Major Gifts + Planned Giving Resources

Shared by Dr. Russell James, Director of Graduate Studies in Charitable Financial Planning at Texas Tech University

Major Gifts Fundraising Book series

The Socratic Fundraiser: Using questions to advance the donor’s story - Free Digital Copy / Audiobook

The Epic Fundraiser: Myth, psychology, and the universal hero story - Free Digital Copy / Audiobook

The Primal Fundraiser: Game theory and the natural origins of effective fundraising - Free Digital Copy / Audiobook

The Storytelling Fundraiser: The brain, behavioral economics, and fundraising story - Free Digital Copy / Audiobook

Other BOOKS

Visual Planned Giving: Law and taxation - Free Digital Copy

Inside the Mind of the Bequest Donor - Free Digital Copy

VIDEOS

Complete Charitable Planning Training Series

Donor's guide to the 2018 tax law

BLOG POSTS

10 Strategies for Post-COVID Fundraising in Complex & Major Gifts

Legacy Fundraising: The Best of Times or the Worst of Times?

4 Things Fundraisers Need to Know about the SECURE Act

The SECURE Act’s “Above-the-Line” Charitable Deduction for Couples

How the 2018 tax law INCREASES charitable giving deductions

How the new 2018 tax law makes PLANNED GIVING more powerful

PRESENTATION SLIDES

Socratic fundraising: Using questions to advance the donor's story

The Epic Fundraiser: Myth and Science in Philanthropic Storytelling

Words that work in major and planned gifts fundraising: Statistical analysis of the words and phrases that encourage planned giving

Raising major gifts of assets now

Why cash is not king in fundraising: Results from 1 million nonprofit tax returns on the power of gifts of assets / Executive Summary

Putting research to work in planned giving: Growing internal support and external dollars

How to ask for a gift in a will without fear or anxiety

New results from 100 years of national data on charitable bequest gifts

Top 10 legacy fundraising strategies from scientific research: National data & results from the lab

The hidden code of end-of-life decisions: What legacy fundraising can learn from decision-making in life insurance, annuities, estate planning, and healthcare

Using donor surveys in planned gift marketing

Back from Fantasy Island: Counting revocable estate gifts

Selling to the CFO: Statistics and stories to get leadership support for planned gift fundraising

The statistics and demographics of charitable estate planning & planned giving

The statistics & psychology of Baby Boomer lifetime & legacy giving: A very special generation or just typical old people?

Inside the mind of the planned giving donor: What neuroimaging and experimental research reveal about donor motivations

Top 10 charitable planning strategies for financial advisors

SELECTED ACADEMIC PAPERS

Why cash is not king in fundraising (the power of asset gifts)

Testing the Effectiveness of Fundraiser Job Titles in Charitable Bequest and Complex Gift Planning

Testing preliminary questions in fundraising

Testing images in gift annuity ads

Testing wording for “in memory” donations

Loss of legacy society member bequest gifts

Testing tribute/memorials in legacy fundraising

Testing wording for legacy gifts and complex gifts fundraising

Testing donor stories in legacy fundraising

Neuroimaging charitable bequest decisions

A natural origins model of charitable giving