Planned Giving Policy Manual
Overview
Description
Reduce Risk
A good planned giving policy manual is an extremely useful tool for avoiding or reducing the risks, liabilities and donor relations problems associated with accepting problem gifts. It should set forth conditions, minimums, tax rules and other considerations for accepting a viable planned gift. It can also streamline the gift acceptance process by serving as a checklist for the steps required to complete each different type of planned gift.
Expand Program
Lastly, policy and procedures are commonplace in other areas like investments, endowment management, finance and accounting. With good planned giving policies and procedures in place, board members, financial offices and others responsible for setting institutional policy will have greater confidence in the maturity and sophistication of the development program. They will be far more inclined to support the planned giving effort by serving as a key referral network for outright and deferred planned gifts.
Training Tool
Similarly, a good policy manual takes the mystery out of planned giving by compiling important rules and requirements in a working document that can be used as a desk reference manual and training guide for everyone involved in the ongoing gift solicitation and acceptance process.
The Manual
The Planned Giving Policy Manual is widely regarded as the #1 sample policy and procedures manual for promoting and accepting non-cash gifts. The manual is easy to read, accurate and authoritative. It is available as a downloadable word-processing document in MS Word format. The document can be easily personalized throughout with the name of your non-profit organization, and readily adapted to the needs of each charity.
This is a unique document which includes the following for each major type of planned gift:
- suggested policies and procedures
- marketing concepts
- tax issues and
- graphic or pictorial illustrations.
These features are combined in one policy manual in order to place each gift vehicle in proper perspective for board members, volunteers, staff and others.
The Author
T. Joseph McKay, JD, CPA, CLU
Joe McKay is a planned giving consultant based in Denver, CO. Since the start of his development career in 1986, he has served as the planned giving officer for nationally recognized higher education and healthcare organizations, including the:
- LDS Foundation at Brigham Young University (BYU)
- University of New Mexico (UNM) Foundation as Associate Director of Development and Director of Trusts and Bequests
- Baylor College of Medicine as the Senior Director of Gift Planning
- Catholic Healthcare West as the Vice President for Fund Development, overseeing five regional planned giving officers serving 40+ hospitals and 23 fundraising foundations
- Henry Ford Health System as Director of Gift Planning in a "boutique" development office serving donors in Southeastern Michigan, and
- University of Denver as Senior Director of Gift Planning
Earlier at BYU he was a key participant in the working group that developed a unique policy manual format incorporating marketing concepts, and tax issues along with the policies and procedures and graphic illustrations for each type of planned giving vehicle. This format later became the hallmark of the PlannedGiving.com Policy Manual.
Joe is a frequent speaker on development topics, including "Gift Acceptance Policy Manual: Powerful Tool to Mobilize Planned Giving While Minimizing Risk" which he first presented at the Ninth National Conference on Planned Giving in Chicago. He is a member of the Planned Giving Roundtable of Southeastern Michigan and is the past president of the Planned Giving Council of Houston.