Virtual Giving Planned Giving Websites

Page 2: Personal Comments, Ruminations, Complaints

We had too many to list all... but below are a few randomly selected responses to the last question on our survey:

Question 52: What did we miss? What questions should have been clearer or more detailed? What else would you like to know about your colleagues, personally and professionally? This block will take up to 2,000 words. Go!

All comments have been kept intact in their original form other than a few typographic fixes. Some of the comments below will not make sense unless you know the questions (or have taken the survey). So here's a PDF (in a pop-up window). Better yet, take the survey and then come back to this page!

Comments in red are those of the editors (that's us at VirtualGiving: Viken Mikaelian & John Foster). Please take our comments with the sense of humor in which we wrote them. Also remember... we placed a few "silly questions" in our survey to keep it light. You will see what we mean from some of the references to "politics, beer and sports."

There's some serious stuff embedded here, so sit back and read these through.

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Your Peers' Personal Comments (Question 52):

47. Fundraising was banned until recently and there was little effort to publicize or market the organization to the community. So it has been an uphill battle for us to create a culture of philanthropy. We have just gotten to the point where all members of the board(s) give(s). We did get a $1.5M planned gift last year because of a relationship between one of our docs and a retired doctor.
48. Educational background. Undergrad vs. graduate degree. Amount of time spent on donor visits vs. follow-up work.
49. I didn't like the drink choices! Also, it is unfair to lump Buddhists and Hindus together on one line. (Religion major undergraduate) I could have calculated the precise average ages for the earlier questions, but I'm too busy. Thanks for the break. :)
50. I would like more ethical questions. And what happened to that question about "How far would you go to close a gift?" I really want to see people's response to that... philosophically, I believe that what's good for the donor is good for the organization, so I don't deal with a heavy hand. That's not to say I don't ask for what I need. But others?!
51. On the bequest to the Fundraiser question, $100,000 is very little to quit one’s job for an ethical violation, but $500,000? Now that may be a different matter.
    What percentage are satisfied with their work? With their employer/institution? Would change careers if they knew it would be a successful move? What percentage feel they are raising money for an organization that really needs it? How many do not change organizations because it would offer less pay?
52. Lots of colleges are offering Non Profit Management Masters Programs. I attended one but if I had not, I would have felt more compelled to get my CFRE. Don’t know if this is something I will pursue or not. I answered that we have one fundraiser on staff. The actual answer is ZERO. We have a planned giving officer (me) but no one else on staff who we classify as a fundraiser (we are a community foundation). Why did you need to know about the religion and political leanings? And when do we get the results?!
53. I would ask about a more professional designation, such as an MBA being important. I personally think most of the gift planners are technically lazy and unsophisticated and don't care. Given that, technocrats are not what we need either.
54. What do they think is the future of gift planning?
55. For some questions, I was forced into an answer that did not fit. For example, at our University of course our favorite sport is basketball! Might have been interesting to see what is working in marketing right now for different kinds of institutions. I suspect that the culture of fundraising is different in different places. And, where's my cote du Rhone? With what cheese?
56. You should have asked questions about marketing planned gifts, i.e. newsletter and web articles, emails to prospects, and using coupons and self addressed stamped envelopes.
57. New to my position and to the nonprofit world.
    
58. How many years have you worked in planned giving fundraising? How long have you been with your current employer?
59. I have a headache.
60. Our organization is behind the times in all fundraising. For many years they have been dependant on federal funds. Private side fundraising is new, new, new!!! There has been little activity in Planned Gifts, therefore, your questions on Planned Giving didn't have answers that could show that we had no activity last year in planned gifts! Our organization is just at the first rung on the ladder of starting serious private side fundraising. We just got Raiser's Edge...before RE, our donor records were in three-ring binders! Yikes! We have one CFRE on staff but her CFRE status means nothing to our position ranking. We are a STATE organization and our positions are not affected by higher degrees or certifications. Every year we just get the same raise as other State employees. There is no incentive to get the CFRE here. Also, our job classification system does not work well for fundraisers.
61. Very comprehensive....and interesting. How and when will you provide the results? I'd like to hear how many you sent, who they went to and who responded, and what your purpose is. Thanks for asking.
62. Missing questions: 1. Access to top prospects 2. Coordination between major gifts and planned gifts 3. Joint solicitations 4. Back-up proposals to major gift solicitation 5. Role of endowment 6. Donor recognition & stewardship 7. CEO facilitation and encouragement or lack thereof 8. Institutional appreciation of planned gifts - genuine, heart-felt, could care less 9. Success of securing annual gift commitments to activate a testamentary endowment during lifetime 10. Most unusual successful case.
63. Your options for food and drink were too narrow; not enough options. I am a recovering alcoholic and haven't had a drink in 22 years so three of your five questions didn't pertain to me. The Starbucks and Chai Tea questions make me think more of a younger life style. I like to end my day with a good cigar!
64. Just want you to know that I am retired but continuing on as an advisor/consultant to my organization - thus the low number of visits, etc. And you didn't ask the number of years we were in planned giving (or if you did I forgot!). Would be interesting to know how they decide who to visit — by dollar amount, by consistent giving, by research, etc.
65. You didn't ask about the issue of data management. Ours is so chaotic (the word lacks sufficient punch) that my assignments frequently misfire. Computer access to necessary programs is ill-supported and discouraging, draining the daily start-up effort.
66. Regarding the question about what would we like at the end of the day — "Guinness" should have been a choice! Not sure of the point of many of the questions.
67. The college for which I work does not have a planned giving officer. However, the foundation affiliated with the college's denomination serves as the gift/estate planning arm of the college. The relationship has been beneficial to both organizations.
68. I am not a full time employee. I work three days per week.
69. If I had the option for answering about visits this way, I would have done so: I did not make as many donors visits as I should have last year, and it's nobody's fault but my own! Also, in counting of IRA gifts, I would have clicked on a Both Major and Planned Gift entry if I could. I think this survey was great, and I look forward to the results. What is my guess? That we PG fundraisers will not be very generous donors, that our salaries are important to us and that our opinion of ourselves is overly high. I'm not sure that the resources my organization expends on planned giving is justified by our returns, and I wonder how many organizations have planned giving programs that are underperforming and are not even really noticing.
70. How collaborative are your non-gift planning colleagues? Who gets credit for closing planned gifts and how (school/program based, major gift officer who introduced topic or gift planning)? Do you enjoy what you do? Why do you like the field of gift planning? Is your institution's mission personally important to you? Have you ever accepted a gift from a donor? If yes, what was the approximate value of the gift? Have you ever been named in a donor's will? Has a donor ever asked you to do something inappropriate? If yes, what was it? How long have you been in the field of Gift Planning? How many different organizations have you worked for in fundraising? Why did you leave your last fundraising position? What would you need to stay 5 or more years with one organization? Do you see staff turnover as hindering fundraising for your organization? What is an acceptable level of turnover? Does your organization offer a range of career paths that would allow you to stay at your organization, while growing personally, professionally and increasing your compensation? When would you retire? (asap, retirement age, never) Do you respect your boss professionally & personally? Do you see the generations after WWII as being as philanthropic? How well received are you by potential donors? What is the most inspiring donation in which you have been involved? Do you have a will? Have you included any charities in your will? If so, how many? If no, would you consider including a charity? If you could do anything in life, what would it be? Interesting exercise!
71. Not all organizations do life income gifts, so there should be an n/a option.
72. I'm constantly amazed that the national advocacy non profits are not included in lists like the one you asked me to pick the group my organization falls into. Where would someone from the following non profits fit into your thinking? Greenpeace, NRDC, Common Cause, NRA, Sierra Club, TNC, WWF, etc., etc., etc. All the large advocacy non profits have planned giving departments. I see many of them at my local NCPG Council meetings. What's up with that? [We totally agree and do not know how we overlooked this one. - Editor.]
73. What kind of partnerships need to be developed to have a successful planned giving program?
74. I would like to know how many of my colleagues hold a Master’s degree in Not-for-Profit Management and if they feel that has helped them in their job search and increased their salary or made no difference. How many of my colleagues are married and/or have children. How many people are self-employed and work on a consultant basis for organizations. Do people have to deal with co-workers who do not want to "give up" their prospects to other fundraisers who might do a better job? Do planned giving officers have yearly monetary goals? And are those based on the money coming in that year or the number of promised gifts for the future (seems like it would be pretty hard to come up with a goal for that). Do you use all of your vacation days?
75. More choices on beer, more choices on sports to watch. [Now there's the right attitude. - Editor.]
76. Fields we come from: most people I meet were teachers, PR types at non-profits, social workers, etc so you need non-profit background as a choice. You might have asked if people advocate for a PG credential. You might have asked for years in Development, years in Planned Giving, years in current position. Why do you stay in your position? (for me, I see too many people fired when they switch jobs) Why are you looking for a new job? Thanks much...
77. There were some questions where I didn't really feel like ANY answers really fit how I feel. Especially the one about the inheritance. To be honest, I wouldn't make ANY decisions on something like that until I had the opportunity to discuss all of the angles with my boss and my CEO (both of whom I trust), and made sure that my decision was ethical, in the best interests of my donor's family, and considering its impact on my organization. Donor relationship does not equal potential lottery.
78. As a Director of Development in charge of special events, annual campaigns, major gifts and planned giving [not to mention all communications vehicles], I'd really like to know how people divide up their time — what percentage do they spend on planned giving vs. current giving, for example?
79. A question asking "do you like what you do"— worded creatively as some of the other questions were, such as, If you won the $1 trillion lottery, would you
    • quit your job
    • continue working for no pay
    • continue working for your (insufficient) salary,
    • give it all to the charity you work for now
    • give some to charity to minimize your taxes and move to a location abroad with absolutely no taxes (bribes are typical at these locations, I realize).

    I had fun!

80. Question # 5 does not allow for other certification/ credentials and does not allow a response that the person might be a planned giving expert. Bad assumption on your part.
81. It would be interesting to know what kind of training in Planned Giving people have had or would like to have.
    
82. Although I consider planned giving to be a very important component of fund raising for our organization, it's tough to devote too much time to this phase of my job. I work in an office where I am the only fund raiser in our organization, and I am only half-time.
83. This survey was pretty entertaining and the random 'fun' questions made it fun. Thank you for those. [Thanks. We're doing our best to spice up our profession... tired of eating plain chicken at all our events... time for some spicy Cajun food. - Editor.]
84. How long in the field of gift planning? How long at your organization? How many previous jobs? Average length of time at each previous job?
85. Is your board involved in planned giving? As donors or solicitors? What percentage of board members have established bequests or life-income gifts? Do you have access to your board? How is your success measured: donor visits? Solicitations sent? Gifts closed? Dollars raised? Are your goals a true reflection of your performance? Are they reasonable/achievable?
86. Good survey — I look forward to seeing the results and seeing what tools this helps develop that will make me more effective in planned giving.
87. I just always want to know who's doing stuff that gets results. [Next survey. - Editor.]
88. Since I don't know what you are planning to do with this or what you are trying to measure, I really couldn't say. I am interested in the results — so maybe I can figure out where you are coming from.
89. Planned giving professionals are like polar bears on melting sea ice. Unless we adapt quickly, and learn to swim in a different direction, we will die. How many of us see the writing on the wall? Ask: Are you thinking of leaving the profession and why?
    
90. We are just beginning a Planned Giving program so I'm interested in learning the results of the survey.
91. It was very thorough.
92. I did not understand your statement in the will hypothetical that not taking the money hurt the organization. As I could best observe from the information given, the organization got $1 million outright from the will.