March 26, 2009 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Too often, the expense and complexity of seeking bequests and other planned gifts put the fund-raising technique out of reach for local social-service organizations. But in the New York area, three youth charities are joining forces to try to surmount the obstacles.
“It’s a very important area as far as future dollars,” says Jeff Sobel, a vice president at Safe Space, in New York. “Social services don’t really have a way to compete against the universities or hospitals or museums of the world that have full-time staff and departments dedicated to planned giving.”
The Children’s Village, Inwood House, and Safe Space were working together on a program to help young people “aging out” of the foster-care system when they first talked about the possibility of collaborating on planned giving.
The charities formed a separate organization, the Children’s Support Foundation, to coordinate their joint activities. Through the foundation, the groups have developed marketing materials, such as brochures, that their fund raisers can use when they discuss planned-giving opportunities with donors; selected a financial company to administer gifts; and set up an advisory committee of estate lawyers and financial advisers.
Visible Benefits
Already the groups have seen the benefits of working together.
About 10 years ago, the Children’s Village, in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., tried to start soliciting planned gifts on its own, but the organization could not find a financial institution to provide the necessary back-office services to handle the commitments it received. By contrast, six companies competed to provide those services for the joint effort, with J.P. Morgan Chase submitting the winning bid.
The Children’s Village is very close to winning its first planned gift as part of the new effort, a charitable annuity worth many thousands of dollars. The charity is waiting for final approval from the State of New York for a license that will allow it to issue the annuities. But over all, the difficult economic climate has proved to be a challenge.
In April 2008, the charities’ first event for prospective donors and financial advisers — a cocktail reception and panel discussion about different approaches to fighting poverty — drew more than 50 people. But a planned breakfast meeting in November, which had been scheduled as the effort’s formal launch, was canceled because of the turmoil on Wall Street.
For now the focus is on cultivating prospective donors, rather than soliciting gifts, says Linda M. Stutz, a vice president at the Children’s Village.
The organizations are planning another donor event for May. Ms. Stutz says that it will include a discussion about the best ways for donors to continue to give during rough times, but that no explicit fund-raising requests will be made.
“It’s really about making friends and raising awareness,” says Ms. Stutz, “and that’s something that we can be doing now.”
