If someone does not have an estate plan, there is virtually no chance you will receive a planned gift from their estate. We challenge you to use National Estate Planning Awareness Week to make at least 10 donor calls and discuss the importance of estate planning.  This is a great opportunity to invite your supporters into the Thompson & Associates planning process!

We believe so much in these conversations that we want to offer you even more incentive to make these calls!  Once you complete your challenge, you can enter to win a $100 Visa or Amazon gift card.  Details below!

We’ve even provided a script and sample questions below to get the conversation going!

Sample Script

“I’m calling to let you know that next/this week is Estate Planning Awareness Week.  I am taking this opportunity to encourage you to make sure you have a complete estate plan in place that accurately reflects your values and goals, including a will or trust, powers of attorney for financial and medical decisions, and a living will.”

“I encourage you to not delay in updating your documents and beneficiary designations.  Maybe set a deadline to get everything updated by the end of the year.  Getting this done will give you peace of mind – something very valuable right now!  If the opportunity arises as you update things, we would love for you to include our organization in your final plans.”

Tailored Responses:

Those who have no planning: 
“We would love to offer you a confidential, values-based estate planning service, as our gift to you. This service is provided by Thompson & Associates as an objective third party, and is completely confidential – no one from the Foundation will be present during these meetings or be privy to the information shared with them.  They do not sell any products, solicit gifts or report back to the nonprofit.”

Those with older plans (drafted in 2019 or earlier): 
“With recent tax law changes going into effect this year, now is a great time to review your existing plan.”  

Those with new plans (drafted in 2020):
“That’s wonderful!  We’d love to offer you a complimentary review to ensure your new plan doesn’t have any gaps and accomplishes exactly what you intend.”

Call to Action:

• “I invite you to meet with our associate, [ASSOCIATE], confidentially.  [He/she] has partnered with us for [X] years walking families through a structured process that helps evaluate their personal values and financial circumstances to develop a comprehensive estate plan that they then take to their own attorneys and financial advisors to put into action.”
• “This service, through Thompson & Associates, is completely confidential, available at no cost to you with no obligations whatsoever.  It’s simply our gift to you for being such a wonderful supporter of ours!”
• “Would you be interested in an introductory meeting with [ASSOCIATE] to see if this is something you’d like to do?”

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Below are some simple questions and talking points to help you build conversations around estate planning.  Beyond National Estate Planning Awareness week, begin peppering these important questions into your regular discussions with your supporters!

Conversational Questions and Talking Points

• “We know these unprecedented days have caused financial and legacy concerns among many.  I heard that a record number of people are searching online for do-it-yourself Wills right now.”
• “Do you have a properly prepared, updated and executed will, powers of attorney and medical directives?”
• “Have you made appropriate provisions to account for all children?”  (or “heirs,” if applicable)
• “Are the named executors, trustees and guardians still appropriate?”
• “Do beneficiary designations on all life insurance and retirement accounts compliment your will and/or trust?”
• “Have you considered making provisions for charities in your estate plan?”
• “If you want to do something for charity from your estate, current laws make it very attractive to give outright to charity from a retirement account.”  (Review SECURE Act resources here.)