For more than three decades, I’ve had the privilege of helping nonprofit organizations across the country generate qualified leads for planned gifts. Over that time, Caswell Zachry Grizzard has mailed millions of mail packages, conducted every type of test and analysis imaginable, and partnered with organizations of every size, type, and maturity level. Thirty‑three years in the trenches of planned giving lead generation teaches you a few things, sometimes the easy way, often the hard way. My goal in this paper is to pass along some of the most important lessons I’ve learned so that you can strengthen your own organization’s efforts, avoid common pitfalls, and walk away with practical strategies you can implement immediately.
Planned giving lead generation is often misunderstood. It is easy to get caught up in response rates, click‑through rates, and the surface‑level metrics that dominate conversations about marketing performance. But lead generation is not an end unto itself. It is the first step in a long, nuanced, relationship‑driven process that may take months or even years to come to fruition. A lead is not a gift. A lead is, in truth, a cost — until it converts.
This is why the quality of leads matters far more than the quantity. We could generate 10,000 leads that never go anywhere, or we could generate 100 leads of which five convert into meaningful planned gifts. Which scenario is better for the bottom line? The answer is obvious. The challenge is that many organizations still evaluate their planned giving marketing efforts using metrics borrowed from annual giving or direct response fundraising. Planned giving is different. It requires a different mindset, a different set of expectations, and a different approach to identifying the right people at the right time with the right message.
In this paper, I will explore what makes a lead “qualified,” how to identify the donors most likely to convert, why age and timing matter, how to use RFM analysis effectively, and why some of the most popular tools in fundraising, such as wealth overlays and propensity models, can actually work against you when used incorrectly. We will also look at the role of reply devices, donor surveys, donor stories, and the ongoing debate about digital versus print communication. Finally, we will discuss how to break down organizational silos and integrate planned giving into the broader fundraising ecosystem.
Understanding What Makes a Lead Valuable
The best planned giving leads share two characteristics:
- They are currently engaged with your organization, and
- They have a personal connection to your cause.
Engagement is measurable. Recency of giving, event participation, and volunteerism all signal that a donor is actively involved with your mission. A donor who gave six months ago is far more engaged than one who last gave six years ago. Someone who attends your events, reads your newsletters, or volunteers regularly is demonstrating ongoing interest.
Connection to cause is more personal. It may be rooted in a donor’s life experience — losing a loved one to cancer, caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s, receiving care from your hospital, or benefiting from your educational programs. These donors are not just supporters; they are believers. They have lived the mission in some way, and that connection often becomes the emotional foundation for a planned gift.
When engagement and connection overlap, you have the strongest possible lead. These are the donors most likely to respond to your outreach, most likely to enter the cultivation pipeline, and most likely to complete a planned gift.
The Importance of Timing: When Donors Make Planned Gifts
One of the most consistent findings from our research — which includes the analysis of thousands of planned gift commitments across organizations of all types and sizes — is that most planned giving commitments are made when donors are in their 70s. This is not surprising. By that age, many donors have retired, settled their estates, and are thinking more intentionally about their legacy.
But this does not mean you should only market to donors in their 70s.
Planned giving is a long game. Most donors require multiple touches before they are ready to make a commitment. If you wait until they reach the prime giving age band to begin communicating with them, you will be too late. The cultivation process needs to begin earlier, typically in a donor’s mid‑to‑late 60s, so that by the time they reach their 70s, your organization is already top‑of‑mind.
Digging deeper, we also see variation by gift type. Charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, bequests, and beneficiary designations all have different age patterns. Understanding these nuances allows you to tailor your messaging and segment your audience more effectively.
RFM Analysis: Strengths and Limitations
RFM — Recency, Frequency, and Monetary value — has long been the standard method for segmenting donor files for planned giving lead generation. While CZG has moved on to the use of proprietary algorithms and more complex models, RFM is still widely utilized at the organizational level.
Recency: The #1 Predictor of Response
Recency of giving is hands down the most important factor. A gift in the past six months is ideal. A gift in the past 24 months is still strong. But once you get outside 36 months, response rates drop dramatically. Recency is a proxy for engagement, and engagement is the lifeblood of planned gift lead generation.
Frequency: The Magic Number Is 12+
Frequency of giving also matters. Donors with 12 or more lifetime gifts are significantly more likely to respond than those with fewer than 12. This makes intuitive sense. A donor who has given repeatedly over time has demonstrated loyalty and commitment.
Monetary Value: The Counter‑Intuitive Finding
Here is where things get interesting. The impact of total monetary value of lifetime giving on response is counter‑intuitive. Donors with lower lifetime giving totals respond at four times the rate of donors in higher giving ranges.
This is why wealth overlays, which are designed to identify high‑capacity donors, are not useful for planned giving lead generation. Wealth screening is a powerful tool for pipeline cultivation and major gifts, but it is not designed to predict responsiveness to planned giving appeals. Using it for that purpose will produce disappointing results.
Propensity Models: Useful, but Not for Lead Generation
Propensity models are designed to predict how likely a donor is to make a planned gift. This is valuable information — but only after the donor is already in your pipeline.
For lead generation, propensity models can be misleading. Donors who score high in planned giving propensity are actually less likely to respond to appeals than those with lower scores. Why? Because high‑propensity donors often already have their estate plans in place. They may be excellent cultivation prospects, but they are not the ones who will respond to a mailer or a survey.
The lesson is simple: as with wealth overlays, use propensity models for cultivation, not for lead generation.
The Reply Device: Your Most Under‑Appreciated Tool
The reply card is one of the most important and most overlooked components of a planned giving mail package. A typical reply card includes the donor’s name and address, a box to request information, and perhaps a space to indicate preferred contact method. This is fine, but it leaves valuable information on the table.
A well‑designed reply card should do more than collect contact information. It should qualify the lead and equip the gift officer with insights that make the first follow‑up call more productive.
In our approach, the reply card includes:
- A pre‑checked box requesting information
- A phone number for donors who prefer to call
- A section to request a custom gift annuity illustration (in a CGA appeal)
- Tick boxes indicating whether the donor has already included the organization in their plans, would consider doing so, or would like to be contacted
- A prompt to turn the card over for a brief donor survey (about 7 questions)
The Secret Sauce: The Long-Form Donor Survey
I wrote the first planned giving lead‑generation survey in 2004 for a client who believed their file was not mail responsive. To prove otherwise, I designed a high‑engagement survey that mimicked the information a seasoned planned giving officer would gather in a first face‑to‑face visit. The result was a response rate of nearly 7.5 percent — almost unheard of in planned giving.
A properly constructed survey allows you to:
- Identify donors with strong emotional connections
- Understand their motivations
- Learn about their family situation
- Gauge their interest in specific gift types
- Determine whether they have already included your organization in their plans
- Prioritize follow‑up based on readiness
This approach has been widely copied, with virtually all planned gift marketing agencies following CZGs’ lead and offering some type of lead generation survey.
The Power of Donor Stories
Planned giving can feel abstract, technical, or intimidating to donors. Many assume it is only for wealthy people or requires complicated legal arrangements. Donor stories cut through that perception. They make planned giving human, relatable, and accessible.
A well‑crafted donor story does three things:
- It provides a real‑world example, which is how people learn best.
- It demonstrates the emotional motivation behind the gift.
- It shows that ordinary people — not just the wealthy — make planned gifts.
We have used donor stories in magazine ads, newsletters, brochures, and digital content. One example is a magazine ad created for a national health charity to market charitable remainder trusts to land and property owners. The ad included a photo of the donors, a summary of their experience, a photo of the planned giving officer handling responses, and a QR code for tech‑savvy readers. The campaign was so successful that it continues to run today.
Another example is a newsletter we created for a national cancer charity. Half of the four‑page newsletter was dedicated to donor stories. These stories did more to demystify planned giving than any technical explanation ever could.
Digital vs. Print: The Reality for Senior Donors
Digital communication is inexpensive, fast, and scalable. It is tempting to shift planned giving lead generation entirely online. But the reality is more complicated.
Seniors, the primary audience for planned giving, are disproportionately targeted by online scammers. As a result, they are more cautious, more skeptical, and slower to click links in unsolicited emails.
Digital outreach can feel transactional and impersonal, while print communication feels tangible, trustworthy, and relational.
This does not mean you should avoid digital entirely. It means the time to put all your eggs in the digital basket has not yet arrived. A balanced approach is best, with print doing the heavy lifting and digital providing supplemental touchpoints.
Breaking Down Silos: Integrating Planned Giving into Everything
One of the easiest, no‑cost ways to strengthen planned giving efforts is to integrate planned giving messaging into your annual fund communications. A simple line at the bottom of an appeal, “Have you remembered our organization in your will or trust?” can plant a seed that grows over time.
Planned giving should not exist in a silo. It should be woven into the fabric of your organization’s fundraising strategy.
Final Thoughts
Lead generation for planned giving is both an art and a science. It requires patience, discipline, and a willingness to challenge assumptions. The most successful programs focus on quality over quantity, prioritize engagement and connection to cause, understand the importance of timing, and use tools like RFM analysis and donor surveys strategically. They tell compelling donor stories, respect the communication preferences of seniors, and integrate planned giving into the broader fundraising ecosystem.
After 33 years and tens of millions of mail packages, the most important lesson I’ve learned is this: planned giving is fundamentally about people — their stories, their values, their hopes, and their desire to make a lasting difference. When you honor that truth in your lead generation efforts, the results will follow.