Giving Compass' Take:

• Here are 10 facts to help you stay informed on the intricacies of planned giving and its role in the philanthropic sector. 

• Is planned giving part of your philanthropy?  

• Learn more about why planned giving is something everyone can do. 

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.

  1. In the next two decades, Baby Boomers will leave behind $30 trillion in assets. This is the largest wealth transfer in human history and may be the biggest opportunity for philanthropy in the history of the world.
  2. Planned giving generated $37 billion for nonprofits last year -- an amount expected to double in the next decade based on changing demographics.
  3. Nonprofits with a planned giving strategy can generate up to one-third of their revenue through planned giving.
  4. The most common type of planned gifts are “bequests”, which are gifts made through a will or trust. More than 85% of planned gifts are bequests.
  5. One of the biggest barriers to more planned giving for nonprofits is that many people don’t have any estate planning at all. Fewer than 50% of baby boomers have a will, and less than 40% of parents have one. (
  6. The top reason people haven’t made a will is simply, “I haven’t gotten around to it.”
  7. Making it easy to make a will and asking for a gift in the right way can increase your planned giving by 600%!
  8. People who plan to leave bequests increase their annual giving by an average of 75% in subsequent years.
  9. All of your supporters have the potential to make planned gifts, but research shows that a few attributes make someone more likely to support your organization in their estate: not having children, and having a long history of giving to you.
  10. Bequests are up to 1,000 times larger than a donor’s typical donation. The average bequest on FreeWill is $78,000, often from middle-class donors.

Read the full article about planned giving by Ashley Post at Charity Navigator.