How to Ask Donors About Legacy Gifts

Key Takeaways

• Prompting Works: Less than 6% of the population includes a charitable gift in their will unprompted, but up to 1 in 3 Americans state they would consider it if they were asked.
• The Right Framing: Using "death language" severely depresses donor engagement, while focusing on a "legacy" or "will" frames the action as an empowering opportunity.
• Demographics Matter: Single donors contribute 62% of planned giving dollars, and childless donors generate 64% of total planned giving funds.
• Annual Giving Boost: Securing a legacy gift does not cannibalize current giving. After a donor formally adds a charity to their estate plan, their annual current giving to that same organization increases by an average of 77%. 

Why "Asking" Is the Wrong Mental Model

Legacy gift conversations perform best when they are reframed away from "asking" entirely. A cash gift ask requests something the donor does not yet have committed, meaning it competes directly with their current budget. A legacy gift, on the other hand, typically does not cost the donor anything today. It's a decision about a future estate, not a request against current liquid resources.

This is crucial because 97.7% of household wealth in the United States is held in non-cash assets like real estate and retirement accounts, leaving only 2.3% in cash and checkable accounts.

The organizations that do this well talk about planned giving less like fundraising and more like sharing an option the donor may not know exists.

When to Introduce the Idea

Where to Introduce It (Beyond Direct Conversation)

Sample Legacy Giving Language That Works

The most effective language tends to be informational rather than persuasive. Here are a few examples of the kinds of tones that work well:

• "We know estate planning is personal, and we're not asking you to decide anything today. We just want you to know the option exists whenever it might be useful to you."
• "Many of our supporters choose to include [Organization] in their will. If that's something you would consider, it's simple to do online."
• "Including a cause in your will costs nothing today, but it is one of the most meaningful ways supporters like you have shaped our future."

Each of these blurbs shares information rather than requesting an immediate decision. 

Importantly, avoid suggesting arbitrarily small percentages like 1% or 2% in your scripts. Behavioral economics experiments show that suggesting small estate percentages significantly decreases the intended amount and can negatively impact the likelihood of making the gift at all.

What NOT to Say, Regarding Planned Giving

A few patterns consistently work against a legacy gift conversation. Here are a few things you'll want to avoid in order to generate the best results.

• Mortality-Forward Framing: Language that leans heavily on death or phrases like "before it is too late" tends to feel alarming rather than empowering. Dr. Russell James's experiments reveal that 'death language' triggers mortality salience and psychological avoidance, which severely depresses engagement.
• Urgency Language: Legacy decisions are rarely made under time pressure, and pushing urgency tends to create discomfort rather than drive involvement.
• Treating It Like a Major Cash Ask: Legacy gifts perform better with a lighter touch than a formal major-donor solicitation.
• Assuming Only Wealthy Donors Are Candidates: Overlooking average earners is a massive mistake. When provided with an accessible, free way to make planned gifts, many will-makers with less than $200,000 in assets still choose to make bequest commitments. 

Tips for Handling Hesitation Without Pressure

What Happens After a Donor Says "Yes!"

The moment a donor indicates a legacy gift intention is a stewardship moment, not the end of the conversation. The average planned gift takes between 7 and 10 years to realize from the moment of initial commitment to the actual receipt of funds. Furthermore, the 10-year retention rate of a charitable estate component is approximately 55% among adults over the age of 55.

Because bequests are generally revocable, you must continue to steward the relationship actively. Unfortunately, 64% of legacy pledgers never notify the charity that they have included their organization within their will.

Providing donors with a digital platform to document their gift solves this issue. On tech-enabled platforms, 67% of donors opt in to share their contact information and specific gift details with the nonprofit, leading to greater visibility and better relationship-building.

Frequently Asked Questions