Planned giving is a "buzz-word" that is being touted in the charitable world as the best fund development opportunity to come along in many years. In reality it isn't new; it's simply being more widely discussed. Many small and intermediate-sized charitable organizations realize they can share in some of the major resource development opportunities heretofore enjoyed by larger organizations. In the semi-annual Philanthropic Giving Index prepared by the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, small and medium charities consistently rate planned giving as a fundraising strategy that has been most successful for them or that they are most interesting in pursuing.

The terms "planned giving," "deferred giving," and "gift planning" are often used synonymously and, for most purposes, have the same meaning. However, we'd like to encourage you to substitute the term "gift planning" in place of the term "planned giving." The concept of gift planning shifts us to an active stance from the passive and focuses on the best interests of the donor and not on "selling" planned giving techniques or products. It frees us to better do our jobs, as executives and/or volunteers and to motivate and excite our constituencies to be creative in assisting and supporting our respective missions. (For a glossary of planned giving terms, click here.)