Virtual Giving Planned Giving Websites

Page 3 - 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):

93. The question about cash. One of the answers repeated the question, it was confusing. This won't allow me to go back and review or I would give you more here.
94. You didn't ask me if I have a CFRE, which I do, (or an AFCRE, which I do not).
95. Some or maybe all questions should have an n/a option as one of the choices. This would address a small organization like mine that is pursuing planned gifts, but only has a Dir of Dev and a grant writer...no planned giving staff per se. There should be additional drink choices such as a full-bodied Cabernet and the ever-popular summer libation...gin and tonic with lime. This was fun.
96. For resources about PG, answers to questions, I think you should include attorneys and accountants as choice options. Relevant to marketing PGs, who is publishing articles in the NP newsletter, who uses estate planning newsletters, post cards, and websites? Who has closed gifts from leads generated by the website? I'd like to know among those surveyed how many have PG web pages, and to what extent it has helped to increase PG leads. Who conducts seminars, to which audiences, and how effective are they in developing leads.
97. You asked what type of job we had before entering planned giving but not what we might like to do in the future — might be interesting to see what people have in mind.
    
98. In addition to sports preferences, what about other events of enjoyment — art museums, concerts, bookstores, etc. Also — what was previous position? Many did not begin their career in development. Thanks.
99. The question about whether you would disclose the $100K gift to your boss is a little off — odds are if the charity is a beneficiary of a will (particularly of $1M) - they will see a copy of it and know the employee was named.
100. Next time you may want to ask us questions about our time — how much we have, how much we need, how much more we think we could use, etc.
     
101. How long they've been in planned giving, what types of planned gifts their organization pursues.
102. You should have added single malt scotch to the list of drinks. Can a good planned giving officer be effective if he or she has very little technical knowledge but is excellent at marketing planned gifts, building relationships, delivering the mission and needs of the organization, effectively stewarding donors, etc?
103. Number of NPO's that use financial professionals? Use advertising? If so, where and how much? Board participation in planned giving? Senior mgt made a deferred gift? % and $ amount? Number of NPO’s that use on-site seminars/tours? NPO’s opinion on estate tax sunset? On estate tax? Opinion on how tax policy affects charitable motives of donors and explanation?
104. Interesting survey. I'd be very interested in seeing the results.
105. This was a fun survey. I tried to answer honestly but I honestly do not know why or understand your interest in knowing some of my personal eating/drinking/political/religious preferences. Nevertheless, I would enjoy seeing the results of this survey. [We just wanted to add some spice to our jobs. - Editor.]
106. (1) Interested in knowing whether the fundraising culture in our various organizations is geared toward "donor-centered" fundraising where the conversation explores all kinds of philanthropy in the visit (annual + planned + capital), or whether many organizations compartmentalize their asks, or depend heavily on direct mail with few donor visits? (2) How many of us believe PG work must also include Major Gifts work (and vice-versa) and that the fundraiser must be equipped to respond to most situations? (3) How many of us fear that Planned Giving is being phased out in favor of Major Gifts because of the perception that all PGs are deferred for too long (although not necessarily true)? (4) For those with PG Advisory Councils, are they effective? How so? (5) How many intended to get into Development and/or Planned Giving work, vs. how many fell into it?
107. 1. How long have you been in your current position? 2. What is the longest you have served in one development position?
108. Thoughtful and appropriate questions. Guard against the assumption that an organization needing to increase investment in planned giving is not willing to, or making an inadequate investment at this time. Other good questions would try to determine if planned giving marketing is being integrated into other media within organization. If not, what are the obstacles to this happening?
109. Maturation of planned gifts — depends, of course, since all gifts involve some planning. For small shops, planned giving is an arrow in the quiver, not a stand alone, hence we pay more attention to bequests, etc. recognizing their long term benefit, while concentrating on current gifts to fund crucial programs.
110. Do in-kind gifts (gifts such as works of art, real estate, and the like) comprise an important part of your fundraising program? Is your planned giving committee actively involved in a) making their own planned gift commitments, b) soliciting others to make planned gifts?
111. I have nothing to add. [Geez. Thanks for letting us know. - Editor.]
112. Just for the record...I did not tell the truth on some of the personal questions. Also, the question about my career before getting into fundraising was not clear. I have been in fundraising for most of my career, my job before that was as admin support in a law office, which is really not relevant to my career in fundraising — I could have been in a bank just as easily. If I had been an estate planning attorney that would have been relevant.
113. I needed a "don't know" choice on the % of assets held in cash question!
114. What about certification? How many have CSPG? What percentage are coming out of...banking, legal professional, etc?
115. No time left — need to get back to my work!
116. I have included my employer in my own estate plan which was updated within the last year. So I do what I ask others to consider doing.
117. Hard to answer some questions without room for "other" explanation. I'm a new hire and my task is to develop a comprehensive development program for two separate hospitals. Predecessor was expert in planned giving, but didn't cultivate long-term relationships with many donors.
118. Sorry, I don't have time to think but it is a good survey and I would appreciate knowing the outcome(s).
119. I guess I expected more of the demographic questions, i.e. marital state, gender. Other personal questions: What do I like the most about the particular job that I hold? Am I looking to change jobs in the next year/2 years/5 years? What kind of job would I like to have in the future (goal)? Do you have the support of your family? etc. I am looking forward to hearing your results.
120. Just an explanation of my work. My office (three employees) provides support for 382 local congregations and judicatory boards in the development and investment of endowment funds. We do not solicit funds for our organization but for those organizations we serve. In the 17 years I've worked here, the first 10 were focused on attracting more investment in our portfolio. The past seven years have been dedication to estate planning and planned giving as local congregations are beginning to realize the importance of the legacy (planned) gift. I am grateful for the knowledge I've gained through certification and am the only "planned giving expert" on the judicatory staff. Fundraising is not in my job description, but it seems to be about 85 percent of what I've been doing over the past 7 years-raising gifts for other organizations in the hope they will choose to invest the endowment gifts with us. I am eager to see the results, because I know I'm in a unique position among my colleagues of AFP and PGRT.
121. Early on this was confusing. I work for a national organization that has a state office. Was the question aimed at the state office or the national organization? This also seemed aimed at planned giving office not Director of Development.
122. I like your energy and curiosity.
123. Do you attend educational seminars? What topics interest you the most? Do you have a budget for continuing education? Do you plan to stay in the fundraising field? Do you have realistic fundraising expectations/goals set by your board/boss? What is your biggest challenge at work? How do you balance your work life and personal life?
     You didn't ask much about types of vehicles that planned giving officers use to get gifts, i.e. mailings, post cards, websites, etc. That would be interesting to know.
124. Good survey!
125. The ethics question left out one important choice — accept the gift and tell the boss. Policy is often bent depending on circumstance and fact was bent for me and the relationship I had with a donor for cash Christmas gifts. PBR [that's Pabst Blue Ribbon] is not my choice in beer.
126. My real preferred answer for the sports question is curling, but it wasn't a choice.
127. You often left little or no room for "other". Many times I had to choose neutral instead or choose an option I was less than comfortable with choosing. Had I been given the option of an Other with an explanation, I would have. Particularly the "$100,000 Will" question.
128. There were definitely some questions that made me want to possibly stop taking the survey but I didn't. Also some questions should have allowed for multiple answers like #5 and #27 if I recall correctly. Thanks!
129. Has the concentration of wealth over the last 20 years affected your planned giving efforts? Yes, it has reduced the number of prospects for inter vivos life-income gifts.
130. Thanks for the interest.
131. On the question of the IRA rollovers, that option doesn't exist in Canada. In the questions proposed, the option "not applicable" wasn't offered. Might be an improvement to the survey next time. A good effort overall to secure important information about our profession. Thank you...
132. Don't have time today to give further feedback. Thought some of the questions would have had more options, or a chance to respond to "other...."
133. My supervisor emphasizes the importance of relationships in planned giving. Perhaps you could include a question regarding this, such as: How important to you is relationship-building in planned giving? (Very, somewhat, not at all.)
134. My boss is very focused on cash as many bosses are — while planned giving spade-work is going well, it is not rewarded by the CEO or the board due to its newness.
135. Fun survey! The only questions I would like to know is how many different positions people have held in the past 5 years and what their fundraiser to support staff ratio is.
136. Should have asked:
     • How long in current position?
     • Are you contemplating a job change (why/why not?)
     • What motivates you?
     • What do you do for fun?
     • Questions about "blended gifts" trends

     Thanks for devising this survey!

137. We have planned gifts that have been on the books much longer than 15 years. For an organization that is in an operating budget crunch (we're predicting a $450K loss this year), it is very difficult to put our energies into the future — we may not have a future. Our last capital campaign failed because it was 70% planned gifts and no one died! We did not have the ability to borrow funds and continue with the building project. We have another Catch-22 situation: we have almost no endowment to help us offset these large operating losses, therefore when bequests and planned gifts are realized, they go to the operating budget. Where planned gifts are a major source of income for the endowment at other schools, that philosophy is not followed here.
138. Average tenure in planned giving position?