National Conference on Planned Giving

Transcription

1 Natinal Cmmittee nplanned Giving Natinal Cnference n Planned Giving Techniques, Best Practices, Marketing and Mre... Cnference Presentatin Paper Octber 22-25, 2008 Denver, Clrad Natinal Cmmittee n Planned Giving All rights reserved.

2 Acrss The Great Divide: Gift Planning Officers & Prfessinal Advisrs Synergy fr Success Octber 24, 2008 Cynthia W. Krause Vice President f Gift Planning Baylr Health Care System Fundatin Dallas, Texas Jeffrey W. Cmfrt Executive Directr f Gift Planning & Principal Gifts Gergetwn University Washingtn, D.C.

3 Acrss the Great Divide: Gift Planning Officers and Prfessinal Advisrs Synergy fr Success The wrld has changed since the 80s and early 90s when planned giving fficers and a few prfessinal advisrs ruled the planned giving wrld as we then knew it. These individuals generally wrked full-time in the area f planned giving and mst were skilled in the mre technical aspects f the gift vehicle. The planned giving fficers wned the infrmatin and were training prfessinal advisrs, dnrs and prspects alike n these exciting new planned giving techniques. Tday, data suggests that the majrity f planned gifts are being develped in clsed cnversatins between the prfessinal advisrs and their clients (ur dnrs), mst ften withut the cllabratin r even knwledge f the nt-fr-prfit gift planning prfessinals. This is true fr bth the charities that emply ne r mre full time gift planning prfessinals and even mre s fr the grwing number f charities that emply develpment fficers fr whm nly a prtin f their jb descriptins entail gift planning. The allied prfessinal cmmunity, especially thse wrking within financial service rganizatins (banks and brkerage huses) has taken the leading rle in gift planning in many ways. Within the financial service rganizatins, mre affluent clients are having the charitable cnversatins with their wealth strategists instead f charity. Mre f the technical expertise surrunding the establishment f charitable trusts nw lies with these frprfit planners. Banks are hlding seminars fr nn-prfit gift planners, educating them n the finer pints f structuring gift vehicles, but few are bringing charity t the table when talking with their clients abut gift planning strategies. In this new wrld, neither the fr-prfit nr the nt-fr-prfit cmmunity have figured ut hw t effectively wrk tgether t help the dnr. Clearly, and fr many reasns, a mre cllabrative apprach between fr- prfit prfessinal advisrs and the nt-fr-prfit gift planning prfessinals wuld be beneficial t dnrs and their charitable recipients alike. This presentatin will illuminate the wrlds f the fr-prfit advisrs, illustrate the current gap and discnnect between the fr prfit and nt-fr prfit cmmunities in this arena, and ffer best practices in cllabratin as a guide. I. Histrical perspectives frm the nn prfit and fr-prfit cmmunities. A. Respnses frm the nn-prfit cmmunity In the late 80s and early 90s, planned giving fficers wanted t cultivate gd relatinships with a few cre prfessinal advisrs wh were their resurces. Sme PGOs at larger shps were n the cutting edge and were lking t train the fr-prfits and were hlding seminars. We were the experts and ur gals were very clear: get the advisrs t cme t us whenever they needed technical help r had questins they culdn t answer with their dnrs. Being seen as a technical resurce hpefully meant mre advisrs wuld send clients ur way. Dnrs weren t generally ging t their advisrs first because dnrs didn t even knw abut these gifts until we brught them up. Then we brught it t the prfessinal advisr s attentin fr the mst part because they didn t spend much time in the area and weren t generally talking abut it t their clients. In early 90s, mst charitable gift cnversatins didn t generally happen between advisr and client. They happened when PGOs were the impetus fr the tw getting tgether t talk abut a planned gift. In the early days, planned giving fficers mainly went t advisrs wh knew the stuff, like NCPG s early leaders. Then PGOs at charities were the nes bringing up these ideas

4 t prspects and dnrs and were als teaching the prfessinal advisrs wh didn t knw this area. The infrmatin abut the huge wealth transfer sent the financial services industry int verdrive during the last decade as they added charitable cmpnents t their services. They have becme much mre savvy and knwledgeable abut the technical aspects f gift planning and have surpassed mst gift planners in their knwledge. A lt mre financial advisrs have gtten int the field f planned giving in the last decade because they ve seen the ptential fr their clients and their businesses and als saw assets leaving their prtflis. They lked at hw they culd play a rle in the charitable cmmunity that s prfitable fr them. One change we ve been seeing in recent years is that we re being cntacted by many mre advisrs that want t prvide services t us and we re seeing mre new players. They are ffering us things like charity-wned life insurance, ffering t manage ur prtfli f life insurance, reinsurance f gift annuities and verall management f ur gift annuities and charitable trusts. In smaller cmmunities and cities yu still see advisrs wh dn t knw as much abut planned giving and we ve had success bringing in experts t cnduct seminars fr CE training. Hwever, we dn t ffer these seminars in larger cities r in certain areas f the cuntry where the knwledge base is higher (nrtheast and west cast). There s a saturatin f infrmatin in thse areas and n need fr us t waste ur marketing budget there Present Tday we re appraching wealth advisrs in very different ways ut f necessity. We aren t ding near as much educatin they knw all abut this stuff already - but we re wrking mre at helping these advisrs understand wh we are, what we bring t the table, and why we shuld be part f the team when they re talking t their clients abut gift planning. Tday a lt mre gift prcesses are starting with thse flks (advisrs) thugh there s lts f variety regarding hw well it s being dne. Dnrs bypass charitable planners and g t financial services peple and/r their advisrs t ask them fr help with gifts. Tday, we re just hping fr a seat at the table. The financial services industry, and particularly the wealth advisrs, are driving much f the gift planning that s happening tday. Especially fr thse dnrs f high and ultra-high wealth, these planners knw everything abut their clients and it is part f their hlistic planning t discuss the charitable cmpnent f a plan. What I m seeing mre and mre is that advisrs aren t that interested in wrking with us (charities) anymre. They dn t see us as having much t bring t the table. It seems t me, the mre degrees and designatins they (advisrs) have after their names, the mre they think they knw all they need t knw t help their clients. And fr thse in the financial services industry, they are being trained in philanthrpic strategies at a level far superir t what mst gift planners are getting in their nn prfits. B. Respnses frm the fr-prfit cmmunity.

5 1. Thughts abut charities. Mre and mre, charities are all abut transactins, trying t get their hands in my clients pckets and there are s many f them. Lk at all the campaigns ging n in ur city. Many nnprfit gift planners dn t realize that charitable planning has been part f the wealth planning industry fr eight t ten years nw. It has becme quite sphisticated and every private bank has a prgram. The financial wrld has evlved hugely in the past decade in hw client relatinships are managed. We use a team apprach with ur internal prfessinals and external managers. Hwever, it s true that mst f us dn t actively invlve the nnprfit prfessinals, even when a client is naming that charity in sme gift arrangement. Nnprfits are clueless. They have very light relatinships with their dnrs and these dnrs dn t even want t talk with them when ding significant planning. Mre and mre prfessinal advisrs have becme experts in executing and implementing charitable gift plans. Mre and mre charitable gift plans are being put tgether withut the charity s invlvement. I ve established mre gift arrangements with my clients in my current wrk than I did in the entire 20 years I was a nnprfit gift planner. They (nn prfits) dn t bring anything t the table fr us because they aren t perceived as trusted advisrs by my clients. The charitable cmmunity desn t knw hw t wrk with us! Nnprfit rganizatins need t better understand the trusted relatinship clients have with their advisrs and hw t better navigate within thse relatinships. 2. Thughts abut their clients. If my clients are thinking abut a big gift, they re cming t me and the charity wn t be at the table. Very few f ur clients have discussed their charitable intentins with charitable rgs. maybe 10%. We dn t ask the questin s unless a client tells us, we dn t even keep recrds n it. If I had t guess I d say 5%, maybe 10% I think at the mst, 5% - 10% Many f ur clients tell us they d nt want the charity invlved fr several reasns: they may change their minds abut which charity t include, they dn t trust the charity s ability t manage assets s dn t see the need t invlve them in the financial side; they dn t trust the charity t wrk in their best interests. Our clients aren t saying I want t bring my charities gift planning fficer t the table. Maybe charity needs t cme t the table describing the fit hw they assist the team in things like: hw much des the gift cst? hw d we structure it t wrk fr bth dnr and charity? can the charity d what the dnr wants, can the charity suggest ways the gift can be strnger?, etc.

6 The minute charity desn t have its act tgether, my client says: I m really nt cmfrtable with this. What are my ther ptins t make my gift withut ging thrugh them? A cuple f my clients that regularly give t varius charities are cnstantly bthered / inundated with the multiple mailings they receive. When they give nce, n matter the amunt, they becme flded with additinal slicitatins frm the same charity, multiple times thrughut the year. I knw mailing lists are extremely difficult t cntrl with charities. Once yu are n the list, yu are n the list. II. Challenges t Running Effective Prfessinal Advisr Prgrams A. Gift planning fficers n lnger have the benefit f wning the knwledge that prvided clarity fr hw t wrk with advisrs. B. The time factr : the impact f the internet. C. Priritizing: hw metrics, increased accuntability and hard number gals muddy the waters. D. N easy ne size fits all n hw t engage advisrs. E. Sharing their struggles: gift planners speak ut. I knw that the cnventinal wisdm is that a well-run PG prgram includes an advisrs' grup, but I'm skeptical. I spent almst 20 years as a fundraiser, and t be hnest I can nly specifically remember ne gift that was "brught t us" by the prfessinal advisr -- and even in that case the dnrs were bth alumni and had already made a (much smaller) planned gift with us. In ne rganizatin, we did nt have a prfessinal advisrs grup fr sme internal plitical reasns. At the ther rganizatins, I was always t busy dealing with immediate prspects turned up by marketing t get a prfessinal advisrs grup ging. I have tried numerus times t wrk in a strategic alliance with advisrs but really all they want is business and client referrals. Anecdtally, ne f the lcal hspitals had an advisrs' grup that was the envy f all. After abut a decade, the chief planned giving fficer wh had built it admitted privately n the brink f his retirement that he thught it had been wasted effrt: he wasn't aware f a single gift that had cme abut because f the grup. III. Perspectives frm natinal gift planning marketing experts A. Multifaceted missin based marketing primarily t the prfessinal advisrs. Newsletters Vlunteer advisry bards Intimate educatinal events Persnal visits B. Multifaceted tax and financial based marketing primarily t prfessinal advisrs. Print cpy such as letters and brchures Web based marketing

7 C. Multifaceted missin based marketing primarily t identified planned gift prspects. The fr-prfit advisrs are screening fr wealth The nt-fr-prfits can screen fr lyalty and then verlay wealth I have tied numerus times t wrk in a strategic alliance with advisrs but really all they want is business and client referrals. D. Prfessinal Advisr Market Research IV. Primer n Advisrs: what nn prfits dn t knw can hurt them. A. Traditinal Advisrs 1. Ethical cnstraints 2. Cmpensatin mdels a. Fee fr services b. Cmmissin-based B. Institutinal Advisrs 1. What s in a name? Wh s wh and wh des what? 2. Ethical cnstraints 3. Cmpensatin mdels 4. Philanthrpy inside financial service firms V. The Myths The Realities VI. Wrking Tgether: Best practices in cllabratin between fr-prfits and nn-prfits VII. Creating Yur Organizatin s Persnal Plan f Actin