With August being National Make A Will Month, I want to return to a common refrain of mine:

When it comes to talking to your Planned Giving prospects, you don’t need to fear “the death conversation.”

Of course, it’s true that creating a will is tied to the inevitable that we all shall someday face.

With that as a given, when you’re conversing with prospects there is no reason to talk about death.

Instead, wills give you optimal opportunity to have meaningful conversations with your prospects about leaving a legacy (though most folks don’t call it that).

The conversation is about life: The long life of your nonprofit.

As your convo unfolds, you’ll point out the tangible ways a long-term gift can keep giving to your mission.

For instance, planned gifts help secure your future by providing ongoing funding to support programs, and programmatic research and growth.

Once you start focusing on the possibilities and potential for your organization, I guarantee you the last thing your prospect — or you — will be thinking about is death.

Instead, you become partners imagining a better tomorrow —  and the role your donor can play in making it possible.

In a sense, having this conversation is really doing your potential donor a favor. By discussing wills in aspirational ways, you can help shift what many view as a dreaded, or simply necessary task, into the opportunity to write a final chapter with a happy ending.

That’s what leaving a legacy is all about.