This website has been created from cumulative best practices and provides a one-stop-shop for the charitable gift planning information you need.

Planned giving professionals, advisors, donors and volunteers will find this website is regularly updated so it remains current and reflective of what is happening in the world of planned giving.
 
What's Inside?

In the Members Only Section you will find:
       - donors' pages
       - information on different giving vehicles
       - policies and procedures for fundraisers
       - marketing, recognition and communications strategies
       - criteria for measuring success
       - networking strategies
       - sample documents

Testimonials:

"This is an exceptional tool for charities who are establishing a new planned giving program or are looking to update their administrative guidelines..."
Diane MacDonald, Executive Director, Canadian Association of Gift Planners

"The benefits of membership far outweigh the costs.
Planforgifts.com goes well beyond the nuts and bolts of the various gift instruments, and provides users with a complete tool set that enables policy crafting, inflow projections and gift tracking, effective database mining, meaningful recognition, program marketing, and success measurement."
Jeni Piepgrass, CKUA Radio Foundation

"I am getting a lot of valuable information from Planforgifts.com"
Wendy Kaye, Salt Spring Island Foundation

"...explains planned giving concepts in easy to understand terms that can be used to assist potential donors, no matter how sophisticated."
Catharine Walwyn, Estate and Trust Specialist, Royal Trust Corporation
  

Visit the Testimonials page to read what others have to say about Planforgifts.com then click on Membership to read why you should Join.

Our Expertise

Planforgifts.com was founded by Leslie Howard who brings a wealth of experience to the task of creating this site. Well known in the planned giving community, Leslie has over 20 years experience in financial planning, trust and estate planning and planned giving. Visit About Us then Company History to learn more.

Social Networking and Gifts of Life Insurance

The charitable sector is starting to seriously look at social networking sites as an opportunity to connect with a new generation of potential supporters and to attract planned gifts. Today's 20-somethings use sites like Facebook and My Space to "converse" with friends and to explore issues of importance to them. Fundraising associations and individual charities can establish a social networking presence simply by creating a Facebook page and inviting "fans" to "post messages on the wall" or by developing a group for discussion of important social issues that relate to the charity's cause.

Gifts of life insurance can be an ideal vehicle for those supporters who consider a planned gift to the charity or cause they most connect with. Life insurance is relatively cheap and easy to obtain when purchased by the young and healthy and can ultimately turn a small gift into a much larger one for the charity. For more, visit What's New

Gifts of Flow Through Shares: A Basic Summary

Planforgifts.com welcomes Marilyn Kerfoot as a contrubutor to this website. Marilyn, a gift planning consultant and lawyer, is familiar to many through her teaching at the Canadian Association of Gift Planners' Banff Course, British Columbia Institute of Technology and Charityvillage.com.

To view Marilyn's article on Gifts of Flow Through Shares, visit What's New

To download a sample Gift Acceptance Policy for gifts of securities including Flow Through Shares that have been converted to "normal" shares, become a member of Planforgifts.com and vist the Documents Download section.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Charitable Giving

It is estimated that a full third of those individuals who set out to make a charitable gift do not complete the task. Make your gift count and make a difference.

Donors and fundraisers visit What's New and click on the the left hand tool bar Gift Planning News to read more.
In addition, for the full 7,000 word document and a downloadable Power Point presentation entitiled "The Seven Deadly Sins of Charitable Giving" become a Planforgifts.com member and visit the Donor Pages in the Members Only section.

Gifts of Securities

It is estimated that Canadians hold a total of $1.3 trillion in securities and about half of that is capital gains. Gifts of securities are a great way for donors to give to the charity of their choice rather than the tax man. Gifts such as these have been rising steadily from $69 million in 1997 to $200 million in the year 2000.

It was estimated that Canadians gave $600 million to $1 billion in securities in 2006! For ideas on how your organization can plan for gifts of securities, go to the What's New Section and see the simple marketing plan.

To access sample Gift Acceptance Policies for gifts of securities and other gifts, become a Planforgifts.com member and visit the Policies section of the Toolkit in Members Only.