How to Build a Planned Giving Program for Aviation Nonprofits
Planned gifts are the largest donations most aviation nonprofits will ever receive. Here is how to build the program that makes them possible.
The largest gift most aviation nonprofits will ever receive will not come through a gala or a grant cycle. It will come through an estate.
A bequest — a gift made through a will, trust, or beneficiary designation — represents the culmination of a donor’s connection to an organization. It is the gift that says: this mission mattered enough to me that I wanted it to outlast my lifetime. These gifts are significant. In many organizations, a single bequest is larger than years of annual giving combined.
Building a planned giving program does not require a development staff or a planned giving consultant. It requires intention, a clear message, and the systems to capture and steward planned gift commitments over time.
What Planned Giving Is
Planned giving refers to gifts that are arranged during a donor’s lifetime but typically fulfilled at death. The most common forms are:
Bequests. A gift specified in a will or revocable living trust. The simplest and most common form of planned gift. Can be a specific dollar amount, a specific asset (including an aircraft), a percentage of the estate, or a residual gift (what remains after other bequests are fulfilled).
Beneficiary designations. Naming the organization as beneficiary of a retirement account (IRA, 401k), life insurance policy, or bank account. These transfer outside of probate and are often administratively simpler than bequests for the donor’s estate.
Charitable remainder trusts. The donor transfers assets to a trust, receives income from the trust during their lifetime, and the remainder passes to the nonprofit at death. Provides current income to the donor, current deduction for the charitable remainder interest, and a significant future gift to the organization.
Charitable lead trusts. The organization receives income from the trust during a defined period, after which assets pass to the donor’s heirs. Less common but useful in specific estate planning contexts.
For most aviation nonprofits in the early stages of planned giving, bequests and beneficiary designations are the primary focus. They are the simplest for donors to execute and the easiest for organizations to promote.
Why Aviation Donors Make Planned Gifts
Understanding donor motivation is essential for building an effective planned giving program. Aviation donors who make planned gifts typically share several characteristics:
Long-term connection. They have been associated with the organization — or with the mission it serves — for many years. The relationship predates the planned gift by a decade or more in most cases.
Values alignment. They see the organization’s mission as an expression of what they believe matters — about aviation, about youth development, about community. The planned gift is an expression of those values, not just a financial transaction.
Legacy motivation. They want their connection to aviation to outlast them. An aviator who spent forty years flying and mentoring young pilots and who gives a significant bequest to a youth aviation foundation is keeping that mission alive past their own lifetime.
Estate planning context. Many planned gifts are made in the context of estate planning conversations — when donors are working with attorneys to update wills, establish trusts, or redesign beneficiary designations. Organizations that have planted the seed of planned giving are remembered in those conversations.
Step One: Build the Permission to Ask
Most donors do not spontaneously include an organization in their estate plans. They need to be invited.
The permission to ask for a planned gift comes from the quality of the relationship the organization has built with the donor over time. It is not earned through a single fundraising appeal. It is earned through years of consistent communication, genuine acknowledgment of past support, and demonstrated impact.
Organizations that have no planned giving program typically also have inadequate major donor cultivation. The two go together. The relationships that produce major gifts are the same relationships that, over time, produce planned gifts.
Build relationship before building program.
Working to build a more sustainable financial foundation for your aviation nonprofit? AviationLegacies.com helps aviation organizations build the donor relationships and fundraising infrastructure that support lasting missions. Reach out at aviationlegacies.com/contact.
Step Two: Create Simple, Accessible Planned Giving Messaging
The planned giving message does not need to be elaborate. It needs to be clear, warm, and easy to act on.
At its simplest, it is this: if our mission has meant something to you, please consider including us in your estate plans. Here is what that looks like, and here is how to make it happen.
Your planned giving messaging should include:
A straightforward explanation of what a bequest or beneficiary designation is and how to arrange one. Many donors who have never thought about planned giving simply dont know how simple it can be.
Sample bequest language that a donor can share with their attorney. The language for an unrestricted bequest to a nonprofit organization is brief and standardized. Providing it removes a barrier for donors who would otherwise not know where to start.
Your legal name and EIN. The attorney needs these to draft the bequest language correctly. Include them prominently in your planned giving materials.
A person to contact. Planned gift decisions are personal. A named person who can answer questions sensitively and confidentially is more reassuring than a generic contact form.
Place this information on a dedicated page on your website. Include a reference in your annual report, your newsletter, and any major gift acknowledgment letter.
Step Three: Create a Legacy Recognition Society
A legacy recognition society — a named group for donors who have made planned gift commitments — serves several purposes. It recognizes donors for their extraordinary commitment. It signals to potential donors that planned giving is a respected and honored way to support the organization. And it creates a record of planned gift commitments that the organization can steward over time.
The society name should reflect the organization’s mission and values. For an aviation foundation: The Founders Circle. The Skyward Society. The Last Logbook Society. Find a name that resonates with your specific community.
Recognition for legacy donors should be meaningful and permanent: their names in the annual report, on a recognition page of the website, and potentially on a physical recognition display at the organization’s facility. Invite legacy donors to annual events as honored guests.
The goal is not to celebrate donors — though that is appropriate — but to demonstrate to every other donor in your community that planned giving is how serious supporters of this mission express their deepest commitment.
Step Four: Steward Planned Gift Commitments Over Time
A planned gift commitment made today may not be fulfilled for twenty or thirty years. The organization’s job in the interim is to maintain the relationship that produced the commitment — to ensure that the donor remains connected, informed, and confident that their gift will be used as they intend.
Stewardship for legacy donors includes:
Annual communication about the organization’s programs and impact. Invitations to appropriate events and activities. Personal outreach from organizational leadership — not just newsletters. Opportunities to see their planned gift in action through current giving that supports similar programs.
Planned gift commitments can be changed. Donors who become disconnected from an organization often remove it from their estate plans when they update their documents. Stewardship that maintains the connection protects the gift.
The Long-Term Impact
An aviation foundation that has invested ten years in building a planned giving culture will begin to receive bequests that are transformative in scale. A single bequest from a passionate aviator can endow a scholarship program, fund an aircraft acquisition, or provide the capital base for a permanent endowment.
These gifts cannot be rushed. They cannot be manufactured. They are the natural result of years of relationship, genuine impact, and a community of donors who understand that their connection to aviation is worth making permanent.
A planned giving program is among the highest-leverage investments an aviation nonprofit can make. It takes time to build and years to bear fruit — which is exactly why the best time to build it is now.
AviationLegacies.com helps aviation nonprofits build the donor relationships and organizational infrastructure that make planned giving programs possible. Reach out at aviationlegacies.com/contact.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do we need to notify donors when we receive a bequest in their name? You cannot notify a deceased donor, but you should absolutely reach out to the estate’s executor and, where appropriate, to the donor’s family. Express genuine gratitude, provide information about how the gift will be used, and honor the donor’s connection to your organization publicly if the family consents.
Can a donor change their mind after making a planned gift commitment? Yes. A planned gift commitment is not legally binding until the donor’s death (in the case of a bequest) or until the actual transfer occurs (in the case of beneficiary designations or irrevocable trusts). This is one reason why stewardship — maintaining the relationship — is so important. A donor who remains connected to the organization and confident in its mission is unlikely to change their mind.
Should we include planned giving information in every donor communication? Not every communication, but regularly. A footer in your newsletter, a page on your website, an annual acknowledgment to existing legacy donors, and specific outreach to major donors who have been supporting the organization for many years are all appropriate channels. The message should be present but not intrusive.
What should we do when we find out a donor has included us in their estate plans? Welcome them into your legacy recognition society. Send a personal, warm acknowledgment from your executive director or board chair. Include them in appropriate recognition and communication going forward. Ask if they are willing to share why they made the decision — with their permission, their story may inspire others.
Is there a minimum gift size for a planned gift program? No. The most important planned gifts in an organization’s history are often made by donors who gave modestly during their lifetimes but left significant bequests. Do not screen planned giving conversations by current giving level. Passion for the mission predicts planned giving far better than the size of the annual gift.