June 10, 2004 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Complete Guide to Planned Giving: Everything You Need to Know to Compete Successfully for Major Gifts, Third Edition
by Debra Ashton
This book offers advice on starting and operating a successful planned-giving program. Debra Ashton, who leads a planned-giving consulting firm in Quincy, Mass., says that fund raisers should understand how to structure, value, and administer gifts, as well as how to develop strong relationships with donors and prospective donors.
Ms. Ashton begins by offering suggestions to nonprofit groups that do not yet solicit planned gifts. She discusses how to hire the group’s first full-time director of planned giving, involve board members in overseeing and soliciting such gifts, and develop a master plan that includes dollar goals and a budget for expenses. She also gives tips on identifying prospective donors and selecting legal counsel.
One section of the book is devoted to describing the tax considerations and ramifications of various gift plans on nonprofit organizations, donors, and donors’ heirs and beneficiaries. It covers such giving structures as bequests and charitable remainder trusts, and gifts of life insurance, mutual funds, real estate, and stocks.
The book also advises fund raisers on creating written documents about a group’s planned-giving program, and on integrating planned giving into capital campaigns and other major-gift programs. It includes a list of consultants, directories to help search for potential donors, information about fund-raising software, and sample gift agreements.
Publisher: Ashton Associates, 24 Robertson Street, Quincy, Mass. 02169; (617) 472-9316; http://www.debraashton.com; 568 pages; $95; I.S.B.N. 0-9705818-0-7.
