For public media organizations, now is the time to accelerate your planned giving programs. Your active donor file is ripe with donative loyalty and longevity waiting to be leveraged into the transformative philanthropy of planned gifts. But planned giving donor cultivation takes time, so it’s critical to invest in the talent, resources and emerging technological tools today that will unlock these philanthropic dollars down the road.

*Based on data from 36 Public Media stations with demographic data.*

“What’s the rush?” you might ask. According to a report by Ceruilli Associates, a financial services organization with a thirty-year track record of success, the “Great Wealth Transfer” is underway. They project that wealth transferred through 2045 will total $84.4 trillion with $72.6 trillion in assets to be transferred to heirs, while $11.9 trillion will be donated to charities. More than $53 trillion will be transferred from households in the Baby Boomer generation, representing 63% of all transfers. Silent Generation households and older stand to transfer $15.8 trillion over the next decade.

With public media organizations’ files comprised of predominantly Baby Boomer and Silent Generation donors — those two groups accounting for more than 60% of their donors — it’s imperative for our enterprise to immediately become well versed about planned giving tools and resources.

A robust planned giving program begins with thoughtful communication and engagement with all your contributors, regardless of giving level. And the success of a planned giving program often hinges on consistent, strategic marketing — donors cannot give if they’re unaware of your program. In addition, offering high-quality, online estate and gift planning tools as a special benefit to your donors can make it easy for them to create a legacy gift through a bequest in a will.

In fact, Giving USA’s 2024 report showed more than $42.68 billion was given via bequests in 2023, an increase of 4.8% from 2022. Giving by individuals and giving by bequest accounted for 75% of all dollars given to charity in 2023. The growth of individual giving in 2023, and over the last five years, is an encouraging trend when it comes to public media’s ability to increase legacy giving through bequests and other planned giving vehicles.

With large files full of individual donors exhibiting longevity and frequency of giving, public media organizations have ample planned giving prospects. Data from CDP’s National Reference File (NRF) shows just how great the planned giving opportunity is in public media.

The two charts above show TV/Joint and radio-only stations’ percentage of overall revenue from planned giving. TV/Joint stations average just 9%, while radio-only stations average even lower at nearly 7% (with more than half of stations in both cohorts well below the averages). Yet some non-profit organizations outside of public media see up to 25% or more of their overall revenue from planned gifts. For public media collectively, that’s a potential $140 million opportunity each year!

How can your organization start making incremental improvements to your planned giving program that have the power to result in significant and substantial revenue gains?

CDP has partnered with Giving Docs to help public media organizations seize this tremendous planned giving fundraising opportunity. Giving Docs enables donors to create a legacy gift through a bequest in a will, but their value extends even further, with tools that allow adjustments to beneficiary designations via retirement accounts or life insurance policies and the ability to make donations via stock gifts, IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions and Donor Advised Funds.

Further strengthening their services, Giving Docs has partnered with The Stelter Company, well-known for their expertise in the planned giving space. Stelter's work focuses on the long-term strategy to educate, inform and empower donors through their planned giving journeys with an integrated marketing approach.

Investing in the resources, staff capacity and tools to accelerate your organization’s effective planned giving program is a long-term and ongoing commitment. With National Make-A-Will Month in August and National Estate Planning Awareness Week (NEPAW) in October, now is the right time to start growing your efforts to raise awareness about the ability to support your organization through a planned gift.

If you’re interested in learning more about Giving Docs’ high-quality online estate planning tools, contact us at cdp@cdpcommunity.org.

The Case for Growing Your Planned Giving Efforts