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The results of a recent survey by UBS Wealth Management Americas provide some fascinating insights into what the Middle Class Millionaires in your organization think about their philanthropy.  Here are some highlights that jumped out at me:

• 91% of all millionaires (those with assets of $1 million or more) donated money or volunteered their time to a favorite charity – with 55% doing both.
• 52% plan to leave a sizeable part of their wealth (28% of their wealth on average) to charity ...

There is an old adage that asks, “How does one eat an elephant?”  The answer:  “One bite at a time!”  When it comes to planned giving, particularly if it’s a new focus for you or your organization, it can sometime be overwhelming to figure out where to begin—particularly when it comes to identifying planned giving prospects.  What if you have a thousand donors?  Ten thousand?  A hundred thousand?  Who are your best prospects when it comes to planned ...

If your organization (like many others) doesn’t value gift planning as part of your overall fundraising approach, here are eight compelling facts your Board should know:

1. According to a landmark study conducted by John Havens and Paul Schervish for the Boston College Social Welfare Institute, over $41 trillion in wealth is transferring from one generation to the next (from 1998 – 2052.) It is anticipated that over $6 trillion will be received by charities in the forms planned gifts.

2. 91% of ...

In the planned giving world, countless studies and articles are written about what motivates “Million Dollar” donors to give. The information often provides helpful insights on what makes major donors tick that you can incorporate into your planned giving program.

But what about the nonprofit organization itself – are there things that you can or need to do to attract the “Million Dollar” donor? An interesting study conducted by Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and Johnson Grossnickle and Associates ...

Having been a fundraiser for over 20 years, I know how easy it is to push off planned giving and endowment development to another day. Heck, the nonprofits I had worked for had been doing it for 100 years! After all, you need the money now, not years from now! Why spend time on something that won’t be rewarding you anytime soon… if ever!

So many nonprofit leaders fall into this trap and it’s totally understandable. There are only so many ...

The concept of the Middle-Class Millionaire can be traced to the landmark book, The Millionaire Next Door, written by Thomas Stanley and William Danko in the late 1990’s. I believe this is a must read book for any nonprofit professional who focuses on fundraising.  Stanley and Danko were hired by an investment firm to uncover the traits of the typical millionaire. To their utter astonishment they discovered that almost all of the millionaires they interviewed were nothing like the common ...