The 2020 FreeWill

Planned Giving ReportAn in-depth look at the biggest trends in legacy giving

Visit us at: freewill.com/nonprofits

Table of contents

Introduction

About the report

Planned giving overview

Age

The key takeaway and data

Gender

The key takeaway and data

Marital and parental status

The key takeaway

Parental status data

Parents of minor vs adult children data

Marital status data

The most generous states

The key takeaway

States whose residents were most likely to leave a bequest

States whose residents were most likely to make a will

Pet ownership

The key takeaway and data

Digital assets

The key takeaway and data

The Coronavirus pandemic

The effect on wills and bequests

Theeffectonnonprofitwork

The data

What we learned

Acknowledgments

HowtofindoutmoreaboutFreewillandthisreport

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Planned giving — the process of donors committing to make a gift in their estate plans — is anintegralpartofnonprofitfundraising.Bequestsleftinawillandotherplannedgiftshaveamajorimpactonanonprofit’sabilitytosupportthefutureoftheirorganization.

Yetonlythemostwell-fundednonprofitshavehistoricallymaintainedrobustplannedgivingprograms.Forsmallerorganizations,it’sgenerallybeenregardedasa“nicetohave”insteadofa“needtohave.”Thisisbecausetheultimatetimingonplannedgivingrevenueisuncertain,and cultivation and stewardship are time-consuming.

Meanwhile,mostpeopleassumethatestateplanningisexpensive,ortheyfinditintimidating.Asaresult,70%ofAmericansdon’thaveanup-to-datewill.1However,thismayberapidlychanging.InthefaceoftheCoronaviruspandemic,Americansarerushingtomakewills2 — anddecidingwheretoallocatetheirbequestdollarsrightnow.OnFreeWill,wesawa163%increase in wills made in March compared to the previous year.

Iftherehaseverbeenatimeforanonprofittoinvestinplannedgiving,thisisit.Beyondanincreaseinwills,theU.S.isabouttoexperiencethegreatestwealthtransferinhumanhistory.Overthenext25years,BabyBoomerswillpassanestimated$30to$60trillionontothenextgeneration.3Nonprofitsthatcultivatetheirsupportersnowwillreapthebenefitsinbequests.

BetweenrecentchangestotheU.S.taxcodeandtheeconomiceffectsofaglobalpandemic,plannedgivinghasbecomeallthemoreessentialforfundraisingnonprofits.AccordingtoarecentGalluppoll,thepercentageofAmericansdonatingtocharityhashitanewlow.4 2018sawthefirstyear-over-yeardecreaseincharitablegivingfromindividualsinmorethanfiveyears.ThiswasmostlikelyspurredbyfewerAmericansitemizingdeductionsontheirtaxreturns,aswellasanerraticstockmarketattheendoftheyear.While2019wasaparticularlystrongyearforcharitablegiving,2020willlookmorelike2018asmanystruggletostayafloatinatroubledeconomy.

Introduction

1 2020 Estate Planning and Wills Study. https://www.caring.com/caregivers/estate-planning/wills-

survey2 Americans rush to make online wills in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. https://www.cnbc.

com/2020/03/25/coronavirus-pandemic-triggers-rush-by-americans-to-make-online-wills.html3 $68 trillion is about to change hands in the US. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/20/great-wealth-

transfer-is-passing-from-baby-boomers-to-gen-x-millennials.html4 Percentage of Americans Donating to Charity at New Low. https://news.gallup.com/poll/310880/

percentage-americans-donating-charity-new-low.aspx 3

However,thisdoesn’tmeanthatAmericansdon’twanttogivetocausestheycareabout.Infact,Gallupalsoreportedthat25%ofpeoplehopetoincreasetheircharitablegivingin2021.Ifnonprofitscantapintothisdesiretohelpwithoutcostingdonorsacentrightnow,theywillhaveanincredibleopportunitytorecoupwhatcouldbesignificantlossesinannualgiving.

Mycofounder,JennyXiaSpradling,andIlaunchedFreeWillin2017inthebeliefthatthetoolsandprinciplesofgrassrootsdigitalfundraisingcouldextendplannedgivingfarbeyonditsexistinghorizons.Inthepastthreeyears,ourfreeonlineestateplanningtoolshavehelpedmorethan160,000peoplewritelegalwillsonlineorpreparedocumentedwishestotaketoatrustandestatesattorney.Fromthis,we’vegeneratedmorethan$1.6billionincommittedplannedgivingrevenuefornonprofitorganizations.58%ofourusershavenevermadeawillbefore,suggestingthatthesebequests—withanaveragegiftsizeofmorethan$60,000—represent a pool of planned giving revenue that would have otherwise gone untapped.

Inoursecondannualplannedgivingreport,we’reproudtopresentanin-depthanalysisofthebiggesttrendsinlegacygivingoverthepastyear.Buildingoffour2019report,5we’vecollectedevenmoredatatoproducetheclearestlookintoplannedgivingyet:whogives,howmuch,andfromwhereinthecountry.We’vealsoaddedanentirelynewsectionthatexaminestheeffectsoftheCoronaviruspandemiconplannedgiftsandnonprofitteams.

Ourpresentmomentrepresentsamassivefundraisingopportunityforplannedgivingofficersandthenonprofitswhobenefitfromtheiroutstandingwork.Ihopethisreportisusefultoyouandyourorganizationsasyoudevelopstrategiestomaximizefundraisingsoyoucankeepworking to make the world a better place.

Sincerely,

Patrick SchmittCo-CEO FreeWill

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5 FreeWill 2019 Planned Giving Report. https://www.freewill.com/planned-giving-report-2019

ThisreportisananalysisofestateplansandbequestsmadethroughFreeWill’splatformfromJune2019toJune2020.Inthattime,81,649FreeWilluserscompletedfreelegalwills(ordocumentedtheirwishestobetakentoanattorney).Ofthosewills,10,358includedcharitablebequests,totallinganexpectedvalueof$800,660,901.

Overthecourseofthisreport,wereviewedeightdifferentvariablesandconsideredeachinterms of how they correlated to the four following data points:

1. The total number of wills made 2. The number of bequests made 3.Theexpectedvalueofthosebequests6

4. The number of wills made that include a bequest

Wherepossibleandappropriate,wesoughttobalanceourinsightagainstpubliclyavailableandverifiablestatistics.

Throughoutthereport,wehavealsoincludedsuggestedlearningpointsandusecasesinthehopes that they spur inspiration and thought.

About the Report

Patient Access Network (PAN) Foundation hassecuredmorethan$1millioninbe-quest commitments through FreeWill in the past year. Their mission is to help under-insured people with life-threatening conditions get access to treatment. Since their supportersareparticularlyvulnerabletoCoronavirus,theywantedtobeextremelycarefulwithoutreacharoundplannedgivingduringthepandemic.InApril,theyofferedFreeWillasaresourcetotheircommunityinacarefully-crafted,COVID-awareemail.They focused on encouraging people to consider making a will to protect their loved ones.Fromthere,theyfollowedupwithinterestedsupporterswithagentleask,gen-eratingadozennewbequestcommitmentswithinamatterofweeks.Alongsideemailcommunications,PANFoundationalsoprovidessupportersclearinformationontheirwebsite on how to easily make gifts in their wills.

6ThevastmajorityofbequestsmadeonFreeWill’sestateplanningtoolsaremadeaspercentagesofthewillwriter’sestate,ratherthanasacashlumpsum.Wecalculatethevalueofthebequestbasedonthe estimated value of the estate as provided by the will writer. 5

Thedatawe’vecollectedonFreeWillprovidesanexcitinglookintotheplannedgivinglandscapeasawhole.Onourplatform,donorsfromacrosstheUnitedStateschosetoleavegiftsintheirwilltoavarietyofnonprofits—fromanimalshelterstouniversitiestomuseums— and in greatly varying amounts.

Bymakingwillsaccessibletoeveryone,wewereabletoopenupplannedgivingtoamuchwideraudiencethannonprofitsnormallytarget.Whilemanyorganizationsonlyhavethecapacitytoasktheirtopdonorsforbequests,FreeWillmakesiteasyforthemtobringinthousands of small dollar donors as well.

Asexpected,thehigherthevalueofanindividual’sassets,themorelikelytheyweretogive.However,thelikelihoodforindividualswithalowerassetvalueestimatetomakeabequestwasnotinsignificant.Ofwillmakerswithlessthan$200,000inassets,12%stillchosetoleaveabequest.Thissuggeststhat,whenpresentedwithanaccessiblewaytomakeplannedgifts,manynonprofitsupportersareeagertogive.

Planned giving overview

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Donor’sestimatedassetvalue %ofwillswithbequests

Lessthan$200K 12.48%

$200K-$500K 11.57%

$500K-$1M 13.30%

$1M-$2M 15.87%

$2M-$5M 17.80%

$5M-$10M 21.58%

$10M+ 26.32%

Bequestsonourplatformrangedfromaslowas$100tomorethan$50million.Themeansizeofabequestwas$60,828.Justover13%ofwillswithbequestsincludedmorethanonebequest,averagingoutto1.3bequestsperwill.Asaresult,themeansizeofallgiftswithinawillwithabequestwas$82,232.

Furthermore,67%ofdonorsonourplatformoptedintosharetheircontactinformationwiththeirnonprofitbeneficiaries.Thisismuchhigherthanthegeneralplannedgivinglandscape.WhenGivingUSAconductedinterviewswithdonorsinearly2019,theyfoundthatonly4%ofdonorsalwaystelltheorganizationabouttheirplannedgifts,and38.7%ofdonorssometimesinformtheorganization.7Our own research from 2016 (prior to launching FreeWill) foundthatthenumberofdonorsinformingorganizationsaboutplannedgiftswasbetween20%to25%—muchlowerthanthedonorsonourplatformnow.

Thismeansthatacrosstheindustry,nonprofitsareunabletothankorstewardthemajorityof their planned giving donors. FreeWill is working to solve this problem by making it easy for donorstosharetheirinformationandlettingthemknowwhyit’simportanttotheworkofthenonprofitthey’resupporting.

7 New study on planned giving reveals key insights into donor motivations and behaviors.GivingUSA.https://givingusa.org/just-released-special-report-leaving-a-legacy-a-new-look-at-planned-giving-donors/

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The key takeaway

Age8

As Americans get older, they become less likely to leave gifts to a charity in their will. Yet,thetotalvalueoftheirbequestsincreasessignificantly.Middle-agedadults(45-64)onlymakeupapproximately35%oftheAmericanadultpopulation,buttheyrepresentmorethan41%ofallthewillsandnearly50%ofthetotalvalue of all charitable bequests made on our platform.Alladultsover44givemorethan80%of total bequest dollars.

Plannedgivingofficershavelongfocusedtheireffortsandresourcesonmiddle-agedandolderdonors.Thedatawe’vecollectedvalidatesthatstrategy.Whilepeopleover45arelesslikely to include a charitable bequest than their younger counterparts (probably due to the fact thatmoreofthemhavechildren,whichleadstolowerbequestingrates),thetotalvalueoftheirbequestsisapproximately400%higher.

However,fundraiserswouldberemisstoignorebequestintentfromyoungeradults.Peopleaged 18 to 24 are far more likely to make a bequest than any other age group. While the value oftheirgiftstendstobesignificantlylowerthanotheragegroupsandtherealizationoftheirgiftsisfarintothefuture,theyclearlywanttosupportcausestheycareabout.Fornonprofits,they may represent a low-cost opportunity to capture interest in giving that will likely pay greatdividendsnotonlyinthedecadestocome,butinthepresent,aswell.

Onceadonorincludesanonprofitintheirwill,theyaremuchmorelikelytogivetothatorganizationagaininthefuture.Researchshowsthatbequestdonorsincreasetheiraverageannualgivingbymorethan50%.9Plus,youngeradultswillincreaseinnetworthastheyage.Ifnonprofitscontinuetostewardtheseyoungplannedgivingdonors,theymayseelargerbequest commitments from them as they update their estate plans throughout their lives. It alsopresentsagreatopportunityfornonprofitstocultivatethesedonorsintoalifetimeofannual giving.

8 We have only considered wills made by people over the age of 18 in this analysis.9 The Emerging Potential of Longitudinal Empirical Research in Estate Planning: Examples from

Charitable Bequests.RussellN.JamesIII.https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/53/5/symposium/

files/53-5_James.pdfhttp://www.encouragegenerosity.com/ACBD.pdf8

The data

The average age of a willmaker on FreeWill is 55. Those aged 18 to 24 make up more than 13%oftheUSadultpopulation,butonlyaccountfor2.31%ofwillsmadeonourplatform.Theoverwhelmingmajorityofwills,almost70%,aremadebythoseaged45to84—despitethemrepresentingonly50%oftheadultpopulation.Thedivergencebetweentheshareofpopulation and the share of wills being written is particularly pronounced for people aged 65 to84.Theyaccountforjust14.83%oftheadultpopulationbutalmosttwicetherelativeshareofwillsat27.54%.

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Ages%USadultpopulation

%willsmade%bequests

made%valueofbequests

%willswithbequests

18-24 13.08% 2.31% 3.84% 2.46% 22.18%

25-44 35.02% 26.97% 28.54% 17.26% 14.22%

45-64 34.74% 41.52% 43.34% 48.55% 12.90%

65-84 14.83% 27.54% 23.46% 31.14% 10.63%

85+ 2.34% 1.65% 0.82% 0.58% 6.91%

The key takeaway

Gender

As a whole, men are less likely to write wills and leave bequests to charity. Butwhattheylackinquantity,theymakeupforinsheerdollarvalue.Whilewomengavealmost60%ofthebequestsmadeonourplatform,theyonlyrepresent45%ofthetotalvalueofcharitablecontributions. The number of bequests made by women during this period of analysis jumped bysixpercentagepointsoverour2019analysisofthefirst50,000willsmadeonourplatform.Andthetotalvalueoftheirbequestsjumpedbyfivepercentagepoints.Inour2019report,wehadfoundthatmenweremorelikelytomakebequests.However,thischangedinthepastyear.Inthisanalysis,wefoundthatmalewillmakersarenowslightlylesslikelytoleavebequests than women — though the difference is less than two percentage points.

ThefirststageoftheGreatWealthTransferwillmostlikelybefrommen(whohavestatistically shorter lifespans than women) as they leave their assets to their spouses. Followingthislogic,plannedgivingofficersmaythinkthattheyshouldfocustheirresourcesprimarilyonfemaledonors.However,thefewerbequestsfrommenarestilllikelytobeworthconsiderablymorethanthesamenumberofbequestsfromwomen.Knowingthis,nonprofitsmaywanttodedicatetimetocultivatinggiftsfrombothgendersequallyforthenextfewyears.AstimegoesonandmoreoftheBabyBoomergenerationpassesaway,nonprofitsshouldfocusmoreoftheireffortsonwomen,whowillbegininheritingtheirpartner’sassetsand giving more and larger gifts.

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The data

WomenmakeuphalftheUSadultpopulation,buttheycreatedmorethan56%ofthewillsmade on our platform.

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Gender %willsmade %bequestsmade %valueofbequests %willswithbequests

Female 56.38% 59.58% 45.44% 13.28%

Male 43.62% 40.42% 54.56% 11.96%

The key takeaway

Parental status data

Marital and parental status

Individuals with fewer family attachments are much more likely to include a charitable bequest in their wills.Morethan75%ofourwillmakersareparents,butonly10%ofthem chose to leave a bequest.

Forthosewithoutchildren,however,thelikelihood of leaving a bequest more than doubled.Over20%ofadultswithoutchildren chose to give to charity. Their bequestswerealsosignificantlylarger,representingaround63%ofthetotalvalueof charitable gifts. This data will not be surprisingtomanyplannedgivingofficers,who have seen this in their work and made it a big part of their stewardship and cultivation strategies.

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Parents of minor vs adult children data

There was a difference in the giving habits of parents who had only adult children and those whohadminorchildren.Knowingtheageofouraveragewillmakeris55,it’snotsurprisingthatwillmakerswithadultchildrenaccountedformorethan73%ofallthewillsmadebyparents.Thesewillmakerswerealsoslightlymorelikelytomakebequests.Plus,theygaveasignificantlylargernumberofbequestsperwillandatamuchgreatertotalvalue.

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Marital status data

Peoplewhoareunmarriedarethemostlikelytoleaveabequestintheirwill,andforthatbequesttobeofasignificantsize.Marriedwillmakerscreatednearly55%ofthewillsonourplatform,butonly10%ofthemchosetogivetocharity.Thissuggeststhattheyaremuchmore likely to want to leave a larger portion of their estate to their spouse or partner. Divorced individuals and those in domestic partnerships gave bequests at around the same rate. Surprisingly,however,widowedindividualsweremuchlesslikelytogivethanthosewhoweresingle or divorced.

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Marital status %willsmade %bequestsmade %valueofbequests%willswith

bequests

Single 21.26% 33.22% 30.53% 18.46%

Married 54.29% 42.67% 46.40% 10.56%

Divorced 13.92% 15.61% 14.37% 14.17%

Widowed 7.09% 4.52% 6.48% 8.75%

Domestic partner 3.44% 3.99% 2.23% 14.95%

The key takeaway

The most generous states

The most generous location is not a state, but the capital, Washington, DC. Nearly30%ofwillmakers in DC chose to make a bequest. Of wills created on FreeWill,thereisgenerallyahighcorrelation between the likelihood of making a bequest and locations that have strong economies and higher concentrations of wealth. California and New York follow DC for a high percentage of wills withbequests,aswellastheaverage number of bequests per will.Andallfiveofthelocationswith the highest number of bequests—DC,California,NewYork,Hawaii,andAlaska—areinthetopfifteenstatesintermsofmedian household income.

DC’saveragenumberofbequestsperwillisdoubleCalifornia’saverage—thecloseststatebehind it. So while this geographic correlation suggests that the relative wealth of an area is oneofthemostimportantfactorswhenconsideringthelikelihoodofplannedgiving,itisnotthe only factor. Another major factor is a bit harder to measure: the passion and idealism of an area’sresidents.

Washington,DCisthehomeoftheUnitedStatesfederalgovernment,aswellasthegravitationalcenterofthenonprofitecosystem.AsignificantproportionofnationalnonprofitsareheadquarteredinDC.Peoplewholiveandworkintheareaarelikelytobeidealistic,committedtopublicservice,andcommunity-minded.Itisnotsurprising,therefore,thatDCresidents leave bequests in their wills at such a high rate.

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The data

States whose residents were most likely to leave a bequest

Ofpeoplewhomadeawillwithus,thosewhochosetoincludebequestsathigherratescamefromverydifferentareas.Inour2019report,wefoundthatVermontcameinsecondtoDCintermsoftheaveragenumberofbequestsperwill.Inthepastyear,however,itwasbumpedoutofourtopfivebyAlaska—showinganevengreaterdifference(geographically,politically,and culturally) in the areas that are likely to make planned gifts.

Asinourlastreport,wedecidedtocompareplannedgivinginDCagainstanothermajorEastCoastcity:NewYorkCity.DC’sgenerositywasevengreaterinourcurrentfindingsthanitwaspreviously.

New York City:

• 2019PlannedGivingReport:38bequestsper100wills

• 2020 Planned Giving Report: 33 bequests per 100 wills

District of Columbia:

• 2019PlannedGivingReport:42bequestsper100wills

• 2020 Planned Giving Report: 46 bequests per 100 wills

WhileDC’saveragenumberofplannedgiftswentup,NewYork’sgiftsdropped.ThedifferencebetweenthetwomajorcitiesshowanevengreaterlikelihoodthatDC’sresidentsare much more primed to give.

10 American Community Survey, Household Income: 2018.U.S.CensusBureau.https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2019/acs/acsbr18-01.html

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Rank State %willswithbequestsAvg # of bequests

per willMedian household

income10

1 DC 27.86% 0.46 $85,203

2 California 18.54% 0.25 $75,277

3 New York 16.64% 0.21 $67,844

4 Hawaii 15.81% 0.20 $80,212

5 Alaska 15.53% 0.21 $74,346

11 2018 National and State Population Estimates,U.S.CensusBureau.https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-kits/2018/pop-estimates-national-state.html12 Here’s how old the typical person is in each US state. https://www.businessinsider.com/state-median-age-map-2018-11

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States whose residents were most likely to make a will

We calculated how many wills made on FreeWill came from each state and then considered thatagainsttheshareofthestate-widepopulation,11 allowing us to see which states over-indexed.

Giventhelinkbetweenolderageandlikelihoodofmakingawill,it’snotsurprisingthatFloridatopsourlistofstatesforwillsmadeabovetherelativeshareofpopulation.Florida,ahavenforretirees,ranksfifthintheU.S.forthehighestmedianage.However,severalofthetopstatesforwillwritersrankedinthebottomfifteenformedianage.Thesewerethesamestatesthatover-indexedinour2019findings:Colorado,Georgia,andWashington.Inlastyear’sreport,NewYorkalsoover-indexed.However,thisyear,thestatefellfarbehind,under-indexingat0.42%,andbeingreplacedinourtopfivebySouthCarolina.

Rank State%ofwillsmadeabove

population shareMedian age12 Age rank (highest to

lowest)

1 Florida 1.76% 42 5

2 Georgia 1.24% 36.8 40

3 Colorado 0.87% 36.8 40

4 Washington 0.85% 37.7 35

5 South Carolina 0.72% 39.4 15

The key takeaway

Pet ownership

Pet owners are 55% more likely to give to charity in their wills than people who either don’t have pets or choose not to provide for their pets in their will. Nearly18%ofpeoplewhoincludedtheirpetsintheirwillsmadebequests—wellabovetheaverageof12.7%forwillmakers on our platform. This strong correlation between pet ownership and inclination towardplannedgivingrepresentsasignificantopportunityfordevelopmentprofessionals,particularlythosewhoworkforanimalandwildlife-focusednonprofits.Bytargetinganimalowners,fundraisersmayfindthattheyareabletoincreasetheirnumberofgiftcommitmentsand generate more interest in planned giving.

Itshouldbenoted,however,thatthevalueofbequestsfrompetownersislower.Only11%ofpeoplewithoutpetsleftbequestsintheirwill,buttheirgiftswere16%largeronaverage.Eventhoughgiftsfrompetownersmaybesmaller,theabilitytoraisealargerquantityofthem can make up for value.

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Soi Dog receivednearly$600,000inbequestpledgesthrough FreeWill in just one month.

BasedinThailandwithalargeU.S.following,SoiDogwanted to grow their legacy society and support their mission to improve the welfare of dogs and cats in Asia. They launched their partnership with FreeWill inMay2020,testingemailsthatfocusedontheirdedicationtohelpinganimalsandexperimentingwithlanguage that shared FreeWill as a resource. They foundthatasoftask,encouragingtheirsupporterstoprotectthepeopleandpetstheylovewithawill,wasfar more effective than a direct ask to create a legacy. Withjusttwoemails,theygained15bequestsfromnew planned giving donors and generated hundreds of thousandstosupportthefutureoftheirorganization. 19

The data

Morethan75%ofwillsonourplatformweremadebypeoplewhodidn’townpets,orchosenot to include provisions for their pets in their wills.

The key takeaway

Digital assets

More than 80% of people choose not to make plans for their digital assets in their wills, but those who do are much more likely to include charitable bequests. BecauseFreeWillisanonlinesoftware,allofourwillmakersareinternetusers,presumedtohavedigitalassets.Digitalassetscanincludesocialmediaaccounts,digitalphotos,emailaccounts,domainnames,andmore.However,only16%ofwillwritersonourplatformmadeanysortofplanfortheirdigitalassets—twopercentagepointslowerthanourfindingsinour2019report.

Asinourlastreport,wefoundasurprisingcorrelationbetweendigitalassetplanningandcharitablegiving.Morethan18%ofwillmakerswhoincludedplansfortheirdigitalassetsalsoleftabequesttoacharitableorganization.Incomparison,only11.49%ofthosewithoutdigitalasset plans made gifts.

OverthenextyearastheUnitedStatesgrappleswiththeeffectsoftheCoronaviruspandemic,itwon’tbesurprisingifmostfundraisinggoesdigital.Thismeansthatnonprofitorganizationswillbegrowingtheironlinedonorslists,resultinginasignificantopportunitytohelptheirdonorswhilealsoraisingmoreplannedgiftcommitments.Nonprofitscanofferthese donors free online estate planning services with a reminder that they can use it not only fortheir“realworld”property,butalsofortheirdigitalassets.Knowingthatwillmakerswithplansfortheirdigitalassetsaremorelikelytogive,thiscouldresultinasignificantnumberofbequests.

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The data

The effect on wills and bequests

The Coronavirus pandemic

The Coronavirus pandemic is driving an incredible increase both in the number of people making wills as well as the number of bequests. SincethestartofthepandemicintheU.S.inMarch,theriseinwill-makinghasbeenrepeatedlyreportedinthemedia,andbroughtarushofnewuserstooursite.Whilewemightexpectabroaderaudiencetodecreasethenumberofpeopleinterestedinmakingplannedgifts,wefoundthattheoppositewastrue.InMarchalone,wesawa400%increaseinthenumberofwillswithbequestscomparedtothesamemonthin2019,andclosetoa200%increasecomparedtothemonthbefore(February2020).

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AsCoronavirusinfectionsappearedtobesubsidinginMayandJune,willsandbequestsbegantodropbacktopriorlevels.Then,asinfectionsreemergedaggressivelythroughouttheU.S.,thenumberswentbackup.InAugust,willswithbequestsincreasedbynearly300%over the same time last year.

Towardsthebeginningofthepandemic,manyorganizationswerenervousabouttheirplannedgivingcommunications,fearingthattheywouldappearinsensitive.However,nonprofitsthattappedintothemomentandprovidedfreeestateplanningresourcestotheirsupportersfoundsignificantsuccesswithplannedgiving.Thiswascrucialfortheminaperiod where record numbers of workers were laid off and unable to support the causes they cared about with cash donations.

WesurveyedhundredsofnonprofitfundraisingprofessionalsinbothMarchandAprilof2020,askingthemiftheyhadseenanincreaseordecreaseingifttypes.Oftheseprofessionals,33%reportedthatannualgivingdecreasedinMarchand39%reportedadecreaseinApril.Forplannedgiving,ontheotherhand,only10%and8%sawadecreaseforMarchandApril,respectively.Andasignificantnumber—nearly18%inMarchand22%inApril—sawanincrease in planned gifts.

Asthepandemiccontinues,nonprofitshavetheopportunitytoreachtheirsupportersabouttheimportanceofestateplanning.Withthoughtful,sensitivemessaging,organizationscanconnectwiththeirsupportersonadeeperlevel,meettheirneeds,andcontinuetoeffectivelygenerate much needed funds for their mission.

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The effect on nonprofit work

The Coronavirus pandemic radically affected how planned giving officers work. Donor events and in-person visits are a crucial part of most fundraising strategies for planned and majorgivingteams.Beginninginmid-March,webeganholdingaweekly(nowbi-monthly)webinarseries,andsurveyinghundredsofnonprofitprofessionalsbeforeeachone.ByMarch20,nearly95%ofnonprofitprofessionalsreportedthattheyhadbegunworkingfromhome.Alldonorvisitswerepausedfor90%ofthem,and81%reportedthattheirorganizationhadcanceledin-personeventsforthenextfewmonths.

AtFreeWill,wesawasurgeininterestinhowtoadjustfundraisingstrategies,holdvirtualevents,andmeaningfullyconnectwithsupportersonline.ByApril10,nonprofitsbegantestingnewstrategiestoengagetheirdonors.Nearly28%reportedthattheyhadswitchedanin-personeventtoavirtualeventandmorethan71%hadincreasedphonecalls.Bybeingflexibleandembracingnewmodelsofwork,manynonprofitswereabletoslowlossesinannualandmajorgifts.Somewereevenabletoreversethetide,reportingincreasesinannual,major,andplannedgivinginApril.

The data

Increases to wills and bequests

Wesawasignificantincreaseinthenumberofwillsandbequestsmadeonourplatformasthepandemicsurged.We’vehighlightedingreenwherewesawovera100%increaseandhighlighted in red where we saw a decrease.

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Changes to annual, major, and planned giving

ThemajorityofnonprofitsreporteddecreasesinannualandmajorgivingduringMarchandApril,thoughsomewereabletoseeincreases.Whileafewnonprofitsreporteddecreasesinplannedgiving,manymorereportedanincreaseinthosegifts.

2020 in comparison to the

same months in2019

%changeinwills made

%changeinbequests made

%changeinvalue of bequests

%changeinwills with bequests

Feb 2020 68.19% 118.80% 102.31% 109.90%

Mar 2020 163.51% 348.25% 84.30% 446.25%

Apr 2020 13.30% 109.97% -21.41% 162.41%

May 2020 -31.69% 20.40% -52.16% 44.48%

Jun2020 6.67% 56.15% -17.74% 81.82%

Jul2020 92.84% 195.22% 84.93% 246.93%

Aug 2020 101.79% 276.59% 79.91% 295.21%

What we learned

InoursecondannualPlannedGivingReport,wefoundfurtherevidencethatolderdonors,particularlythosewithoutchildrenorclosefamilyconnections,givethemajorityofcharitablebequestdollars.Thissupportsmostplannedgivingofficers’long-heldstrategies.However,thesedonortypesshouldn’tbeagiftofficer’ssolefocus.Iftheyare,fundraisersmaymissoutonopportunitiestoreachyoung,passionatedonors,animallovers,thoseinunexpectedlocations,andmore.

Throughthetrendssurfacedinourresearch,it’sclearthatthemostsignificantdriverofplannedgivingisnotjustaperson’snetworth,butalsotheirlevelofpassionforissuesandcauses they care about.

Inanunprecedentedyearwheremanydonorswillbeimpactedbyeconomiclosses,thebestplannedgivingstrategyistoreachabroaderaudienceandimplementthoughtful,sophisticated outreach. While a wider focus may mean a lower average monetary value per gift,thesheerincreaseofnewbequestscanmakeupforthis.Plus,bringinginnewplannedgiving donors will mean more individuals to steward into a lifetime of annual giving and engagement.

WithdigitalplatformslikeFreeWill,organizationshavethepotentialtosolicitplannedgiftsatscale and support their mission for years to come. Reaching new planned giving communities does not have to replace traditional one-to-one relationship building by planned giving officers.Instead,itshouldaugmentitandprovidesupporterswiththeopportunitytomakea meaningful impact on the causes they care about — even when they might not be able to makecashgifts.Thiswillhelpsignificantlyincreaserevenueoutcomesforfundraisersformanyyearsintotheirorganization’sfuture.

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Acknowledgments

HowtofindoutmoreaboutFreeWillandthisreport

Wecouldn’thavecreatedthisreport(ordonetheworkthatleduptoit)withouttheparticipationofourincrediblenonprofitpartnersintheeducation,healthcare,environmentalsustainability,disasterresponse,religious,andadvocacysectors.It’saprivilegetoworkwiththem as they make the world a better place.

Ifyou’reinterestedinlearningmoreabouthowFreeWillcanaccelerateplannedgivingatyourorganization,pleasegotowww.freewill.com/nonprofits.

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