Planned Giving: There’s More Opportunity Than You Think
By Fred Treuhaft & Sue Perlin
Universal Advisor, 2005 Issue No. 2


It’s no secret that a charitable organization’s success is directly related to the donations it receives. The good news is that most people want to contribute to charitable organizations and do; more often than not, however, these donations take the form of annual contributions. According to national statistics, very few people take advantage of another equally important way to support the worthy causes of their communities: planned giving.

Armed with this knowledge, Plante Moran Financial Advisors, coupled with the Toledo Area Planned Giving Council (TAPGC), recently commissioned Stanford H. Odesky and Associates to study attitudes and awareness related to planned giving in Northwest Ohio. Survey participants were more than 35 years old and earned more than $75,000 annually. And although the survey focused on people who live in Northwest Ohio communities, the results can be extrapolated to other communities as well.

Some of the results were expected; for example, it’s doubtful that anyone will be surprised to learn that mission and outcomes inspire donors or that long-term, meaningful relationships between charitable organizations and donors are crucial. However, there were a few surprises that charitable organizations and donors alike may find particularly insightful — donors, because they’ll benefit from knowing how others are contributing to their communities, and charitable organizations, because the results can help them better understand those that make their organizations’ successes possible, allowing them to fulfill their missions.

Planned Giving Is an Integrated Process

More than 90 percent of the respondents support one or more organizations with annual contributions. Nearly 15 percent of the respondents made charitable provisions in their estate for organizations they support annually; conversely, only 1 percent made provisions in their estate to include an organization to which they don’t give on an annual basis.

Younger Donors Make Planned Gifts, Too

When it comes to planned gifts, charities typically target older donors. According to the survey, however, the average age when a donor first includes a charity in an estate plan is 40. Charities that raise this younger group’s awareness of ways to make planned gifts through methods such as bequests, contingent beneficiary designations on life insurance, and retirement assets will grow their organizations’ planned giving expectancies in years to come.

Will Bequests Are Most Well-Known

Although there are a variety of ways to make planned gifts to charities, will bequests are by far the most well known, followed by charitable trusts, and charitable gift annuities. Only about half of the respondents were familiar with ways to make gifts from retirement plans, life insurance, and IRAs.

Advisors and Other Associates Have Minimal Influence

Half the time, respondents themselves initiated the first discussion about charitable gifts in the estate planning process, whereas advisors initiated discussion only 7 percent of the time. However, donor advisors are an important part of the estate and charitable planning process in designing and implementing the plan itself. Lawyers and financial advisors/planners rank as the top two most important advisors among professionals who plan gifts.

They Do It Because They Want To

What’s the number-one reason people give to charity? It’s not guilt; it’s not peer pressure. It may be related to a feeling of civic responsibility, but at the heart, the reason is simple: People want to. They want to help their communities; they want to know that their contributions are changing things for the better. At Plante & Moran, we walk the talk. Our culture supports strengthening the communities in which we live and work. To view the survey results in their entirety, go to http://www.plantemoran.com/services/fwa/documents/TAPGC_report_7_7_05.pdf. For more information on planned giving, contact Fred Treuhaft at 419.842.6116 or Sue Perlin at 248.223.3411.