Know These 4 Things and CRUSH IT in Planned Giving

Know These 4 Things and CRUSH IT in Planned Giving

Article posted in General on 11 August 2015| comments
audience: National Publication, EzCharitable | last updated: 11 August 2015
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Summary

To become excellent at planned giving, we have identified four distinct areas that you should focus on to CRUSH IT. 

by Randy Fox

To become excellent at planned giving, we have identified four distinct areas that you should focus on to CRUSH IT. Each of these areas, of course, has sub-categories but you don’t have to learn everything at once. In fact, you only need to start learning something to get going tomorrow. There are experts in each of the following four areas that can help you in those areas where you need assistance.

Let’s identify the areas and give you a brief description of each. We’re discussing Opportunity Recognition first because it is the most important of all. If you see the possibility of a particular planned gift in the client’s financials, goals, or the sparkle in their eye, you are on your way and you can find another advisor to assist.

1. Opportunity Recognition:

  • Would you know a gift if you saw one, or it hit you in the face?
  • Do you know where and how to look?
  • Can you hear a gift in your client’s question?

We’ve identified at least thirteen different areas where you can spot gifts that others will probably never see. And those areas have sub-areas.

It’s really helpful to have a track to run on. Think of it as “Gifts Positioning System (GPS). Here are a few things to look at:

  • Too much income;
  • Too little income;
  • Wills & trusts;
  • Schedule A of form 1040. A ton more of course…

2. Technical:

Knowledge of each of the types of gifts;

  • The tax rules,
  • The types of assets and all of the other aspects involved in making and completing a gift are included in this category. 
  • Where and when to apply a certain gift technique and what the implications are for the donor and for the charity are also included here.

There is a lot of information out there, but getting to some of the nuances of all of the techniques on your own can be a challenge. This is where many advisors feel very comfortable and it’s not horribly hard to become functionally literate at this. Again, however, you don’t know what you don’t know and a small mistake can lead to big problems. Those who are comfortable can reap the benefits of unsolicited referrals and increased income.

3. "The Conversation":

The topic involves speaking to clients and prospects in a much different way than most advisors are used to doing. We put this in quotes simply because it points to one of the biggest challenges about the topic;

  • How do you know where to begin to approach clients differently?
  • What do you say?
  • How do you say it?
  • How will they react?

It makes many advisors uncomfortable to think about asking about family values and legacy and vision statements. Yet, here’s the rub. This is exactly what wealthy clients are telling anyone who asks that this is exactly what they want. Getting good in this area will set you apart from most of your peers…far apart.

4. Collaboration:

Charitable planning is a team sport. Advisors need other advisors in every planning case. Who those advisors are and how they work together is a huge challenge and can mean the difference between a successful, implemented, lucrative case with a happy client, or a total disaster.

Collaborating is different than working in your individual silo and doing your piece of the work. Developing a balanced, multi-disciplinary team approach to planning takes skill, patience, diplomacy and honesty to be effective. Most advisors don’t even know where to begin to learn these skills.

Now that you have learned the four key areas to achieving mastery in planned giving, you can begin your journey with a little more certainty. Create some milestones to mark and hurdles to clear or find a place that will help you move through this subject with more certainty.  And remember, it all starts with the first step…one baby step at a time.

EzCharitable is holding a FREE webinar on August 13th at 2PM EDT. CLICK HERE to start the journey!

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