PERPETUAL NAMING RIGHTS: Three Cautionary Tales and One Essential Piece of Advice

by Eddie Thompson | Oct 17, 2017 | Charitable Estate Planning

Two separate $100 million gifts to New York City’s Lincoln Center illustrate the naming rights dilemma that many nonprofit leaders face. The first mega-gift came in 2008 when billionaire David Koch (pronounced “coke”) donated $100 million, the largest single donation...

THE FAMILY STORY: Recognizing Our Opportunities for Legacy Gifts

by Eddie Thompson | Dec 13, 2016 | Charitable Estate Planning

Charles W. Collier was Senior Philanthropic Advisor for Harvard University, having served the institution of twenty-five years until his retirement in 2008 for health reasons. In his most notable book, Wealth in Families, Collier talks about three important...

TWO HURDLES: Overcoming Donors’ Greatest Anxieties with a Blended-gift Approach

by Eddie Thompson | Nov 17, 2016 | Charitable Estate Planning, Donor Communications

Several years ago I posted a blog about the two big questions donors need to answer before pulling the trigger on a major gift, bequest, or planned gift. The first question regards what they would need to live on for the rest of their lives. Since most donors...

BEATING THE ODDS: Five Donor-Relations Strategies That Impact Bequest Fulfillments

by Eddie Thompson | Oct 17, 2016 | Charitable Estate Planning, Donor Communications

In the previous blog I explained why the fulfillment rate of donor bequests was either good news or bad news, depending primarily on whether your organization has a progressive or regressive approach—that is, whether or not organizational leaders truly believe they...

NONPROFIT BATTING AVERAGE: Increasing Your Organization’s Bequest Retention Rate

by Eddie Thompson | Sep 13, 2016 | Charitable Estate Planning

Several years ago I worked on an estate plan for a gentleman with a fifty-plus million-dollar estate. His intention was to leave a sizable percentage to charity and much of it to a nonprofit he had once served as a board member. In the planning process, he notified...

THE FUTURE OF NONPROFIT NAVIGATION: Missing Data That Leads to Bad Decisions

by Eddie Thompson | Aug 5, 2016 | Charitable Estate Planning, Development Management

As an instrument-rated pilot with hundreds of hours in the cockpit, I understand the importance of focusing on data on my dashboard, particularly in stormy weather or when the way ahead is uncertain. When an inexperienced pilot gets into trouble, it usually begins...