by Sonja Carter, JD

When I worked at Columbia University, I helped to change its culture—no small feat—with humor and sweetness. 

Columbia was in the midst of its massive $6B campaign, and the pressure was on to raise more gifts than ever. A planned giving program (bequests, etc.) existed, but was not actively utilized by the fundraising team. So the VP and AVP of Development for the University decided that planned giving was a gift category ripe for growth and improvement. New annual metrics were handed out to the team, requiring each person to have X number of bequest conversations each year. 

And… I was asked to change the culture so that the team would be inspired to embrace planned giving—no small feat. 

As the Director of Planned Giving, I supported the method of giving, not a specific school within Columbia or a specific purpose. Unlike me, my colleagues were responsible for bringing in current gifts in support of a specific school or purpose. Asking them to also bring in planned gifts, or planned gifts in lieu of current use gifts, wasn’t an easy sell. All good fundraisers track how much they raise, and planned gifts—while ultimately beneficial—do not provide the immediate cash needed by a school or project, and in fact may arrive long after the fundraiser who successfully solicited them has left the organization. And although all soliciting takes courage, asking donors about their estate plan is undoubtedly the MOST intimidating task we fundraisers have.

Yes, my colleagues had bequest conversation expectations to meet, and they did their best to meet them—but they weren’t inspired to do more than the absolute bare minimum. We wanted to do more—we wanted to make planned giving an active part of the Campaign. 

After some brainstorming, I suggested using humor. Why not create a funny reward?  The fundraiser who brought in the most (or best) planned gifts during a set period of time could “Earn the Urn.” As in, a very large funeral urn—maybe 2 feet tall. Filled with candy. Macabre? A little. Funny? Yes. Full of sweetness? You bet. We went for it. 

Everyone on our fundraising team was invited to attend quarterly meetings led by Senior Staff. We got updates, education, the opportunity to present case studies, and of course—we celebrated successes. The Urn was going to be part of those celebrations. 

At the next meeting, we announced this award to great gasps of disbelief but even more laughs and chortles. We awarded it to a young fundraiser who had closed a bequest, calling her up to the front of the room to receive this giant urn full of candy. I’d guess some 50-75 people were present that day, and I guarantee they went back to their offices and told their colleagues about this new, funny award, and who had won it. And so the word spread.

Meanwhile, the fundraiser who “Earned the Urn” put it on her desk, stuffed to the brim with candy (like I said, we got a BIG urn—who knew they came in sizes?!), and all of her colleagues stopped by for a piece of candy. If they hadn’t been at the meeting when she earned it, they would ask about it. Word continued to spread about the urn, but also about her personal success.

Why did this work? It worked because it helped to tackle fear, it provided an incentive, and it went viral as folks chatted about it at the proverbial water cooler. 

What was the fear? Well, planned gift conversations mean you need to touch on many sensitive subjects: death, taxes, family, health, aging and money. Bringing a touch of humor—Earning the Urn—allowed us to bring these conversations into the light. It went viral because fundraisers talked about how weird and funny this was! We had always acknowledged how somber conversations that involve anticipating death could be, but the humor deflected some of the fear and discomfort. The award let folks see success—making it less scary because they were reminded of all their colleagues who were also leading sensitive conversations. If others could do it, so could they!

And the incentive? Not only did the award bring candy to enjoy and share—a sweet victory for those who received it—more importantly, it brought them recognition in front of their colleagues. That candy incentivized colleagues to visit, take a piece of candy, ask about the award and process of getting the gift. These conversations went viral, moving from department to department as various fundraisers across the University earned the urn. It allowed the urn earners to explain how it really wasn’t as hard as they thought it would be. The urn earners became seen as experts and role models, teaching others to do as they had done. 

Over time, my colleagues who Earned the Urn helped to normalize planned gifts. It slowly became part of the culture. While metrics continued to be used to support the expectation of X number of planned gifts per year, this silly urn full of candy became a powerful tool of change. 

Sonja Carter, JD previously served as the Senior Campaign Advisor at the Heller Fundraising Group. Sonja's expertise lies in capital campaigns, planned giving, major donor cultivation, solicitation and stewardship.