Beyond the Bequest: How Legacy Societies Deepen Donor Ties

Focusing on planned giving is smart fundraising. Charities receive billions in bequests and other legacy gifts each year, and many donors who include nonprofits in their wills also give generously throughout their lifetimes.

Plus, while fundraisers are navigating especially tough terrain in 2025, some groups see an opportunity in planning for the future.

Tracy Malloy-Curtis, vice president of legacy giving at Mal Warwick Donordigital, a direct-marketing agency, says legacy donors are stepping up this year even more than during the pandemic.

She thinks many are motivated by a “visceral fear” and a sense of helplessness about what the future might bring for their kids and grandkids in the face of so much change. “That aligns really well with trying to take some actions that will benefit their younger family members potentially, preserve some values, help rebuild things that have fallen apart a little bit,” she says. “I’ve never seen anything like it, to be honest.”

Yet experts stress that it’s crucial to remember that those who pledge planned gifts can change their minds later and to focus on making sure they feel valued and engaged as years go by. To hold on to these supporters, many nonprofits create legacy societies, which usually offer recognition and perks for members, such as access to special events and publications.

The Chronicle asked Malloy-Curtis and three other experts for advice on how to build a legacy society that keeps these valuable donors close and attracts new pledges. Here are key recommendations, including a few common pitfalls to look out for when engaging members.

Build community around your cause.

The best legacy societies are built on more than recognition, Malloy-Curtis says: They should focus on making members feel connected to one another and to your nonprofit.

This means you should prioritize benefits that advance these goals, such as bringing members together, whether virtually or in person, or inviting them to existing opportunities with other donors that they couldn’t access before.

If you’re not sure which kinds of perks would be meaningful to your members, ask them through a survey, focus group, or phone call, she suggests: “It might be something you haven’t even thought of.”

Sean Twomey, senior director of planned giving and impact at the Wilderness Society, finds that giving members a direct line to staff is a powerful way to strengthen ties. As a national organization, the group can’t easily bring every member to its offices, so it hosts “in-conversation” webinars with program staff a few times a year.

The sessions, which are only for legacy and midlevel donors, are informal and offer an insider’s look at the work pledges support in a way that feels personal, he says. “They really get to see kind of behind the scenes, not just what’s [in] a glossy appeal letter, but, like, this is a real person that’s really struggling with the world trying to make it better.”

Be generous with your attention and appreciation.

If you’re offering a webinar, thank legacy-society members as part of your welcome, Malloy-Curtis suggests. This is also a way to introduce the idea of planned giving to donors who might not have considered it yet.

At live events, be sure to call out members’ status on their nametags, and don’t discount “old-school” tactics like pins, she says. “They love their pins. … If someone’s at an event and they’ve all got their legacy-society member pins, they look for those.”

It’s also nice to call your members on the phone once in a while, Malloy-Curtis says, even if they don’t answer.

At the Wilderness Society, Twomey’s team loves having one-on-one chats with donors, but they find many are overwhelmed by communication in general these days and don’t want to talk on the phone. To overcome that obstacle, his team usually warms up donors with an email or letter before calling. “People are much more receptive because they know they can pass on the call, but they also know why you’re calling and reaching out,” Twomey says.

His team also uses birthday cards to show members they care. Every legacy donor gets a hand-signed card during their birthday month, along with a longer note if the fundraisers know them well. It’s easy to set up a process to make sure these cards go out each month, Twomey says, and they mean a lot to aging supporters as their spouses and friends begin to pass away and their children may forget their birthdays.

When communicating with its legacy donors, the International Rescue Committee tries to emphasize how pledges make an impact right away — not just in the future, says Kate Rhodes, senior officer of strategic philanthropy. “Really focusing on that duality — that even though their gift specifically won’t come until after their lifetime, it is allowing us to know that we have that investment in the future so we can invest in our programs now, especially in times of crisis,” she says.

Give members the VIP treatment.

Catholic Charities of New York treats its legacy-society members the same as major donors in hopes that they will keep the organization in their wills, says Emily Chau, director of planned giving. Its stewardship plan for members includes a variety of outreach materials with no ask, such as personalized greeting cards for holidays and special occasions, a legacy society certificate, and tailored information packets for those who want them.

Just like big donors, members also get invitations to special events, including the group’s signature gala and more intimate gatherings like breakfasts at the cardinal’s residency. Most legacy donors don’t attend, Chau says, but the point is to make them feel included.

Keep cultivating members who stop giving.

When planned-giving donors make their final estate plans, they think about those charities they’ve heard from most recently and feel closest to, Malloy-Curtis says. To stay in their orbit, be sure to keep sending these individuals cultivation materials such as annual reports and newsletters, even if they’ve stopped giving.

However, you shouldn’t pester aging donors to renew their annual gift. “It’s not about just stewarding them,” she says. “Also don’t upset them.”

As supporters get older, their income or priorities might change, but they’ve already made a huge commitment to your nonprofit by pledging a planned gift. “Keep them close, engage them, send them information, send them an appeal once in a while,” Malloy-Curtis says, but don’t include them in your targeted communications to lapsed donors, especially if they’re over age 70.

Don’t require gift documentation to join.

Most donors who include a nonprofit in their will don’t inform the organization of their intention, Malloy-Curtis says. So if someone tells you they’ve done so, take their word for it and include them in your legacy society, even if they don’t want to sign a gift agreement or share details of the pledge.

You shouldn’t assume a bequest will be more likely to materialize if it’s in writing, she says. “These gifts are revocable — you know, I want a T-shirt that says that.”

Instead of pressuring a donor to document their gift, focus on building a strong relationship, she suggests. You’ll have the opportunity to learn more about their plans as you get to know them better.

Don’t separate legacy-society members from other loyal donors.

Over the past few years, the IRC has expanded its legacy society and pipeline of prospects by engaging these supporters as part of a larger community of deeply committed donors. The organization revamped its donor groups, bringing legacy, midlevel, and monthly givers together under an umbrella society called the Rescue Collective, each with its own sub-brand and special benefits. (Legacy donors, for example, are known as Rescue Collective Changemakers.)

Engaging the collective as a whole — through monthly e-newsletters and surveys, among other efforts — helps the IRC let members know that these societies exist and that they can join more than one to increase their impact, says Ishmam Rahman, director of audience and donor strategy. “It allowed us to market one brand to another in a way that we have never been able to do before, and so there’s a lot more cross-pollination.”

This structure also makes it easier to convey the impact of giving on an issue as big as the refugee-displacement crisis, Rahman says, which affects more than 120 million people worldwide.

“Oftentimes when we ask our donors to make a gift, it might just feel like a drop in the ocean, and that might not feel as impactful,” they say, but now the IRC can emphasize the collective impact these groups make together, no matter the size of each individual gift.

If it doesn’t make sense to rebrand your donor societies, you could still focus on cross-marketing the different forms of giving to each group, Rahman says. Just make sure your outreach across them is consistent and cohesive, with a similar voice, tone, and message about your mission.

Share stories of living donors.

Use donor testimonials to show members that other people they can relate to are also making planned gifts and getting outcomes that they, too, would like to have, Twomey suggests.

The Wilderness Society has found that stories of living donors tend to perform better than those of the deceased, so it usually features donors in their 70s or 80s reflecting on why wilderness has mattered in their lifetimes. A health organization might talk about a donor whose spouse or child benefitted from cancer research, Twomey says. “Just some type of real tangible story at a personal level can be immensely powerful.”

For help crafting stories that resonate, he suggests using free online resources such as those provided by Russell James, a professor at Texas Tech University, who researches bequests and charitable giving.

Be authentic.

No matter which member benefits you decide on, make sure they have an authentic connection to your mission and mesh with how donors view your organization’s identity, Twomey says. To figure out what might resonate, run some ideas by a few close donors, whether through an advisory group or informal conversations, and then start testing.

One approach he admires is the National Symphony Orchestra’s open rehearsals, which let donors see firsthand how the symphony works together, especially when the music director is there. “You get to see him start, stop, start, stop, pointing out mistakes,” Twomey says. “It’s really special. You know you’re only there because you’re giving and you’re surrounded by people like you.”