Key takeaways:
- Planned giving is an important yet underutilized revenue stream that provides long-term stability for nonprofits, educational institutions, and healthcare organizations.
- Common pain points include lack of qualified donor identification, limited staff capacity, fragmented data, and difficulty navigating global philanthropy.
- Data-driven prospecting is essential. Tools that include verified HNW/UHNW profiles, board and executive mapping, and CRM integrations can surface the right donors faster.
- A structured donor journey (awareness → cultivation → solicitation → stewardship) can increase planned giving conversion and ensure long-term engagement.
- The upcoming generational wealth transfer represents a massive opportunity, but nonprofits must tailor strategies for Next Gen donors who value transparency and impact.
- The future of planned giving will be shaped by digital engagement, global reach, and Next Gen philanthropists. Gen X and Millennial donors are poised to redefine legacy giving through technology, transparency, and engaging earlier than previous generations.
- Success metrics for planned giving strategy tracking include pipeline growth, number of legacy society members, and percentage of donors reached through warm relationship paths.
Introduction: Why planned giving matters more than ever
In an era of economic uncertainty, shifting donor expectations, and growing competition for philanthropic dollars, nonprofits must diversify their fundraising strategies. One of the most underutilized but powerful approaches is planned giving. Planned giving refers to structured, long-term commitments donors make through wills, trusts, and other financial instruments.
Planned giving is not just for the largest universities or hospitals. Any nonprofit can establish a robust program that secures financial stability for decades to come. Yet, many development teams struggle with launching or scaling such programs due to resource constraints, lack of data, and difficulty identifying qualified prospects.
Top pain points that nonprofits face
Even organizations that understand the importance of planned giving face obstacles that prevent reaching full potential.
1. Identifying qualified donors
Not all nonprofits have strong enough systems for identifying and segmenting high-capacity donors. Many rely on instinct rather than data, which creates a disadvantage from the start.
2. Limited staff capacity
Nonprofit fundraising teams spend a disproportionate amount of their time on manual research and administrative tasks, leaving less time for donor engagement.
3. Data silos and outdated information
Many organizations struggle with fragmented donor data, resulting in missed opportunities for cultivation.
4. Globalization of philanthropy
With high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals becoming increasingly mobile, Harvard Business Review notes that international giving now accounts for a growing portion of major gifts. Yet, few organizations feel equipped to navigate cross-border fundraising.
5. Competition for donor attention
Planned giving often competes with annual funds and major gifts. Nonprofits need a compelling value proposition to ensure their legacy programs resonate.
What exactly is planned giving?
Planned giving, sometimes called legacy giving, refers to donations arranged during a donor’s lifetime but allocated at a future date, often through wills, trusts, life insurance policies, or retirement plans. Unlike annual appeals or capital campaigns, planned gifts are long-term commitments that often represent the largest single donation a supporter will ever make.
Why it matters:
- Provides predictable, long-term funding
- Builds stronger, multi-generational donor relationships
- Enables donors to make transformational gifts while meeting personal financial or tax goals
Building the foundation of a planned giving program
Before launching a planned giving program, it’s important to establish a clear roadmap. The table below outlines the core steps, and the specific actions nonprofits should take at each stage.
| Step | Action |
| Clarify your vision | Align planned giving with long-term mission outcomes, e.g., funding scholarships, research, or community services |
| Secure leadership buy-in | Engage board members and leadership with data on ROI and stability benefits |
| Audit your donor base | Identify loyal, long-term donors with strong capacity indicators |
| Define policies | Set clear guidelines for how planned gifts will be accepted, managed, and recognized |
| Train your team | Ensure development staff feel confident discussing legacy giving |
Strategies for identifying planned giving prospects
Identifying who is most likely to leave a legacy gift is both art and science. Below, we compare key methods with the specific advantages Altrata tools provide.
| Method | What to do | How our tools can help |
| Wealth and lifestyle screening | Segment donors by net worth, assets, philanthropy, and lifestyle indicators | Verified HNW/UHNW profiles with human-verified accuracy |
| Relationship mapping | Surface connections through board affiliations, alumni ties, and networks | Board and executive mapping to uncover warm paths |
| CRM integration | Keep donor intelligence directly within daily workflows | Seamless integrations enrich records and eliminate manual data entry |
| Global research | Identify cross-border prospects as philanthropy globalizes | Global coverage ensures international fundraising is supported |
Crafting the donor journey for planned giving
Awareness
Educate donors about legacy options through newsletters, webinars, and website content. Use inclusive language to encourage people who want to give but may lack confidence in their ability to make an impact. For example, “Anyone can leave a legacy. It’s not about the size of the gift.”
Cultivation
Personalize outreach based on verified donor data. Highlight peer stories or testimonials. For example: “Like many of our alumni, you can ensure scholarships for generations to come.”
Solicitation
Engage trusted intermediaries (board members, attorneys, financial advisors). Use path-based targeting: Altrata’s relationship mapping helps identify who in your network can best make the introduction.
Stewardship
Recognize planned giving donors with legacy societies, exclusive events, or lifetime recognition. Stewardship is not just about thanking donors. It’s about inspiring others to follow.
Tips for launching or scaling your planned giving program
Start small, scale gradually
- Begin with your most loyal donors before expanding outreach.
Train your team
- Ensure development officers are comfortable discussing wills and estate planning. Provide them with data-backed talking points.
Leverage generational wealth transfer
- Our recently published World Ultra Wealth Report 2025, an unprecedented redistribution of global net worth is on the horizon. Gen X and Next Gen cohorts comprise 80% of the world’s ultra-wealthy by 2040, underscoring the scale of inter-generational wealth transition already underway.
Offer flexible options
- Promote bequests, charitable gift annuities, retirement plan designations, and life insurance gifts. Donors appreciate having choices.
Use technology strategically
- Tools with global coverage and alerts allow you to track when key prospects experience liquidity events, career milestones, or board appointments. These are critical moments to engage with them.
Case study: How UNHCR scales moves management
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) faced challenges managing 40,000+ records manually. By adopting Altrata for data-driven screening, they surfaced high-capacity donors inside and outside their database.
“The screening results exceeded our expectations and added a new layer of strategy to our fundraising efforts.” — Bertrand Michels, PPH Operations Manager
Planned giving insight: With verified profiles and predictive modeling, UNHCR positioned itself to secure transformational commitments from global philanthropists, not just annual gifts. Read the full case study to learn more.
Case study: How ESCP Foundation reinvented alumni engagement
The ESCP Foundation sought to strengthen alumni relationships across Europe and Asia. With Altrata wealth screening, the team pinpointed wealthy alumni for targeted engagement.
“When I have a doubt about a person, or if I want information about their wealth, the first thing I do is research Altrata’s database.” — ESCP Foundation
Planned giving insight: By combining wealth intelligence with global reach, ESCP created pathways for alumni to consider legacy gifts that sustain their alma mater’s impact for generations. Read the full case study to learn more.
Advanced strategies for nonprofits, education, and healthcare
Each sector approaches planned giving differently. The table below highlights strategies tailored to nonprofits, education, and healthcare, with concrete examples.
| Sector | Strategy | How-to |
| Nonprofits | Use predictive analytics to segment donors into planned giving likelihood tiers. | Add legacy messaging to annual appeals to increase awareness. |
| Education | Leverage alumni networks and board ties for warm introductions. | Map multi-generational alumni families to identify legacy prospects. |
| Healthcare | Highlight impact stories tied to research or patient care. | Grateful patient programs that identify individuals likely to include hospitals in estate plans. |
Metrics and KPIs to track success
To measure the success of a planned giving program, nonprofits should track both pipeline growth and engagement. The table below outlines key metrics and why they matter.
| Metric | Why it’s important |
| Number of new legacy society members | Tracks donor conversion and community-building success. |
| Growth in planned gift pipeline value | Demonstrates long-term sustainability of the program. |
| Percentage of prospects reached through relationship paths | Shows effectiveness of leveraging board/executive mapping. |
| Donor retention rate | Indicates how well stewardship efforts are working. |
| Increase in qualified planned giving leads | Reflects efficiency of prospect identification tools. |
What to look for in the best tools to boost planned giving
In an increasingly complex fundraising environment, your development team needs the right technology to be all set for success. With the best intelligence tools, you can dramatically improve prospecting efficiency, data accuracy, and gift outcomes.
With so many solutions available, the array of choices can be overwhelming. It’s not just about choosing a platform, but choosing the one that will make the biggest impact on your fundraising initiatives.
When evaluating potential tools, look for these key capabilities to build stronger donor relationships and drive sustainable growth.
Key capabilities to look for and why they matter
| Capability | How this helps achieve fundraising goals |
| Verified donor profiles | Help focus on high-capacity prospects with confidence by providing accurate insights into net worth, giving history, and affiliations. |
| Relationship and board mapping | Reveals trusted pathways to top prospects through shared boards, alumni networks, or executive connections, helping fundraisers secure warm introductions instead of relying on cold outreach. |
| Human-verified data accuracy | Reduces time spent validating information and minimizes errors in outreach. Confidence in data allows officers to spend more time building authentic donor relationships. |
| CRM integration | Embeds donor intelligence directly into fundraising workflows, ensuring insights flow seamlessly into daily use. You’ll boost efficiency, collaboration, and team adoption. |
| Predictive analytics and donor scoring | Help teams segment donors and prioritize outreach based on wealth, likelihood to give, and affinity. This data-driven approach supports smarter major donor fundraising decisions. |
| Global prospect intelligence | Provides visibility into international donor networks, helping organizations identify and engage cross-border philanthropists and alumni with untapped giving potential. |
| Global coverage | Expands the universe of potential supporters beyond domestic markets, empowering organizations to cultivate relationships across borders and regions. |
| Data enrichment | Enhances existing donor records by filling in missing wealth, career, or philanthropic data, ensuring a complete, actionable picture of every supporter. |
| Real-time alerts and updates | Keep you informed when key donors experience wealth events, career changes, or media visibility. Timely, personalized engagement becomes easier. |
The future of planned giving
Now you have the strategies. How do you make sure they will apply to current donors and the future waves of philanthropists?
The next decade will bring dramatic shifts:
- Digital engagement: Donors expect seamless online experiences, even for legacy giving
- Next Gen donors: Millennials and Gen Z, who will inherit trillions, value impact transparency
- Globalization: Nonprofits must build systems to cultivate cross-border planned gifts
With the right mix of data intelligence, relationship mapping, and stewardship, organizations can future-proof their fundraising strategies.
Looking ahead, the landscape of wealth and philanthropy is transforming rapidly. Our World Ultra Wealth Report 2025 demonstrates that ultra-wealthy individuals are expanding in numbers. UHNW individuals are expected to reach nearly 677,000 by 2030, up from just over 510,000 in 2025. They are also diversifying globally, with Asia projected to grow almost 40% and a surge of new wealth emerging from markets like India, Singapore, and Vietnam.
At the same time, younger generations are redefining philanthropy: philanthropy now ranks among the top three interests for Next Gen UHNWs, who are more aware of global inequality and environmental issues and engage with charitable causes much earlier in life.
For nonprofits, educational, and healthcare institutions, this means future planned giving programs must evolve to align with digitally fluent, impact-driven, and globally connected donors. Integrating verified wealth data, global relationship insights, and behavioral signals will be critical to securing long-term legacy commitments from these next-generation philanthropists.
Go from potential to performance
Planned giving is not just an aspirational strategy. It’s a proven pathway to financial sustainability for organizations. By addressing pain points, leveraging data intelligence, and cultivating donors with care, nonprofits, universities, and healthcare institutions can unlock transformational gifts.
Altrata equips fundraising teams with verified donor profiles, relationship insights, global coverage, and CRM integrations. This will help you identify, engage, and secure the planned gifts that will sustain your mission for generations.
Our wealth intelligence and strategy experts are here to help. Connect with the team whenever it’s convenient for you.
FAQs about planned giving
1. What is planned giving?
Planned giving, also known as legacy giving, refers to donations arranged during a donor’s lifetime but allocated at a future date—often through wills, trusts, or retirement plans. These gifts typically represent a donor’s largest and most lasting contribution.
2. Why should nonprofits prioritize planned giving?
Planned giving creates predictable, long-term funding that sustains missions across decades. It also strengthens multi-generational donor relationships and allows supporters to make transformational contributions aligned with their personal financial goals.
3. How do nonprofits identify the best planned giving process?
The strongest indicators include age (typically 55+), a consistent giving history, demonstrated organizational loyalty, and signs of significant assets. Tools like Altrata’s verified HNW/UHNW profiles and relationship mapping can surface high-capacity donors with confidence.
4. What role does data play in planned giving success?
Accurate, enriched data allows fundraisers to focus on the right prospects at the right time. Human-verified profiles, CRM integrations, and global coverage reduce wasted effort and increase conversion rates.
5. How can smaller nonprofits launch a planned giving program?
Start with loyal donors, educate them about legacy options, and build a simple recognition program, like a legacy society. Even modest efforts can grow into a significant funding stream over time.
6. How is planned giving changing with younger generations?
Millennials and Gen Z place greater emphasis on transparency, measurable impact, and digital engagement. Nonprofits that show clear outcomes and provide seamless digital experiences will be better positioned to secure legacy gifts from future philanthropists.