CEO Executive AssistantPlanned giving is among the most relationship-intensive and most underutilized fundraising functions in the nonprofit sector. Legacy gifts, bequests, charitable remainder trusts, donor-advised fund distributions, and other deferred giving vehicles can represent transformative resources for nonprofit organizations. Yet planned giving programs are often underdeveloped because CEOs are either too operationally involved in the details or too disengaged from the relationship work that actually generates planned gifts.
The resolution is a clear delegation model: the CEO owns the relationship dimensions of planned giving, while trained staff and systems own the operational infrastructure. This guide helps nonprofit CEOs design exactly that model.
The Economics of Planned Giving Delegation
Before describing the delegation framework, it is worth understanding why planned giving deserves dedicated attention and why the CEO’s personal involvement is calibrated differently than in other fundraising functions.
Planned gifts are almost always the result of long-term, deeply personal relationships. A donor who includes an organization in their estate plan is making a decision that reflects their deepest values and their most enduring commitments. These decisions are rarely made in response to marketing materials alone. They emerge from relationships with organizational leaders who have demonstrated genuine care for the donor as a person, not just as a funding source.
This means the CEO’s relationship with long-tenured major donors is often the single most important factor in planned gift decisions. The CEO cannot delegate this relationship work without diminishing the planned giving potential.
At the same time, the operational infrastructure of a planned giving program, including prospect identification, marketing, legal coordination, gift acceptance policies, stewardship of existing planned gift donors, and planned gift acknowledgment, is entirely delegable. And without this operational infrastructure, even the best CEO relationships will not generate consistent planned giving results.
The CEO’s Role in Planned Giving
Define the CEO’s planned giving responsibilities precisely so that time is invested where it creates the most value.
Cultivating long-term major donor relationships. The CEO’s most important planned giving activity is not asking for planned gifts. It is building the kind of long-term, trust-based relationships with major donors that make planned giving conversations natural and appropriate. This means consistent personal contact, genuine interest in the donor’s life and values, and organizational storytelling that connects the donor to the organization’s long-term mission.
Initiating planned giving conversations with appropriate donors. When a development officer has identified a major donor as a strong planned giving prospect, the CEO should be engaged in conversations that naturally surface planned giving as an option. These conversations are not explicit solicitations initially. They are expressions of appreciation for the donor’s long-term commitment and genuine interest in how the donor is thinking about their philanthropic legacy.
Stewarding existing planned gift donors. Donors who have already made planned giving commitments deserve consistent, appreciative engagement from the organization’s leadership. The CEO should be personally involved in stewarding the organization’s most significant planned gift donors through personal letters, calls, and meetings.
Participating in planned giving recognition events. Most planned giving programs include some form of recognition, such as a legacy society, that honors donors who have made planned giving commitments. CEO participation in recognition events signals organizational appreciation at the highest level.
Delegating Planned Giving Operations
The operational machinery of a planned giving program should be owned by development staff with appropriate training and support.
Prospect identification and portfolio management. A planned giving officer or major gifts director with planned giving responsibility should maintain a portfolio of planned giving prospects, using database research, wealth screening, and relationship history to identify which donors have the characteristics most associated with planned giving decisions, including age, long tenure of giving, depth of relationship with the organization, and indicators of estate planning activity.
Planned giving marketing. Written materials about planned giving options, including bequest language, brochures on different gift vehicles, newsletter articles about planned giving, and website content, should be developed and maintained by development staff, often with guidance from a planned giving consultant.
Gift acceptance policy management. The organization’s planned giving policies, including which gift vehicles it accepts, what restrictions it places on gifts, and how it handles complex assets, should be owned by the CFO and development director, with legal review from outside counsel as needed. The CEO approves major policy decisions but does not manage the policy details.
Legal coordination. Coordinating with donors’ attorneys, reviewing gift documents, and managing the legal dimensions of complex planned gifts requires either a planned giving specialist on staff or a relationship with a planned giving consultant or legal advisor. The CEO may participate in conversations with donors and their advisors when appropriate, but legal and technical coordination belongs with designated staff.
Stewardship of existing planned gift donors. While the CEO engages personally with the most significant planned gift donors, a planned giving officer or development assistant should manage the systematic stewardship of the broader planned gift donor pool, including anniversary acknowledgments, impact reports, and invitations to recognition events.
Building the Planned Giving Infrastructure
A functional planned giving program requires infrastructure investment beyond personnel. The CEO must champion this investment while delegating the operational development to the appropriate team.
A planned giving database segment. Existing donors who have made or are likely to make planned gifts should be tracked in a separate database segment that allows for targeted communication and systematic relationship management.
Bequest society or legacy society. A named recognition vehicle for planned giving donors provides a framework for stewardship and gives donors a sense of belonging to a community of committed supporters. Staff should design and manage this program.
Planned giving marketing calendar. Regular communication with planned giving prospects and existing planned giving donors should be structured into a marketing calendar, with specific touchpoints throughout the year including legacy-focused appeals, recognition events, and personalized stewardship messages.
Gift acceptance policy. A clear written gift acceptance policy protects the organization and gives the development team the framework they need to evaluate and accept planned gifts without requiring CEO involvement in every gift decision.
For a broader framework for delegating development operations, see our resource on nonprofit fundraising.
Navigating Planned Giving with Long-Term Donors
Long-term major donors are often the most significant planned giving prospects, and the CEO’s relationship with these donors is typically the strongest in the organization. This creates a specific delegation dynamic.
The CEO should not hand off long-term major donor relationships to development staff simply because the donor’s planned giving potential has been identified. The relationship belongs with the CEO. The staff’s role is to support the CEO in that relationship: briefing the CEO before each engagement, tracking the relationship history, suggesting appropriate cultivation activities, and preparing the CEO for planned giving conversations when the time is right.
This model, sometimes called the CEO-led major gift model, ensures that the relationship is managed at the right level while distributing the operational support work to staff.
For guidance on structuring the board’s role in planned giving and donor relations, see our resource on nonprofit donor relations.
Planned Giving Conversations: Guidance for CEOs
Many nonprofit CEOs feel uncertain about how to initiate planned giving conversations. A few principles can help.
The most effective planned giving conversations begin not with a specific ask but with genuine curiosity about the donor’s philanthropic values and legacy aspirations. Questions like “What legacy do you hope this organization will carry forward over the next 20 years?” or “How has your connection to our work evolved over the years you have been involved?” open conversations about long-term commitment that naturally create openings for planned giving.
When the moment is appropriate, naming the possibility of a planned gift directly is far more effective than waiting for the donor to raise it. “Many of our most committed supporters have chosen to include us in their estate plans. Is that something you have given any thought to?” is a natural and respectful way to surface the topic.
Development staff should prepare briefing materials for the CEO before each significant planned giving conversation, including the donor’s giving history, engagement history, known interests, and relevant family context. These briefings make the CEO’s relationship work far more effective and efficient.
Measuring Planned Giving Program Performance
Because planned gifts are often deferred for years or decades, measuring planned giving program performance requires patience and a multi-metric approach.
Development staff should track and report regularly on: number of planned gift commitments (documented and expectancies), estimated value of the planned gift pipeline, number of planned giving conversations initiated, number of new planned giving prospects identified, and stewardship activities completed with existing planned gift donors.
The CEO reviews these metrics in regular development updates, using them to assess program health and to identify where personal engagement is most needed.
According to Forbes, organizations with well-structured planned giving programs, including a clear CEO relationship model, consistently generate 3 to 10 times more legacy gifts than organizations with unstructured planned giving efforts.
Common Planned Giving Delegation Mistakes
Fully delegating the relationship. Some CEOs hand planned giving prospects entirely to the planned giving officer, reasoning that development staff should manage fundraising. This misses the fact that planned giving decisions are made based on personal relationships with organizational leadership, not just development conversations.
Staying too involved in the operations. Other CEOs remain too involved in planned giving policy, marketing, and administration, consuming time that would be better spent in the donor relationships that actually generate planned gifts.
Neglecting planned giving in busy periods. Because planned gifts are deferred, they can feel less urgent than annual fund campaigns or grant deadlines. CEOs who deprioritize planned giving relationships during busy periods are forgoing long-term revenue for short-term convenience.
Underinvesting in the planned giving infrastructure. Without the operational infrastructure, even excellent CEO relationships will generate planned gift commitments that are not properly documented, stewarded, or honored. The organization must invest in the systems that capture and cultivate planned giving relationships.
The Long-Term Mission Case
Planned giving is ultimately a mission conversation, not just a financial conversation. The CEO who makes planned giving a priority is making the argument that the organization’s mission will endure and that it deserves a place in the donor’s most enduring legacy. That argument, made authentically and consistently, is one of the most powerful fundraising conversations a nonprofit leader can have.
Delegate the operations. Own the relationships. And invest in building a planned giving culture where long-term commitment to the mission finds expression in the most enduring gifts donors can make.
Related Reading
For further context, explore Delegation Guide for Affordable Housing Nonprofit CEOs and Delegation Guide for Automotive CEO: Brand Management.