Yes, we all know that this country is getting much older. But, we also know that planned giving in general has slowed down tremendously since the start of the recession in late 2008. If you are interested in seeing charts on recently updated data based on VSE annual surveys on the 1,000 colleges and universities that report their numbers each year, click on this link:
Trends in Planned Giving – Higher Education 2005-20012
This is the power point that I used on my first video blog (click here to check out the video blog post!).
So where is planned giving heading? From looking at the charts, it looks like we are currently seeing a drop in bequests! In terms of numbers of bequests (less people passing away?). And, a lower average size bequests since 2008 (reflection of lower stock market?).
What happened to the wealth transfer? Well, haven’t seen bequests from baby boomers, yet. Give it a few years and get your planned giving act together!