Securing your nonprofit’s first bequest gift simply means a donor includes your organization in their estate planning. For smaller nonprofits, you don’t always need dedicated legal counsel or an extensive planned giving team to invite legacy gifts (though you will as your program grows). Your organization already holds the essential foundation: committed supporters who care deeply about your long-term mission.
Starting a bequest program as a small nonprofit is possible but requires focused execution rather than complex software or external consultants. With your existing donor database, structured outreach time, and clear messaging, you can confidently invite your first planned gifts. Follow these eight best practices below to establish your framework.
1. Identify the Best Prospects from Your Inner Circle
Identify prospects by reviewing gift frequency rather than cumulative donation totals. Consistent, long-term donors represent your highest-potential legacy prospects, regardless of their individual gift sizes.
Uncover your most promising planned giving prospects with these targeted moves:
- Review your donor database for longevity: A supporter who has given $20 a month for 10 years is often a stronger legacy prospect than someone who wrote just one large check.
- Look at supporters already maximizing their impact: Focus on the donors participating in workplace engagement programs. People who multiply their gifts through employer programs demonstrate a deep commitment that goes beyond a standard donation.
- Identify super-volunteers: Volunteer grants are corporate donations made to nonprofits in recognition of employee volunteer hours; supporters who request them demonstrate exceptional commitment by actively maximizing their impact through their employer.
By focusing on loyalty and repeated engagement over large single contributions, you build a steady pipeline of invested donors ready for deeper legacy conversations. Get started by scheduling phone calls or sending handwritten notes this week to connect with your most consistent supporters.
2. Build a Seamless, Accessible Digital Experience
Make sure your legacy giving options are easy to locate and understand to make learning about and engaging with your planned giving program simple. Setting up accessible web pages and simple donation forms early ensures your infrastructure is ready before initiating major donor conversations. Confirm that these pages:
- Prioritize clarity on your website: Prioritizing accessibility through clear forms and readable text keeps your legacy giving page welcoming to supporters of all technical comfort levels.
- Implement donation data validation: Use validated input fields on your standard online giving forms to keep contact information accurate for future outreach.
- Provide simple sample language: You do not need to write a will for anyone. A few sentences with your organization’s legal name and tax ID, ready to hand to their attorney, is all most supporters need.
With over half of global web traffic originating from mobile devices rather than desktops, ensuring your website is fully mobile-friendly guarantees a seamless giving journey for all prospective donors, regardless of how they access your site. Try navigating your legacy giving web page on a mobile device to verify that sample language and contact forms are accessible within two clicks.
3. Leverage Community Events for Natural Conversations
Incorporate legacy giving messaging into your existing event agendas. In-person touchpoints provide natural opportunities to share long-term goals with active community members.
Turn community events into powerful legacy launchpads using these actionable strategies:
- Share your long-term vision openly: Gathering supporters together during community events creates ideal opportunities to share where your organization is headed and how legacy support sustains that future.
- Highlight stories of impact: Talk about how future funding will sustain your core programs, so supporters start to wonder how they can be part of it.
Consistently mentioning your legacy program during community events cements planned gifts as a standard way to support your organization. Add a two-sentence legacy giving callout to the speaking script for your upcoming event or webinar.
4. Track Your Outreach with Technology
Maintain detailed records of your donor interactions to ensure consistent relationship management across your team over time, ensuring potential legacy opportunities are never overlooked. Strengthen your tracking strategy with these simple steps:
- Log every meaningful conversation: Using a CRM lets you systematically record notes from calls and events continuously across every stage of donor engagement, so your entire team stays aligned.
- Set up employer data matching within your database: Tracking employer insights gives you a clearer picture of your donors’ workplace networks and giving capacity, helping you tailor outreach.
Systematic tracking ensures no donor conversation is lost and helps maintain continuity during staff or board transitions. Create a dedicated tag or custom field in your CRM to track planned giving interest and follow-up tasks.
5. Clear Common Hurdles with Confidence
Approach legacy asks with clarity and focus on shared impact. Preparing key talking points centered around your organization’s long-term vision, specific program impact, and how legacy gifts sustain future work helps leadership communicate the value of legacy support with poise.
Tackle awkward bequest conversations head-on with these tips:
- Normalize the conversation: Integrate legacy options into routine donor touchpoints, such as thank-you letters, annual reports, and regular check-ins, to frame bequest giving as a natural extension of supporting your mission. Learning how to handle bequest discussions is similar to working through matching gift challenges; both require education and friendly persistence, and both grow easier with practice.
- Focus on impact, not money: Ask your supporters how they want to be remembered and which aspects of your mission matter most to them.
- Address common legal hesitations: Clarify that donors can modify their bequest intentions at any time if their financial or family circumstances change, alleviating fear of permanent commitment.
- Offer flexible bequest options: Explain that gifts do not need to be fixed dollar amounts; percentage-based or residual bequests allow supporters to protect their family first while still making a lasting impact.
Framing legacy discussions around your organizational vision inspires donors to feel comfortable speaking to your legacy giving options, and conduct a 10-minute roleplay exercise with a team member.
6. Create Light, Accessible Collateral for Quick Sharing
While identifying prospects is a natural place to start, consider preparing your core digital and printed collateral, such as a downloadable one-page bequest sheet and a digital estate planning guide, before conducting direct outreach, so you have clear, portable materials ready to share. Unlike the general website content and accessibility features referenced in Section 2, these targeted resources are designed specifically for quick sharing during direct follow-ups with interested donors. Build a lightweight collateral kit using these essential components:
- Design a one-page bequest sheet: Summarize your organization’s impact, official legal name, tax ID, and sample bequest language on a clean, single-page PDF that can be easily printed, emailed, or downloaded from your legacy giving web page.
- Prepare a digital estate planning guide: Offer a short download on your website that helps donors organize their thoughts before meeting with an estate planner or attorney.
- Include a brief FAQ sheet: Address common questions regarding bequest types, tax considerations, and confidentiality to quickly dispel donor hesitancies.
- Share compelling impact stories: Highlight real examples or testimonials showing how past legacy gifts have sustained and grown your nonprofit’s core mission over time.
Having clear materials on hand builds instant credibility and simplifies follow-up whenever a supporter asks about bequest options. Draft a single-page PDF overview of your bequest details and store it in a shared team folder for easy access.
7. Set Up a Simple Stewardship and Recognition Process
Acknowledge each legacy inquiry promptly to show deep appreciation for your donors’ long-term commitment. A thoughtful thank-you process ensures legacy supporters feel truly valued from day one.
Cultivate lasting relationships and make legacy donors feel valued by:
- Sending a personalized welcome package: Mail a handwritten thank-you note from your executive director or board chair as soon as a donor expresses interest in leaving a gift.
- Forming an informal legacy society: Create an honorary circle to recognize bequest donors in your annual report or offer them special insider updates throughout the year.
- Providing exclusive impact reports: Share tailored updates and insider previews highlighting how future legacy gifts will directly shape and sustain upcoming long-term projects.
Consistent, warm stewardship transforms initial legacy inquiries into lifelong donor loyalty and inspires others to join your vision. Set up an automated email alert in your system to notify leadership immediately whenever a donor requests bequest information.
8. Establish Ethical and Secure Boundaries
Ethical guidelines and donor privacy safeguards serve as a foundational rulebook that applies across every donor interaction and campaign phase, not just at the end. Keep your bequest discussions safe, transparent, and donor-centered with these core guardrails:
- Do not offer financial or legal advice: Always encourage donors to consult independent legal or financial advisors to finalize their estate plans.
- Respect donor privacy and confidentiality: Store legacy intentions securely and confirm whether supporters wish to remain anonymous before sharing their stories.
- Prioritize donor autonomy: Ensure every gift conversation is free from pressure, giving supporters full space to make choices aligned with their family and personal goals.
Clear ethical boundaries prevent misunderstandings and ensure your legacy program operates with complete integrity. Share these basic guidelines with your board and outreach team to ensure everyone is aligned during donor interactions.
Wrapping Up
You can take immediate action today without waiting for a formal campaign rollout. For example, add this line to your signature today: “Ask us how you can leave a lasting impact by including [Nonprofit Name] in your will.” Include a clickable link to a simple page about planned giving on your website with your tax ID and legal name.
Building your first bequest program is achievable. By using your current donor insights, maintaining clear web standards, and inviting supporters to join your long-term vision, you establish a sustainable legacy pipeline that strengthens your nonprofit’s future.