231 | Is fundraising guilty of over-complicating planned giving?

231 | Is fundraising guilty of over-complicating planned giving?

The Fundraising Talent Podcast, a production of Responsive Fundraising

Our team at Responsive knows that I have always taken issue with how overly complicated the nonprofit sector manages to make planned giving. Instead of acknowledging that we’re talking with living, breathing human beings about late in life decisions, for some it’s as if we are tinkering under the hood of my minivan. My conversation today with Mark reminded me of the quote by David Whyte who says, “...the conversation is the work.” When it comes to meaningful gifts, often the best thing we can do is put the technical expertise on the back burner.

I have often wondered what prevents some fundraisers from developing trust and rapport and uncovering what it is their donor is inclined to support before they pull out the planned giving presentation. Mark and I agreed that technical expertise of the sort that planned giving requires is sometimes a reach for more legitimacy in a world that doesn’t acknowledge the importance of what we do. Before we wrapped up, we discussed several great books that align with an enlightened approach to fundraising. We talked about Jeff and Richard’s new book, Henri Nouwen’s Spirituality of Fundraising, as well as a couple of my favorites. 

As always, we are grateful to CueBack for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent Podcast.