Securing Nonprofit's Future by Unlocking Planned Giving with Chelsea Fahr.

Unlock the secrets of planned giving and secure your nonprofit's future with my  discussion featuring Chelsea Fahr, President of the Planned Giving Forum of Greater Sacramento. Gain valuable insights into the world of planned giving, a crucial fundraising strategy that involves deferred gifts benefiting nonprofits after a donor's lifetime. Chelsea sheds light on the significance of incorporating planned giving into nonprofit strategies and shares how the Planned Giving Forum of Greater Sacramento aids organizations in navigating this intricate landscape.

Discover practical steps to establish a robust planned giving program without feeling overwhelmed. Chelsea emphasizes the importance of education and strategic integration, highlighting potential tax benefits for donors and the necessity of involving professional advisors. We explore how a well-structured planned giving program can enhance an organization's longevity and appeal, making it more attractive to current and potential donors. This episode also provides a glimpse into the workings of the Planned Giving Forum and the pivotal role sponsors play in its mission.

Challenge your fears about starting a planned giving program as we address common misconceptions and the unique hurdles faced by grassroots nonprofits. Chelsea encourages organizations to begin with manageable steps, leveraging existing contacts in financial and legal sectors to create a support network. By exploring real-world scenarios and the role of mentorship, we aim to empower nonprofits to start meaningful conversations around planned giving, ensuring they are equipped to make a lasting impact long after their current operations.
To learn more about Planned Giving visit the website HERE

Chapter Summaries
(00:00) Understanding Plan Giving for Nonprofits
Planned giving is essential for nonprofit sustainability and can start with simple steps, aided by the Planned Giving Forum.

(12:04) Navigating Planned Giving for Nonprofits
Planned giving program for nonprofits, integrating into fundraising strategy, educating donors on benefits, involving professional advisors, and role of Planned Giving Forum.

(20:32) Starting a Plan Giving Program
Planned giving can be integrated into development efforts with mentorship, team building, and addressing mortality.

(28:50) Exploring Planned Giving Opportunities for Nonprofits
Structured planned giving programs are important for nonprofits, but smaller organizations may lack resources. Forums and community foundations provide support and collaboration opportunities.

Chelsea Fahr Bio:
Chelsea Fahr is the Senior Director of Philanthropy at the Sacramento Region Community Foundation. She strives to provide fundholders and donors with an exceptional Foundation experience while helping them meet and exceed their philanthropic goals.

Chelsea is a proud UC Davis Aggie with degrees in Communications and International Relations. Since her time at UC Davis, Chelsea has been deeply involved in Sacramento’s nonprofit community, volunteering and working with a variety of organizations.

Thank you so much for listening! We appreciate you. Please visit the website to sign up for our email updates. https://www.nonprofpod.com/ And if you like, leave me a voicemail to comment on the program, leave a question for us to ask in the future or a message for me, Jeff Holden. I may even use your voice mail message in a future episode. https://www.nonprofpod.com/voicemail. Thanks again for your support in listening, commenting and sharing the great work our local nonprofits are accomplishing.

Transcript

Chelsea Fahr: [00:00:00] There's a lot of different ways to implement a plan gift. It's good to know how that works and to be able to talk with donors about the different options that they have. It's not only a way for you to leave a legacy, it's not only a way for you to feel confident that you're going to continue to support the causes that you love, but there can be some great tax benefits behind it.

Jeff Holden: I'm Jeff Holden. Welcome to the nonprofit podcast network. Our purpose and passion is to highlight a nonprofit organization in each weekly episode. Giving that organization an opportunity to tell their story, in their words, to better inform and educate the respective communities they serve, as well as provide one more tool for them to share their message to constituents and donors.

Our goal is to help build stronger communities through shared voices and to [00:01:00] both encourage and support the growth of local nonprofit organizations through podcasting. Thanks to our founding partners for their foresight and helping us transform the way conversations start. CAP Trust, fiduciary advice for endowments and foundations.

Runyon Saltzman Incorporated, RSE, Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations Creating Integrated Communications Committed to Improving Lives, and Western Health Advantage, a full service health care plan for individuals, employer groups, and families. Before the episode begins, I want to take a minute to share that we now have a website where you can sign up to get our weekly email updates on the latest episodes, transcripts to prior episodes, and more.

And see what else we have going on. Please be sure to register so you never miss an episode or any other important information we may have to share in the nonprofit space. You can find us now at nonprofpod. com. That's nonprofpod. com. You'll also notice on the website a microphone in the lower right [00:02:00] hand corner.

By clicking on it, you'll be able to leave me voicemail messages. Maybe a question you'd like me to ask our guests. Or just a comment on the program. I may even play your message in an upcoming episode. I look forward to more engagement with you as we continue to grow and better serve our nonprofit community.

As you've likely noticed, our programs span a variety of nonprofit categories, from social services to community based organizations and even trade associations, as we want our listeners to recognize the scope of the nonprofit space. Without our non profit ecosystem, our communities would look vastly different, and in my opinion, not in a good way.

Every episode, every non profit story includes a discussion of the funding for that non profit and the challenges many have with sustainability. It can seem at times the funding treadmill never stops, never slows down, and you're always chasing the next grant, the next donor, the next event to keep providing the valuable service you [00:03:00] provide.

In this episode, We're going to turn the page a bit and talk to, yes, a non profit that's all about helping non profits with planned giving. President Chelsea Farr is going to help us better understand the value of planned giving and what it is the planned giving form of Greater Sacramento provides our regional non profits.

Who's there to help educate, train, and support non profit funding from a planned gift perspective? How is this an effective option for philanthropic donors? What about the complexities and tax ramifications, and what professionals should I even be calling on to help? If less time was spent on chasing the necessary funding every year, more time could be spent on the actual mission.

That's what we're going to learn a little bit more about in this discussion. Chelsea Farr, welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. 

Chelsea Fahr: Thank you, Jeff. Happy to be here. 

Jeff Holden: And excited to have you here because we're going to be talking about something that's not our typical conversation. First and foremost, You have a [00:04:00] program that appeals to a little more narrow audience.

This is not an opportunity to speak to everybody in the community because it is focused on the non profit organizations specifically. And plan giving has some specific tenets to it that we're going to discuss because they are significant. And not everybody really understands them. Not everybody really understands what plan giving is.

So, let's get into that conversation. If you could start me off with what the nature of plan giving really means. 

Chelsea Fahr: Absolutely. Plan giving is, is a very important part of the philanthropic space. When we're talking about donors who have nonprofits and causes that they love, a lot of people immediately think about giving dollars now.

Plan giving really talks about deferred gifts, gifts that are planned now, but that really don't get into the hands of the nonprofits until later, most of the time after someone has passed away. So they can put together plans to leave a planned gift to their favorite non [00:05:00] profit. There's many different avenues to do that, which I think we can talk about in a little bit.

Certainly most common is, is naming a non profit in your estate plans. It's a simple bequest. And that's what a lot of people do when they're offered the option to make a planned gift. 

Jeff Holden: Hence the planned giving forum to clarify in many cases. It seems straightforward enough. What does it really mean for either a non profit to participate or why the need for a plan giving form?

Why something that is almost an adjunct to what they do already? 

Chelsea Fahr: There's So many components for nonprofits to have to have to think about every day when they're, they're working with, you know, donors, they're, they're trying to run their nonprofits to put their missions out in the community to run their programs.

And if I can back up just for a minute, Jeff, my day job is to work with the Sacramento region community foundation, and that's. A big part of what we're doing in the community as well as we're partnering with nonprofits and we're working with donors and [00:06:00] stakeholders and nonprofits to create a more just and vibrant region.

We invite people to open charitable funds with us. We invest those dollars, whether it's a family or a business or a nonprofit who's giving dollars to us so that it's there for their long term sustainability in the future. And we, you know, we charge. Annual support fee is on those funds to help do more work in the community ourselves as a non profit, right?

We're focused on health equity We're looking at mental health of youth in Sacramento County looking at food distributions in Yolo County So, you know as a non profit ourselves at the foundation We have the same challenges right where we have our own goals as an organization And we're trying to invite others to be a part of that with us And so when I came on board the foundation, I was immediately invited to be a part of the planned giving form of Greater Sacramento.

It's a separate organization, but it fits so much into the work that I do every day in working with donors and asking them to give gifts and helping them more, be more strategic with their philanthropic goals. And so. An organization like the [00:07:00] Plan Giving Forum really serves that particular niche, the plan giving knowledge that nonprofits can take and bring back to their, their donors, learning what plan giving is and how they can invite donors to, to be a part of that.

Plan giving is ultimately about sustaining nonprofits long into the future and giving the donors the confidence that even after their lifetime, they can still be making an impact for the causes that they love. 

Jeff Holden: Well, in so many different ways with so many different organizations too, because not everybody has an account through the community foundation.

Unfortunately, I'm sure it does simplify if they should, because you've got the wherewithal and the knowledge and the capacity to manage these things appropriately. We get into the individual nonprofit organizations and all of a sudden it's a little bit different story. To your point of they're busy trying to run their organization and they've got a lot of things to, to deal with in so many different ways, while this is significantly important, it's not necessarily something that's significantly on the top [00:08:00] of their priority list every day and they do need to be aware of it because it's another opportunity for a donor or philanthropic individual or business to engage with them in a sustaining giving capacity.

If I'm looking at it from the perspective of a non profit, how does the plan giving forum benefit me? Mm 

Chelsea Fahr: hmm. Mm hmm. Plan giving can, I think, be intimidating to a lot of non profits. You know, we've talked about how much non profits already have on their plate and, and implementing a plan giving program just can seem big or almost unattainable sometimes.

Jeff Holden: It was confusing for me. I went to the Philanthropy Summit and sat through one of the sessions and I'm like, really? There's so many complexities to it in so many different ways. 

Chelsea Fahr: Putting together a plan giving program, it needs to be thoughtful. There needs to be intent behind it and everyone needs to be on board at a non profit.

Staff, board, other volunteers. When you're inviting your donors to be a part of something like that. [00:09:00] But I think sometimes what's not realized is just starting that program. It's sometimes as simple as just incorporating that plan giving language into the materials you're already distributing, the newsletters that you're putting out, the conversations you're already having with your donors, putting a little footnote just to start just to say, and by the way, have you ever considered plan giving?

We'd love to talk with you more about that. We'd love to talk with you about considering leaving our organization. In your estate plans, you've always been such a great supporter. And usually your best plan giving prospects are the people that are already right there with you. Your volunteers, your annual donors, and they're going to be open to having that conversation.

Jeff Holden: When they're coming in year in, year out, they're visiting, they're participating in your events and your activities. So yeah, that makes a great deal of sense. And to your point, I can see where they could be easily overlooked for the opportunity to engage. After they passed, to put them as a part of the estate.

Since you are technically an all volunteer staff, you have a full time job, as you mentioned, with the Community Foundation, and thank [00:10:00] you for all the work you do there. In addition to, you have this volunteer position, you're president of the organization. How many people are on that volunteer board? 

Chelsea Fahr: Right now we're a board of eight.

I have a phenomenal board. I gotta give a big shout out to my board. That's a lot of work for only eight people. Yeah. Yeah. We're, we're a volunteer run. We have an excellent admin assistant who's there to support us. But, you know, our, our board made up of, uh, we have vice president and, and secretary and treasurer officer positions.

We have folks who are working on our membership, our marketing. Folks who are bringing sponsors in, we also have folks who are working on our DEI fellows program, something that the plan giving forum implemented a few years back as a way of really shining a spotlight on our diverse colleagues, doing diverse work in the community, BIPOC led and serving nonprofits and really giving them special access to this plan, giving knowledge, bringing them into the philanthropic space and supporting the work that they're doing.

So, um, It's a phenomenal group. I've been involved with this board now for gosh, around seven [00:11:00] years. I'm serving as president this year and I'll do the same next year, but it's, it's been absolutely an honor. We have a great group and our membership is just so very engaged and we're looking to continue to grow that and get more people involved to get more sponsors involved.

We also have professional advisors who from time to time attend our programs, Jeff. So while nonprofits certainly are our main audience. You know, we want everybody to feel knowledgeable and welcome within the plan giving space as we learn about this area together. 

Jeff Holden: Tell me how the organization performs.

What is it you do to the benefit of the nonprofit and or the advisors, financial advisors who are involved in what you do? What is it that you do that provides value? 

Chelsea Fahr: Certainly. So we put on several programs every year, um, usually about eight to nine monthly programs. Usually they're, they're luncheon programs.

So we invite you to, to come in and have lunch with us and learn about a plan giving topic. Sometimes they're virtual as well. Sometimes webinars can be a little bit more convenient for people. So we, [00:12:00] we're sort of doing a hybrid approach right now with our programming. Some are in person, some are, are hybrid and you know, our topics vary.

They're all very plan giving focused. Sometimes they're a little bit broader within the philanthropic space as well. Every couple of years, we try to go back to the basics and we do a Plan Giving 101, which is actually more of a half day program, but really gets back to what is plan giving? What are the different vehicles for plan giving?

How can a nonprofit start or rejuvenate their plan giving program? And so, you know, we have a lot of nonprofits who attend these programs and it made it You know, determine whether they come based on the, the topic. Sometimes it's a little broader, sometimes it's a little bit more technical. But really focusing on plan giving, how to talk to your donors, how to market your program, what those different vehicles are, and we bring in some great speakers to talk to us about those as well.

Jeff Holden: As a non profit, and I'm thinking now I need to get this planned giving element of my donation funnel, so to speak, the way I [00:13:00] fund my organization, what would you say would be a great first step to get started in the process? 

Chelsea Fahr: Well, you could certainly reach out to our board at the Planned Giving Forum.

Join us. Become a member if you're not already. 

Jeff Holden: We're happy to I did tee that up a little bit on purpose. 

Chelsea Fahr: Yeah, well, I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Yeah. Well, we welcome more and more members and, and, and we welcome those conversations for how to start those Planned Giving programs. You know, like I'd mentioned earlier, I think getting, getting started by, you know, Running the idea of a plan giving program past your board, past your close knit volunteers, you know, get a pulse on what that might look like for your organization.

Starting with the people that are closest to you and then filtering out from there, talking with your closest donors, figuring out what that plan giving language might look like within the, the marketing communication materials that you're already creating. And so I think those can be some great places to start and the plan giving program are, is here to support those first steps for you.

Jeff Holden: I have a question for you, and we didn't talk about this in advance, but it's [00:14:00] coming up as I'm listening to you speak. What percentage, let's say just of the significant non profits in the community, there's 13, 000, let's say the top 5, 000, what percentage do you think have a planned giving? plan that actually have it built into their, 

Chelsea Fahr: that's a great question, Jeff.

You know, I think it's when you're talking about some of the larger nonprofits in our region and some of the nonprofits whose work expands beyond this region, you know, nationally, perhaps I think it'd be easier in some cases for them to put together that, that program. It's a little bit more of a, you know, a box program.

Everybody can immediately get on board. I think it can be more of a challenge for some of our grassroots nonprofits, some of our smaller nonprofits that are, that are in the area that don't have a big staff or who perhaps like Plangiving Forum are entirely volunteer run. I think there's a lot of opportunity for growth within the Plangiving space and trying to make Plangiving be less intimidating for some of those smaller nonprofits who would really like to implement [00:15:00] that, but really don't know where to start.

Jeff Holden: So as, as a, and just as a guesstimate, it would be more the minority of organizations have a planned giving structure within their organization as opposed to the majority. So there, like you said, there's a lot of opportunity, right, to actually get into it. 

Chelsea Fahr: Right. 

Jeff Holden: It's the workload I'm gonna ask, is it a lot of work to get it structured and set up, or is it something that's just a front end once it's loaded, then.

It somewhat runs itself. 

Chelsea Fahr: I don't think it has to be a lot of work. It's certainly something, again, that you want to be thoughtful about. You want to think about how, you know, if you already have a fundraising plan, for example, if you don't, work on a fundraising plan that incorporates all aspects of fundraising, right, including plan giving.

But I don't think it has to be, A huge lift to get it started, even if you're just practicing starting to have some of those conversations and, and, and what does plan giving look like? I mean, just learning some of the, the language behind plan giving, it's a, it's a different [00:16:00] language in some senses and talking about the different plan giving vehicles and how people can be a part of that space and, and, you know, put a plan gift into place.

And when you start getting familiar with that language, you start getting familiar with talking about it with your donors, with your board members, it can get easier from there. And you can start making it into a more robust program and really having it become a culture at your nonprofit. 

Jeff Holden: You know, as we're talking, more and more questions come to mind as opposed to what we previously discussed, so I'm not going to surprise you with a bunch of them, but I can only imagine the same thing on the side of a nonprofit as they're sitting there thinking maybe they're listening to the episode going.

Oh, okay. Well, I need, I do need to do that. I mean, I've got a short term vision. If everything I do is year to year to year to year by event, by event, by event, by grant. And if I don't have anything that's sustaining me with some long term plan gifts that are going to be there and or into some sort of endowment, which can fall underneath this same umbrella in some way, shape or form and its structure, I'm sure [00:17:00] not to mention.

a comprehension of all the tax liabilities both ways for the nonprofit organization itself and how things and money comes in to the donor or the philanthropic organization that's contributing that money to the Planned Gift. 

Chelsea Fahr: Sure. 

Jeff Holden: Does that come up? Is that a part of what Planned Giving Forum provides in some of the sessions?

Maybe there's an, you know. One of your events is based on tax liabilities and proper tax structure and working through the elements from a significant standpoint to where there's real benefits if you do it this way and extreme deterrence, if not penalty in some cases, if you do it wrong. 

Chelsea Fahr: Absolutely. We, we've definitely had some programs that have gone in that direction, you know, and there are some areas of plan giving that absolutely need professional advisors to step in.

And that's why we do have professional advisors attend our, our programs. Occasionally we, we welcome them. And nonprofits should be aware of what that [00:18:00] looks like. There's a lot of different ways to implement a plan gift. Some that have tax liabilities and while nonprofits should be. telling their donors to talk with their tax professionals, their professional advisors.

It's, it's good to know how that works and to be able to talk with donors about the different options that they have. And these are the talking points to get used to, right? This is the why behind the plan giving for your donors that it's just, it's not only a way for you to leave a legacy. It's not only a way for you to feel confident that you're going to continue to support the causes that you love.

But there can be some great tax benefits behind it, and making that easier on your family after you pass away, when dollars are going directly to non profits. 

Jeff Holden: Well, I can certainly see if Organization A and Organization B serve a particular community that is of interest to a particular donor. And organization A is really buttoned up on its plan giving and organization B is not.

There's a process there in that conversation that as the donor I'm going to feel comfortable [00:19:00] leaving my wealth in some capacity to the organization that's able to explain it better to me. 

Chelsea Fahr: Absolutely. And, and, and an organization who's able to see their own longevity. Where are we going to be in five, 10, 20 years?

Where do we want to be? And how do your, does your plan gift help us to get there? That's, that's the why for plan giving. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. I think that right there is from the standpoint of a donor. Who's looking at, love both organizations. You're wonderful, you're wonderful, been contributing for a long time. But if you're coming and giving me a vision of why I should leave a planned gift for you versus the other who is still year to year or maybe couple year to couple year, but the grander vision is saying, here's why we need you to continue in a different capacity and with some detail.

What a difference. Yeah. 

Chelsea Fahr: Yeah. What a difference. 

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Scott Thomas: Hello, this is Scott Thomas with CAP Trust in our Sacramento office. I specialize in working with local nonprofits and associations. Annually, we survey private and public nonprofit organizations across the country to better understand [00:21:00] challenges they see in today's environment.

In our more recent survey, we heard concerns about proper board governance, mission aligned investment, and how to implement alternative investments. If you would like a copy of the survey or to discuss your organization, look me up, scottthomasatcaptrust. com. 

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com. So let's talk about how you're funded. How do you fund the organization? You're all volunteer. 

Chelsea Fahr: We're all volunteer, so it's our membership fees, and [00:22:00] it's our generous sponsors. So to be a member of the Planned Giving Forum, it's 75 a year. That gets folks access to, to our program content, it gets them decreased costs to attend our program, and we're always looking for new sponsors as well.

We have many generous sponsors who support the Planned Giving Forum, and they help us

You know, have both in person and virtual events. And so we're very grateful for that funding 

Jeff Holden: and. I would imagine for the events, there's probably a small fee as well, if you're a member and non member. 

Chelsea Fahr: Exactly, yes. It's less if you're a member. And, you know, if you're attending more than a few events with us per year, it makes sense to, to purchase that 75 membership.

It'll save you in the long run. And, and so, you know, we're happy to chat with you more about that. that if you're interested in joining, perhaps your nonprofits willing to invest in that plan giving space and in you as an employee and might cover that fee for you. Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: I'm just [00:23:00] going through the math in my head.

It would seem 75 is relatively nominal. And if you're looking at it from the perspective of what it could yield if it's done properly. I mean, one good gift would offset any of the expense of membership. 

Chelsea Fahr: So 

Jeff Holden: it's, it's, it's well worth it. And we do this math a lot of different times on different things in terms of an investment, but it truly is an investment.

And again, I just get back to the complexity of the situation. If you're not playing in the space, you aren't playing. You can't get sustainable and sustaining revenue. 

Chelsea Fahr: Right, right. And playing gifts can be transformational. Sometimes they're a surprise, you know. And, and you. Can't always guarantee a planned gift is going to be in, but it's not an excuse to not have those conversations and to, to give, you know, show people that vision, as you mentioned, Jeff, invite them to be a part of that and to start tracking those planned gift commitments that you've gotten from us.

Jeff Holden: Right. So [00:24:00] collaboration is a little bit different with you in terms of community, like it would be with a nonprofit, but you do still collaborate with, with others. You're a part. in some way, shape, or form of the, the Regional Community Foundation, which is a behemoth in the community in terms of what it provides for our nonprofit ecosystem.

Who else might be involved with you to the, to the sense of being collaborators, so to speak? 

Chelsea Fahr: Sure. Well, I mean, you know, certainly we love working with and getting to know our membership base, the nonprofits that are involved with us, the advisors who attend our programs, the sponsors who see the 

Jeff Holden: advisors, financial advisors.

Yes, yes. You had 

Chelsea Fahr: financial advisors and, and our sponsors who, who really see the value in what we're trying to do. As you said, we're a part of the philanthropic community. There's other. wonderful groups out there that are providing education on charitable giving and on philanthropy. Association of Fundraising Professionals is a great example of that.

We've done some partnering with them in the past, there's been some cross collaboration on our board and some of the programs that we've, that [00:25:00] we've done, looking at the content that we're offering to our members and making sure that we're each providing valuable content. So collaboration is big for us as well.

Jeff Holden: And I know what. What triggered the conversation in the outreach was, I saw you at the philanthropy summit and I'm thinking, this is a part of the greater nonprofit organization system that people do need to be aware of. And the greater the awareness, the more likely the sustainability as we, that word just keeps coming up.

What are some of the biggest misunderstandings? What do you have from the organizations, the nonprofit organizations, as you see it today about planned giving? 

Chelsea Fahr: Well, I think planned giving can be intimidating. You know, we've talked a little bit about that, Jeff, that starting that program when you're just trying to get those dollars in the door now can feel daunting.

But it's taking those, it's taking those small steps, getting everyone on board, committed. to incorporating plan giving [00:26:00] into, you know, the development program at your organization and, and moving forward with that. It doesn't have to be a scary. I think looking for those, those organizations who already have done that and have had success, that's another great thing about plan giving form is we're bringing people together, right?

We're bringing people together to learn from each other as well, to talk about their successes and plan giving and what that looks like. So trying to find those mentors, if you will, you know, and plan giving. form can help make those connections, but it doesn't have to be scary. It doesn't have to be intimidating.

It's an important part and you can slowly work it into the work that you're already doing. 

Jeff Holden: I see that. sense of urgency that is the day to day business. Yeah. We're not going to get those donations because we only make our budget and we're doing well right now. Why stop? But it's just taking that breath to say, okay, you want to be here tomorrow comfortably, more comfortably than you are today.

And this is a step in the right direction to get you there because of, you know, that gift is out there that's coming at this point in time or [00:27:00] once you start to compile a catalog of those gifts, obviously you can see what the timing is on each and how they fall into place. 

Chelsea Fahr: And I do want to be mindful of those grassroots nonprofits that, you know, it's that day to day is it's, it's tough.

You know, there's so many people out there doing. Great, great work. Just critical missions that, that lift up the quality of life in our region. And I don't want to make it sound that like you can snap your fingers and have a plan giving program tomorrow. No, it's, it's tough, but reach out to us, reach out to our board, talk to us and let's think about just those first initial baby steps we can take.

And if you think plan giving would be a good match for your organization, we're here for that. 

Jeff Holden: And I can certainly see the benefit of that conversation because you can. At least recommend, they all know somebody in the financial services sector because they're involved in the organization in some way, shape, or form.

Probably know somebody in the legal field. We see a lot of legal elements that can fall into this plan giving. We get into [00:28:00] big trusts and estates and they surely have somebody in the accounting field that they can rely on. So there's your team of consultants right there when you start to gather people that you already have a connection with that are involved in your organization.

Right, right. To start moving it. toward a planned gift and a process and procedure within. If the organization had no budget and it was whatever you want to do, what would it look like? What would you do with it to benefit the community? 

Chelsea Fahr: Oh, gosh. You know, we're, we're always looking at. Potential speakers who can come in and provide great content.

If we didn't have a budget, we didn't have to worry about costs or flying people in. I mean, we, we'd be bringing speakers in from all over to provide a whole variety of content. You know, I think as a group, we'd love to sit down with nonprofits individually and help them create more plan, giving plans, you know, I mean, that's hard when you're an all volunteer board, but having, yeah, having no budget that would, that would really allow us to really boost our, our content.

Value of the [00:29:00] content that we're providing and, and being able to really push people into this space and support them in that process. And 

Jeff Holden: I like how excited you get about that. You, you light up your smile, you're, you're, you get excited about it and for the benefit of people not watching something on YouTube, you know, I wanted to share that because it gives me a sense of what the opportunities are and you're in the space day in and day out.

So you understand it. Back to reality with budgets and everything else. What is the greatest need you've got? What would make the organization better on, you know, on a single thing? You've said, boy, if we could just get to, you know, this is where we are. This is some of the stuff we struggle with. 

Chelsea Fahr: Gosh, well, you know, we're always looking to grow our member base, you know, and our, our membership fluctuates, like, like any membership organization, but we're always looking for, for new members to, to come in.

And, and, you know, we try to get feedback from our members to say, is what we're providing valuable? Are your membership benefits valuable? What? Other bits of content can we provide that, that would help you in your organization. So [00:30:00] we're, we're always looking to boost membership. And of course, sponsorship is, is crucial.

We, we try to provide valuable sponsorship benefits as well. Those are available on our, on our website. And so if you know of an, an organization or individual who, who would like to be a part of that, we love marketing our sponsors at our programs and, and. Um, really showing our gratitude to them for what they help us do.

Jeff Holden: Is there something, Chelsea, that you could say, there's one thing you see that's a common thread that just keeps coming up all the time from non profits that you speak with that is maybe the most recurring? issue they deal with when you hear from them? 

Chelsea Fahr: Well, in terms of the plan giving space, I think it's how to start those conversations with, with really at the end of the day involves talking about death, talking about people's mortality and, and what that would look like afterwards.

And I think what I have found in, in my experience in plan giving is that as daunting as those conversations can seem, The relief [00:31:00] that you see on donors faces when they realize that that piece is taken care of is just huge, you know? It's not something to be embarrassed to talk about or feeling like it's a touchy subject.

They love your organization. They're here to talk about it. Get them excited about something that can happen. Um, and I think that's a huge benefit for the people who love what you do. Oh, 

Jeff Holden: sure. I can easily see where you're going to approach Ms. Farr. I'd like to speak with you about when you're no longer with us.

Chelsea Fahr: Yes. Yes. 

Jeff Holden: Where it can either be intimidating or Exhilarating. 

Chelsea Fahr: Yes. 

Jeff Holden: Because of your involvement in the organization, it just depends on the perspective and I'm sure some of that is confidence and the more confident you are, which would be from attending your seminars and understanding the process of plan giving could make that conversation so much better.

Chelsea Fahr: Yes. Yes. Agreed. 

Jeff Holden: I can even see a whole role, role play video [00:32:00] of 

Chelsea Fahr: how 

Jeff Holden: to do that. What's the best way to get in touch with the organization to learn about what's going on, where the events are going to be, when they are, et cetera, et cetera. 

Chelsea Fahr: Come visit our website, you guys have it up here on the screen, which is, which is great.

Our website is pgfgsac. org, Planned Giving Forum, Planned Giving Forum of Greater Sacramento, pgfgsac. org. And on that website, you can sign up for membership. You can also see what our upcoming events are going to be. You can, you can see our sponsors and what the benefits look like for that. We have a phenomenal admin person as well.

Her admin email is on that website and she is great at responding, getting questions that come up to the appropriate board members. So send us an email, see what programs we have coming up and we'd, we'd love to see you there. 

Jeff Holden: And so let me ask if I'm not a member, but I have a question. I want to throw it out there.

I'll go to the website. I'll just connect. Yeah. Hey, I'm struggling with this. Would I get an answer? 

Chelsea Fahr: Yeah. Yes. We'll absolutely [00:33:00] answer you. Yes. Great. We, we, we tend to reserve some more of those deeper dive conversations for our members. Sure. But if you're wanting to learn more, more about us and about how our program might be able to assist you with your programs, yes, we'd love to chat with you about that.

Jeff Holden: If nothing else, once that relationship starts, why would I not participate? 

Chelsea Fahr: Absolutely. You 

Jeff Holden: know, you've been so helpful to me as the organization. Boy, 75 bucks a year, that's kind of a no brainer from my perspective at this end of, you know, the microphone. Well, that's the hope. That's 

Chelsea Fahr: the hope, yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Chelsea, I am so pleased we had the opportunity to talk because it's such a significant piece of, you know, any non profit.

And not knowing what that percentage is, but assuming it's probably less than more of people who really do have a structured, planned, giving platform within their organization. And the access to people who can help and support them with all the nuance of what happens in that system by donor. The complexities and I'm sure some can get [00:34:00] really complex and some can be fairly simple.

Knowing how to ask. You just did a beautiful job of sharing what needs to happen in terms of getting it set up and structured. That there is an outlet in you. It's the Planned Giving Forum of Greater Sacramento to, to really help identify that and I'm sure some of that even circles back into the Community Foundation as well as those advisors who are participating and the community at large.

Other organizations have huge planned giving processes and procedures if you're one of those smaller organizations that we were talking about. You can speak with them through this, this forum. Yes. And the forum means we talk about this. And I'm hoping more people now recognize that there's an opportunity for them, if not because of the conversation, because they were exposed to it at the Philanthropy Summit, because they've seen it through the Community Foundation, and or because another organization shares it with another organization.

So thank you for coming in and talking to us about it. In such simple, simple ways that doesn't overwhelm. [00:35:00] We'll let that happen when we get into the details and the nitty gritty of it all. 

Chelsea Fahr: Thank you, Jeff, for having me. I appreciate it. 

Jeff Holden: Thanks.

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