Shortly after the launch of their partnership with FreeWill through the CDP, Mississippi Public Broadcasting received two bequests from devoted MPB donors, one of which was for $30,000.  

FreeWill is an online tool that allows members of the community to compose a will in about 20 minutes.  No time to build your own site?

Angela Ferraez, Director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting Foundation, says the onboarding process was simple and easy, facilitated by one of FreeWill’s account reps.  Angela had legacy gift language on MPB’s web site that was easily adapted to the FreeWill station-branded site.

Within a day or two of onboarding, MPB sent out about nine thousand emails to current and lapsed members.  “That first weekend, we had 20 wills started, five that were completed.  The next week we found out that we had two gifts from that first week.  One of them was for $30,000,” Angela noted.  “We’re about to promote it on our social media and send out more correspondence.”  Based on the initial response, she adds, “I think that the program is going to be successful for us.  It’s easy.”

Having overseen a planned giving program prior to joining Mississippi Public Broadcasting, Angela found that donors who were enthusiastic about leaving money to the organization would often fail to take the simple next step of filling out a one-sheet form outlining their intentions.  “For those who aren’t comfortable with discussing what they want to happen when they’re deceased, FreeWill allows people to do it online.  It can be between them and the FreeWill site,” Angela says. 

As for the relationship itself, “This is the very reason I wanted to join CDP,” Angela stressed.  “to have a partner who can help us plan, and to do the due diligence around companies like FreeWill, which is something I don’t have the time to do.”

MPB is going to promote FreeWill heavily during Estate Planning Awareness Week, October 19-25, 2020.  Aligning their outreach with an established national campaign (as many stations do with #GivingTuesday) is a smart way to take advantage of the free publicity that the week will bring. 

To learn more about FreeWill Planned Giving, watch the CDP webinar, or contact us and we’ll be happy to provide a demo.  I urge you to also visit MPB’s FreeWill site to see how easy it is to make your own will.