National Estate Planning Awareness Week: How to grow legacy giving this October

How to grow legacy giving during National Estate Planning Awareness Week

Did you know most Americans put off creating their estate plan until much later in life? In fact, 66% of Americans don’t have an up-to-date will. National Estate Planning Awareness Week, or NEPAW, is an awareness week founded by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils in 2008 with the goal of helping people understand the importance of having a plan in place to protect their assets and loved ones.

This year, NEPAW will take place the week of October 16-22, and it's the perfect time for nonprofits to raise awareness about the importance of estate planning and add urgency for people to complete their wills.

Helping your supporters create their wills is not only kind, but it also presents you with your last big opportunity of the year to promote legacy giving before donor attention shifts to families, holidays, and end-of-year giving.

Use the urgency surrounding NEPAW to promote this option to all of your supporters. Focus on emphasizing the ease and impact of planned giving. In 2022, our nonprofit partners secured more than $19 million in bequest commitments during this single week alone.

Even if you’re not a FreeWill partner, we still encourage you to direct prospects to our site to write their will for free and leave a bequest to your organization.

Download our free donor email templates to help ensure your team secures more legacy gifts and takes full advantage of NEPAW in 2023.