Planned Giving: Is This the Time?

Thanks to the life and sacrifice of Jesus, we all are heirs worthy to receive God’s abundant estate. The ministry of planned giving provides the opportunity to return this blessing to God through one’s own will or estate.

Anytime is the right time to start or strengthen a planned giving ministry in your church, even in this time of pandemic. Work that can be done now includes:

  • Identify a Planned Giving “shepherd” for your faith community, who is willing to lead this ministry on an ongoing basis. Help him/her recruit a small number of folks to help as a Planned Giving Ministry (PGM) committee.
  • Review the structure and policies in place to receive and invest estate gifts. Creating the system is not necessarily the job of the PGM committee but understanding the system’s integrity will help form transparent and informative messages to the congregation.
  • Use this time to update the list of bequests that have been made to the church along with the names of those living parishioners who have included the church in their estate plans. The names on this combined list is often called a “legacy society.” Create opportunities to celebrate these saints with gratitude, including recognizing them on your church website. This is a good example.

- Linda Buskirk

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