Planned Giving in a Stewardship Parish

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Planned Giving in a Stewardship Parish

• Karen Cooper
• Richard Ely
• ICSC October 2005

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Questions before we begin

• How many from a parish that has
• a functioning planned giving program?
• had a stewardship program for X years?
• How many in a diocese with planned giving staff?
• How many in a diocese that has a foundation?

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Goals today

• Show you how planned giving fits with stewardship
  -- both for parishioners and the parish
• Convince you and equip you to convince others
  that planned giving is important
• Give you ideas about starting planned giving

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What we wont do today

• Talk about technical details of planned giving
  vehicles
• Talk about technical details of planned gift
  administration

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Also what we wont do
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What we hope we dont do
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Key concepts today

• Planned giving can have a powerful effect on
  peoples stewardship response -- a practical,
  tangible way of living out
• the individual persons call to stewardship
• the parishs own stewardship responsibilities
• Well talk about this as
• the individuals response
• the communitys response

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First, why is planned giving so important?
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Three reasons

• Place in overall stewardship picture, especially
  of treasure
• Significant advantages for donors and parishes
• Favorable economic conditions

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But, before we start
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What is planned giving?

• A planned gift is any gift for any amount given
  for any purpose -- operations, capital expansion
  or endowment -- whether for current or deferred
  use, if the assistance of a professional staff
  person, a qualified volunteer or the donor's
  advisors is necessary to complete the gift.
• Robert Sharpe, Jr.

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In addition,

• Any gift carefully considered by a donor in light
  of estate and financial plans
• Technique to extend opportunity to give from
  income rather than from assets
• Planned giving is based on the timing, intent and
  circumstances of the donor

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Planned giving ideas

• Things to give
• cash
• stocks and bonds
• real estate
• closely-held stock
• life insurance
• tangible personal property
• retirement plans

• Ways to give
• outright gifts
• bequests
• charitable remainder trusts
• charitable gift annuities
• pooled income funds
• charitable lead trusts
• bargain sales

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Gift planning opportunities

• Help people express their spirituality, values
  and regard for Church
• Often the only way to get a gift
• Help donors seize financial opportunities
• Can increase the size of a gift
• You can partner with donors
• Process is intensely donor-focused

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One caution

• Planned giving is a way to make a gift, NOT a
  reason to make a gift

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How does planned giving relate to stewardship?
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Who is a good steward?

• One who
• receives Gods gifts gratefully
• cherishes and tends them in a responsible and
  accountable manner
• shares them in justice and love with others
• returns them with increase to the Lord

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Our contention

• This description offers specific counsel
• for ones response to Gods activity in his or
  her life and
• for how one conducts his or her own unique faith
  journey
• for how a parish conducts its own affairs
• Helps address key planned giving and estate
  planning issues

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This description and planned giving
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Receive Gods gifts

• Everything we have is not solely ours --rather a
  gift that we receive from God
• what gifts have we received?
• only material gifts?
• what about our values?
• how grateful are we for all these gifts?
• what about grace, love, the sacraments and the
  life of the Church

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Cherish and tend

• Only about 42 of people have wills
• Do our parishioners have wills?
• Having a will is part of ones faith journey
• How do we nurture and proclaim our values?
• Accountability for our gifts
• Responsibility to use them

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Share

• Who are these others?
• Does justice extend beyond the family?
• Without a will, state law determines sharing
• Reflect on the needs and opportunities for
  sharing -- sharing not simply of resources but
  also of values

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Return with increase

• Legacies
• what values will we pass on?
• what causes will we support after we pass on?
• what statement do I make for others to hear?
• Lifetime planning required

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Legacies

• Our lives in the context of our faith are far
  richer
• How can we pass on greater gifts than those given
  to us
• Creating a legacy at death is as important as
  during life

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Overall

• Creating accountability and gratefulness for our
  wealth
• Not an accountability that mandates charitable
  giving
• Rather a mandate to use that wealth joyfully in a
  responsible manner vs. pray, pay and obey
• Make us more productive and caring members of
  civil society and our parishes

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How does planned giving fit in the world?
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Economic Conditions
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Total amount given to charity
248.52 billion in 2004
Source AAFRC, Giving USA 2005
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Sources of contributions (2004)
Source AAFRC, Giving USA 2005
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Uses of contributions (2004)
Source AAFRC, Giving USA 2005
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Uses of bequests (2004)
Educational, scientific and medical 28
All others 11
Religion 8
Private foundations 53
Source IRS Federal Estate Tax Returns, 1998-2000
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Dow Jones since 1929
www.finance.yahoo.com
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Wealth transfer 1998-2052 (in trillions)

• Low Mid High
• Value of Estates 40.6 72.9 136.2
• To Charity 6.0 11.6 24.8
• To Heirs 24.6 40.4 65.2
• 24,800,000,000,000
• Source Boston College Social Welfare Research
  Institute (1999)
• NOTE transfer on track according to January
  2003 update!

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Advantages for Donors
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Financial and tax benefits

• Make a generous gift AND
• Bypass capital gains taxes
• Increase current income
• Increase current income tax deductions
• Increase estate and gift tax deductions
• Conserve estate assets for heirs -- even pass on
  larger estates in some situations

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Faith benefits for donors

• Another way to live out stewardship
  responsibilities
• Demonstrate love for God, the Church and their
  parish in a tangible way
• Donors can pass on their personal values --
  especially spiritual values

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Faith benefits for parishes

• Gives parish the opportunity to focus on its own
  stewardship responsibilities (procure, preserve,
  protect and pass on)
• Helps parish foster stewardship among its people
• Places Church within context of donors other
  charities

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Who makes charitable bequests?

• Do you have people
• like this
• in your parish?

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Incidence of planned giving

• Only 42 have wills
• 31 have never revised their wills
• 8 have made charitable bequests
• 75 have never revised their charitable bequests
• 75 of bequest donors have made previous cash
  contributions to the same charity

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Our Target
Source Rick Warrens Purpose Drive Church,
Zondervan Publishing House www.purposedriven.com
and www.purposedrivenlife.com
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Why donors make charitable bequests?

• Desire to support charity 97
• Ultimate use of the gift by charity 82
• Desire to reduce taxes 35
• Long-range financial planning 35
• Create a lasting memorial 33
• Relationship with charity representative 21
• Encouragement of family or friends 13
• Encouragement of financial advisor 12

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How donors learn about charitable bequests

• Charity through published material 34
• Legal or financial advisor 21
• Family or friends 20
• General knowledge/experience 13
• Charity through individual visit 11
• Another donor 6
• Dont know 9

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Catholic Church Factors

• Huge Catholic population
• Substantial wealth (only partially a factor)
• Long and distinguished history
• Extraordinarily powerful motivations at work
• Sophistication, strength and breadth of mission
• Frequency of contact

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Summary

• People are wealthier now than at any time in the
  history of the world
• Huge potential transfer of that wealth,
  especially to charity
• Catholic Church is well-positioned
• Powerful motivations at work
• Tremendous financial and spiritual opportunities

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If Not Now, When?
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Mechanics for a parish planned giving program
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Most important tasks

• Convince yourself as to the importance of
  bequests
• Convince others (e.g., pastor, finance council,
  stewardship committee) as to the importance of
  bequests
• Build a successful bequest program

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What comes with success?

• Larger endowment
• Self-perpetuating Offertory collections
• Other planned gifts
• Occasional large outright gifts
• Better ability to carry out your mission
• Parishioners able to better express their own
  stewardship

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Basic approaches
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Our assumptions

• Your parish is
• fully invested in stewardship of time, talent and
  treasure
• sees planned giving as another opportunity to
  promote stewardship of treasure
• You see planned giving working for
• your parish
• your parishioners

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The Parish

• Planned giving can start when
• parish wishes to further its own stewardship of
  treasure by initiating planned giving
• parishioner makes a planned gift and inspires the
  parish with a new vision
• Parish creates a fund (endowment?) that benefits
  and celebrates the parish or a mission within the
  parish

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How to get the message out

• Bequest society
• Brochures
• Bulletin
• Homilies
• Individual solicitations
• Lay testimony

• Invitation letters
• Periodic letter
• Pew stuffers
• Planned giving committee
• Seminars
• Recognition society

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Determine a message for each way youll
communicate

• Brochure explain case, ways to give
• Bulletin simple, one sentence reminder to
  remember parish in estate plan
• Homilies stress role of estate planning in
  stewardship and estate giving
• Lay testimony why a person/couple made an
  estate gift

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More examples

• Letters of invitation invite parishioners to
  include parish in their estate plans and/or join
  bequest society
• Pew stuffers bequest language reply device
  Ive included the parish
• Seminars estate planning and stewardship
  tax-advantaged giving ways to give

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Still a role for traditional issues

• Elevate our parishes to the status of family
  member
• Tax and financial incentives still will motivate
  people to make gifts
• Legacy issues help us perpetuate our giving
• Parishioners making these kinds of gifts to other
  charities

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Make a calendar to show frequency

• Month by month
• Week by week
• Throughout the year
• Dovetail with other stewardship activities

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Assign responsibility

• Who will do each task
• Who will make sure that each task is completed

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Other key ideas

• Leaders need to make their own estate gifts
• Parish should make its own contribution
• Pastor really needs to be behind the effort (and
  make his own gift)

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Other things to keep in mind
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Steep yourself in spirituality

• Dont forget God
• Get straight in your own mind
• your own role in fundraising and planned giving
• your own sense of discipleship and vocation
• Making it your ministry to assist people in
  carrying out their response to Gods action in
  their lives

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Include spirituality in marketing

• Use donor testimonials tell stories
• Realize that marketing in our parishes is more
  than education about planned giving techniques
• It is necessary to focus on
• how planned giving can help people respond to
  Gods call for stewardship of treasure
• how planned giving can be part of their own faith
  journey.

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Two examples

• Parish effort
• Individual response

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Local parish

•   When we look back in prayerful gratitude as
  todays caretakers of our parish, we ask, What
  will be our legacy, when St. John Vianney parish
  celebrates its 100th anniversary?
• St. John Vianney Parish
• Cumberland, RI

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Continuing

•   The Century Fund is an endowment fund created
  to ensure the spiritual vitality of our parish
  for future generations. The principles of
  stewardship call each of us to receive Gods
  gifts gratefully, cherish and tend to them in a
  responsible and accountable manner, share them in
  justice and love with others and return them with
  increase to the Lord.

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And

• By supporting the century fund we demonstrate
  our parishs strong commitment to stewardship and
  the desire to memorialize our golden jubilee as a
  parish community. The Century Fund will
  perpetuate its vitality and its future, and we
  will pass to those who follow us as parishioners
  an even greater gift than the one bestowed on us.

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Personal Testimonial

• I have traveled many roads during my personal
  faith journey, filled with discovery, challenges
  and accomplishments. Along the way, Ive been
  entrusted as a disciple with many gifts and
  talents from God. As I begin to look at my
  financial planning, I think its important to
  consider ways in which I can give back in
  thanksgiving and allow the fruits of my labor to
  live on.
• From Archdiocese of Toronto material

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Questions for parishioners

• What gifts have you received?
• To what areas of ministry does God call you?
• What kind of an parish do you want for your
  childrens children?
• How do you plan to respond to Gods call?
• Do you have a will?

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Inspire conversion and discipleship

• You are proclaiming appropriate religious and
  financial messages
• Providing opportunities for
• reconciliation
• conversion
• enrichment of the religious experience your
  parish and its people have and will have

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Personal Conversion

• Call upon experiences that allow you to
  articulate your own discipleship
• Be a proclaimer of your faith tradition
• Transform and enrich the lives of others with an
  invitation to develop their spirituality
• Consider sharing your own story

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Include prayer

• One of our colleagues talked about praying at the
  signing of planned gift documents.
• He said that even if a primary motivation for the
  gift was tax planning, lifting up the gift in
  prayer at the close created a powerful experience
  for the donor and put the gift in its proper
  perspective.

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Thanks for your Attention!

• Questions?
• Presentation and handouts at
• www.planned-giving.com

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Contact information

• Richard Ely
• Strategic Fundraising Consultants
• 401-274-3863
• Rely_at_planned-giving.com
• Karen Cooper
• Christian Childrens Fund