Giving Compass' Take:

• Ayurella Horn-Muller reports that free estate planning software, FreeWill, is boosting charitable donations in end of life planning.

• How can funders increase awareness of tools like this? Is there greater potential for increasing giving here? 

• Learn about giving while living, an argument for giving before death. 

Once upon a time, a stigma followed end of life planning. Regarded as an arduous process, settling the details of an estate conjured up images of mind-numbing meetings with attorneys and whopping price tags. Such a notion could explain why, up until now, fewer than 30-percent of Americans have gotten around to making wills in their lifetimes. Even less is the 5-percent of individuals who include charitable donations in their estate planning.

Those numbers are likely to change, and quickly. Thanks to FreeWill, an online estate planning software, more than 21,000 wills have been created through their tool, with upwards of $252 million committed to nonprofit causes. Cofounder and co-CEO of FreeWill, Jenny Xia, who was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs list in 2019, reveals why the emerging startup is on pace to achieve their goal of getting $1 trillion to charities in the next decade.

Xia says that three times more people give twice the average amount through the free service, resulting in a sixfold increase in giving. A typical user on their system is a middle-class homeowner who donates up to 10 percent of their estate, which plays a part in the higher median sum. The other contributing factor is that it's completely free, driving people to make plans and give in the process.

Annual projections show no sign of slowing down. Xia shares that by the end of 2018 they expect to clear $300 million in charitable donations and reach 25,000 wills. A year from now, they anticipate having more than tripled that, with $1 billion bequests and 100,000 wills.

Read the full article about FreeWill by Ayurella Horn-Muller at Forbes.