Atlanta Legacy NEP April 21 2026 | Alexander Haas

April 21, 2026

Consider Your Legacy
from the desk of
Nancy E. Peterman
Partner

As if we needed any reminders of our ages, the organizations that solicit us for annual gifts are now sending planned giving solicitations and newsletters. Over the course of a week, we generally receive several newsletters from various organizations we have supported in the past or are currently supporting. The newsletter topics, for the most part, are similar:

- - - Types of planned giving instruments,
    - How to leave a legacy,
    - Changes in tax codes,
    - Legacy society information, and
    - Whom to contact to discuss your planned gift.

Many feature photos of their staff alongside their contact information. One of the newsletters this past week included a survey, designed to help readers prioritize causes to support, ensuring that the estate plan reflects personal values and wishes. It included questions about impact, legacy, family, etc. Another newsletter cited the five “P’s” of estate giving—people, property, plans, professionals. and peace of mind. Some brochures offered estate planning information sessions, available online or in person.

In my opinion, the better newsletters prominently feature articles about donors who have named the organization in their estate plans. Their life stories, backgrounds, and motivations for supporting the organization are most compelling. Often, these are ordinary people, not necessarily individuals of great wealth, who were long-term annual fund donors to the institution. Many of them never made what the organization would define as a major or leadership-level gift.

It is also helpful to suggest updating an estate plan, which wasn’t mentioned in any of this week’s newsletters. If approximately 50% of Americans die without an estate plan, then 50% have one. But has it been kept up to date? And is your organization mentioned?

One institution shared with me that it trains its annual giving officers on the essentials of planned giving, as annual giving donors are excellent planned giving prospects. This institution also shared that donors often increase their annual giving once they have established an estate gift to the organization. Planned giving commitments often count toward a campaign goal, allowing annual giving donors to make much larger pledges.

Beyond the “how-to-make-a planned-gift” information, the newsletters themselves are informative. This week I read that:

The average American loses $728 each year to food waste.
Insulin wasn’t invented until 1921.
Church attendance has dropped to about 30% of adults, down from 42% two decades ago.
A local food bank served over 54,000 children this past year, and 25% of all children in our community suffer from food insecurity.
Over 61% of college graduates at a certain university carry student loan debt.
There are more than 4.5 million blood donations annually.
The cost to educate a priest is approximately $60,000 per year.

Tax Changes Could Bring More Donors…But Less Giving

David King is intrigued by the change in message.

“This is an interesting shift in the messaging from the Lily School. For years, they have told us that tax policy and tax deductions are benefits of giving, not reasons for giving. This new reporting seems to suggest that they were wrong about that, have changed their minds, or that human donation behavior has changed.”

A new analysis from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy estimates that recent tax changes could bring millions of new donors into the sector while reducing total charitable giving by about $5.7 billion annually. Depending on how donors respond, the impact could range from a $2.5 billion decline to as much as $11.7 billion.

Among the most notable provisions is a new universal charitable deduction for non-itemizers, which is expected to increase the number of donor households by between 6 million and 8.7 million and generate up to $4.4 billion in additional giving annually.

While the universal deduction increases participation, other provisions in the law move in the opposite direction, particularly when it comes to philanthropy among high-income donors and corporations.

A cap on the value of itemized deductions for top earners is projected to reduce charitable giving by approximately $6.1 billion annually,
A new 0.5% floor on itemized deductions is expected to \ reduce giving by about $2.4 billion.
Changes to corporate deduction rules could reduce giving by another $1.6 billion.

The report, The Philanthropy Outlook: Estimating Effects on Charitable Giving From the One Big Beautiful Bill, is available here.

12 Revealing Nonprofit Stats

Jaci Thiede thinks something is amiss.

“There are some really positive statistics here. But the one that troubles me most is that only 19% of first-time donors gave again. Anyone in the nonprofit sector knows it is harder and more expensive to acquire a donor than to retain one. I hope this will prompt you and your organization to focus extra effort on stewardship, storytelling, and gratitude. A little bit can go a long way!”

The nonprofit sector entered 2025 facing familiar pressures: uneven donor participation, staffing strain and growing uncertainty about the year ahead. Amid these and emerging challenges—including federal funding cuts—new research shows where generosity is holding steady, where it is concentrating and where opportunity still exists for organizations willing to adapt.

Global Charitable Giving Reached $2.3 Trillion.
Affluent Household Participation Drops to 81%.
Just 19% of First-Time Donors Give Again.
Despite 64% of Nonprofits Defaulting to One-Time Gifts, Recurring Giving Continues to Grow.
GivingTuesday Donors Retained at a 65% Rate — Higher Than Those Giving Earlier in the Year.
Millennial Giving Jumps 22%.
Corporate Giving Grew 9.1%—the Fastest Growth Among Major Sources.
A Creator’s Involvement Makes Gen Zers 61% More Likely to Give.
More Than Half of Nonprofit Leaders Cite Compensation Issues.
Only 24% of Nonprofits Have an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy.
Nearly 69% of Donors Worry Their Data Could Be Hacked When Donating.
Only 19% of Nonprofits Raised More Than Half of Their Revenue Digitally.

Taken together, these 12 stats reflect the realities shaping fundraising, donor behavior and nonprofit capacity right now as you and your team strategize and plan for the year ahead.

In-depth analysis here.

Can’t Afford an Executive: Hire One?

David King’s advice: Don’t have a part-time CEO.

“I certainly see the value in this for ‘behind-the-scenes’ roles—like CFO and CTO, etc. It’s essentially ‘micro-consulting,’ but extending this to the Executive Director/CEO or Chief Development Officer seems problematic. The CEO role is about more than just setting strategic direction and managing progress toward it—the job also requires building relationships that lead to significant philanthropic contributions supporting the organization. The same applies to the Chief Development Officer. I just don’t think relationship building lends itself well to part-time or temporary staffing models.”

Fractional executives—part-time, senior-level leaders who split their time among multiple organizations—have been employed in the tech startup world for years. Now charities and foundations are embracing the model to fill critical gaps in finance, technology, fundraising, marketing, and operations.

The appeal is straightforward: Hiring a C-suite executive on a fractional basis enables you to bring on an experienced leader for a set number of hours a week, capping your organization’s expenses. A full-time CFO or chief technology officer at a nonprofit can easily earn six figures in salary and benefits, but a fractional executive doing the same work on a limited schedule might cost a third of that or less.

Here are the lessons the early adopters have learned.

Part-time executives let nonprofits punch above their weight.
A fractional engagement gives smaller nonprofits access to strategic leadership they otherwise couldn’t swing. HOWEVER, not all executive positions can be filled on a part-time basis. Roles that require a long-term strategic vision or that oversee many employees—primarily chief operating officers and CEOs—can’t easily be done part-time.

Fractional leaders do hands-on work while helping you grow.
Unlike a consultant, fractional executives roll up their sleeves and handle day-to-day tasks that fuel your organization’s growth. Charities that are just starting up or going through a growth spurt may have short-term needs in specific areas like finance or marketing.

Organizations pay only for what they need.
In a challenging fiscal climate, hiring part-time executives keeps your organization’s personnel costs under control.

Success requires clear boundaries and expectations.
The problems that most frequently arise are time-creep and poor culture fit. To ensure that a part-time executive will work well with the rest of your C-suite team, don’t skimp on onboarding. Before you just throw somebody into the pool and ask them to swim, you need to help them understand the pool.

Tension can arise when a nonprofit requires more time from its fractional executive than originally agreed upon. Outlining the scope of work in the engagement letter is key, but some boundary enforcement will always fall on the fractional leaders themselves, the experts say.

More here.

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