At lunch today you learned that your prospective donors, who you have been cultivating for three months:
• just paid $23,000 in income tax on last year’s distribution from an IRA.
• just signed a contract to sell the lake house for $275,000.
• just completed the sale of the family business in preparation for retirement, including the building in which it is located.
The horse is out of the barn. The ship has sailed. The opportunity has passed.
One of the great oversights of the frontline fundraiser with a mindset on “major gifts” is to focus on the outright gift of cash or appreciated securities, on the five year pledge. That fundraiser tends not to wonder about the source of the $5,000 annual installments on the $25,000 pledge. That fundraiser is looking for gifts from income, not from the assets behind that income.
The solution: don’t ask for a contribution, but for a conversation. Proactively invite a gift conversation that addresses the timing of planned triggering life events, asset allocation, and related taxation issues. You won’t discover every gift opportunity in advance of the sale but you will find more than if you hadn’t made the effort.