. Our publication includes timely articles on planned giving, major gifts, philanthropy, self-improvement, finance, relationships with donors, how to negotiate, and more. Submit an article for publication. If chosen for the cover, you’ll receive $250 and you’ll get your name out to over 15,000 planned giving and major gifts officers and CEOs.

Not to be confused with another publication serving a different purpose called Planned Giving Today.

Sign up here for free.  Past issues.

Toolkits

Most Toolkits are in MS Word and PDFs, but some include graphic layouts in Adobe InDesign. The latter are ready-to-go templates that will only need minor modifications. More.

Estate Planning Guide and Toolkit

This is not for you. It is for you to give out to donors. Remind them that a vast majority of American pass away without a will or an estate plan. This Toolkit will educate them how to begin. Includes a Will Kit to gather information before they meet with an attorney. Have a list of 5 estate planning attorneys from the area to make their life easier.

These two fully customized booklets are provided to you in PDF. We can also have them professionally printed. A popular item has been distributing them on thumbdrives. More.

Bequest Toolkit 

Bequests are the most popular gifts. All the materials you need to get started. Includes acknowledgement letters, forms and more. Files in MS Word and a couple in Adobe InDesign. More.

Consider a more powerful marketing tool: Beneficiary Designations Toolkit.

Charitable Gift Annuity Toolkit 

Donors love Charitable Gift Annuities (CGAs) because it’s the gift that provides income for life. With every check they receive they will be reminded to make another gift. More.

Consider our CGA Marketing Campaign — an advanced product that comes with landing pages, direct mail, and complete metrics.

IRA Rollover Toolkit

IRA Charitable Rollover gifts have been permanently extended. Everything you need is included in this toolkit. More.

Year-End Giving Toolkit

Great time to nudge your donors for a last-minute gift. But prepare early… year end creeps up fast. More.

Get Your Board on Board

Board meeting coming up and you have nothing to say? This will get you more than started. Covers facts, myths, misconceptions and more. More.

Content, Documents and Articles

This section may look overwhelming, but it’s really not. Take 5 minutes to get accustomed to filtering and search tools and you will be on your way.

All documents are in Microsoft Word.  Some can be used for multiple and cross media. More.

Planned Giving Postcard Templates

Templates are hot because they are already graphically designed! Literally save over 85% in direct mail. These are ready-made, pre-designed templates in Adobe InDesign. All you need to do is replace a few pictures, your name and your logo and get them printed. If you do not have the time we can handle these services for you. It is called our white-glove treatment.

We are constantly adding to our vast library of templates. If you do not see it here, please call. More.

Copy, Content and Tools For the Smaller Non-Profit

Small shop or small non-profit? Start here.

Financial Articles 

We’ve all been there. You’ve got a newsletter or annual report almost ready to go... except for that darn hole. You’re out of ideas and crunched for time. You need something now. You need a filler article. Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. Topics include:

• Business Planning
• College
• Debt
• Estate Planning
• Finance
• Insurance of All Kinds
• Retirement
• Taxation

More.

Brochure Copy 

Content for almost any topic. Some even in Spanish. More.

Columns and Articles

Have a newsletter, alumni magazine, or annual report? Make sure to include a planned giving article in each. Some of the articles can also be edited for a brochure. More.

Year-End Giving

Six great articles on Year-End Giving. More.

Solicitation Letters 

These are general educational solicitation letters. They are a good place to start and will save you time and money. More.

Solicitation Letters With Intention Forms

Each solicitation has several sample opening paragraphs. We realize that there is no such thing as a perfect letter, but these will at least give you ideas and get you started. We have also included intention forms in Adobe InDesign that can be easily customized. And did we say they are beautifully designed? More.

Newsletter Copy

Still publishing a planned giving newsletter? Here is content you can use. More.

E-Brochures for Your Website

These are pre-designed and ready to go in Adobe InDesign. Swap out our stock photographs, place in your name and logo and address and you are set. 

In short, these are very handy ready-made templates. More.

Digital/Electronic Outreach 

These are landing pages and e-broadcasts. Purchase a-la-carte or all of them at a discount. In MS Word, not HTML. More.