Planned Giving 101

The 10 most important things 
to know about Planned Giving

New to planned giving? 
We can’t make you an expert in the next four minutes,
but these facts will get you halfway there in no time at all.

Why does SAFE encourage Planned Gifts?  For the reasons below and for many others, Planned Giving is a smart way to increase support for our mission and to secure the financial future of SAFE, ensuring our mission will continue for generations to come.  Planned Giving opens up opportunities for families and individuals to give creatively, increase their impact, and has many benefits for the donor.  Partnering with you, makes the work of SAFE possible.  

1. In the next two decades, Baby Boomers will leave behind $35 trillion in assets. This is the largest wealth transfer in human history and may be the biggest opportunity for charitable giving to change the history of the world.

2. Planned giving donors generated $40 billion to support their favorite nonprofits in 2017 – an amount expected to double in the next decade based on changing demographics.

3. Nonprofits whose donors do it well generate up to one-third of their revenue to change lives through planned giving.

4. The most common type of planned gifts are “bequests”, which are gifts through a will or trust. More than 85% of planned gifts are bequests. Other types of planned gifts include IRA designations, real estate, appreciated securities, life insurance gifts, and more.

5. One of the biggest barriers to more planned giving is that many people don’t have any estate planning at all. Fewer than 50% of baby boomers have a will. Fewer than 40% of parents have one. (This isn’t good, for a whole bunch of reasons.)

6. The top reason people haven’t made a will (47%) is “I haven’t gotten around to it.”

7. Making it easy to make a will and asking for a gift in the right way increases planned giving 600%.  That's why we've partnered with FreeWill - to make it easy for everyone to make a will.  

8. People who leave bequests increase their annual giving by an average of 75% in subsequent years.

9. Everyone, no matter how large or small your assets, has the potential to make planned gifts! Research shows that our most loyal donors are the more likely prospects. 

10. Many people find they can give more by giving through a planned gift.  Bequests are up to 1,000 times larger than a typical donation. The average bequest is $69,000, often from middle-class donors. 

That’s it – welcome to the amazing world of planned giving! We hope you feel smarter already,
and we’re so excited to help you make the most of it.
CONTACT US Planned Gift Options
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