How to Add a Bequest Program to Your Website
Websites can help collect one-time contributions, but we want to help supporters create a lasting impact through planned giving. Specifically, we want to help you implement a bequest program on your site.
Supporters often want to support a cause after they pass and may be considering including a charity in their will, but they may not know how to go about it. Without clearly outlining this option on your site, you could be missing an opportunity to secure a sustaining gift.
Adding bequest program information to your site will not be seen as just another update. It will be viewed as an opportunity to educate donors, build a trusting and supportive relationship, and secure future support for your mission. This will be a tool your donors can use to understand that bequests are charitable gifts that make a substantial impact and are easy to make.
This is a how-to guide for implementing a bequest program on your website. It will be donor-friendly, easy to understand, and easy to integrate bequest information. It will strategically discuss what to include and how to phrase it, and how to encourage visitors to take action without being too assertive.
What Is a Bequest Program?
A bequest program invites a donor to make a gift to a nonprofit organization through their will or estate plan. The donation is generally referred to as a charitable bequest. This type of gift enables a donor to make a future gift with no immediate impact on their finances.
For most nonprofits, securing donor bequests is incredibly beneficial for long-term fundraising. Donations are generally larger than annual contributions and come from people deeply committed to the organization’s mission. A bequest program gives nonprofits a mechanism to offer this option to donors in a thoughtful, professional manner.
When someone uses the internet to search for — leave a gift in your will, legacy giving, or how to leave money to charity in a will — your organization should be able to provide the answer. This is how important your online presence is.
Bequest Program Pages: Why It’s a Good Idea to Have One on Your Website
Your site is usually the first stop for potential donors. If someone is considering making a gift through their estate, they want reliable information and would appreciate not having to look across multiple pages to find the right contact.
With a bequest program page, your organization provides donors with support throughout their bequest planning. It helps confirm your nonprofit organization is ready to accept and care for legacy donations.
This page offers an SEO opportunity to attract interest in planned giving, estate gifts, charitable giving through a will, and related search queries. This page can help funnel interest from potential donors, family, and professional advisors seeking information on these options.
Define Your Donor Purpose and Journey and Get Started
What action do you intend for the page? Determine this before writing. Most commonly, the objectives are to inform the audience, earn their trust, and, most importantly, prompt them to reach out to your organization or inform you of a bequest intention.
Consider the donor’s perspective. The planned giving audience may be new, or they may simply need your legal name and tax ID to update their will. The page content should cater to both. Your writing should explain, then state, and then the actions.
The visceral flow is essential. You will lose the reader by jumping into legalese, and you’ll be far too generic. Finding the sweet spot is key. The best bequest pages balance emotion and clarity, so be curious.
Consider Your Site’s Design to Optimize
Where you place the bequest program directly impacts usability and searchability. Your bequest program should be easily accessible from your main navigation, donation section, or ways-to-give area.
Some organizations devise a main Planned Giving page with a section for bequests. Others create a dedicated Bequest Program page and link it from fundraising pages, donor resources, and footer menus. Either strategy is appropriate, as long as it is easily accessible and clearly titled.
Prioritize page titles and URLs that are search-engine-optimized. Strong URLs would be /bequest-program, /planned-giving/bequests, or /leave-a-legacy. These clearly communicate to users and are informative to search engines.
Use Simple Language That Real People Understand
It is common for nonprofit organizations to write planned giving content for lawyers, which is a huge mistake. Most site visitors want simple English. What is a bequest? How does it work? Why is it important?
Keep sentences short. As much as possible, avoid jargon and complicated terminology. Use simpler wording and replace dense estate planning language. Say “a gift in your will” instead of “testamentary disposition.” “Your estate” is a better alternative than “decedent’s estate.”
This is important for SEO and user experience. Search engines tend to reward content that aligns with users’ search queries. In simple English, gift in your will, leave a legacy, and charitable bequest wording are better phrases.
What to Include on a Bequest Program Page
What is a bequest page? Tell me what a bequest is first, how a bequest can be used to help a nonprofit’s mission, and what a bequest is in a will or in a trust? Include your nonprofit’s legal name, tax ID number, and address.
Include language in your page that describes how to make a bequest. Be sure to say that this is not legal counsel; this is just general information. For this reason, be sure to mention that they should get legal advice from a lawyer or a counselor, or a nonprofit lawyer, or a financial counselor, or someone. For resources like this, you can get general information on planned giving and resources for donors from the Council of Nonprofits or from FreeWill.
It is helpful to define the different types of bequests a donor can make. They can choose from a specific amount, a certain percentage of the estate, a residual gift, or a contingent bequest. Be sure to give a brief description for each so that the reader isn’t overwhelmed.
Create an Emotional Connection to Legacy Giving
Your page should reflect that human side because this is not just a bequest. It is a personal statement about your values, your purpose, and what kind of difference you are trying to make.
Use language that connects legacy giving to your mission. Show how a future gift can protect the work your organization does for as many years as possible. If your nonprofit helps animals, children, patients, students, or a community, make the impact evident. Donors need to picture what their legacy can create.
This does not mean that your page should sound overly sentimental. A case from a donor or a message that speaks about impact can add some warmth to the page.
Add Trust Signals That Reduce Uncertainty
Planned gifts are a big decision. Before visitors move forward, they should feel confident in your organization. You should aim to reduce uncertainties on your website.
Trust signals can include a named contact person, a direct email address, a phone number, and a short statement about confidentiality. If your organization has a legacy society, mention that. If you have years of experience, policies of strong stewardship, or if you openly publish your finances, mention that as well.
Another possibility is to link to your privacy policy, general giving policy, and donor communication guidelines. It is important that a potential donor can quickly get information on how their donation will be utilized. For more on successful communication with donors and transparency in fundraising, the AFP Global website offers resources.
Positively Mark The Spot For Action
Your bequest program page should be inviting, not like a typical sales page. We know legacy giving is very personal, and the tone should be inviting, considerate, and encouraging.
You may wish to ask people to get in touch with your organization for a private chat, request bequest wording, or inform your organization if they recently included your organization in their legacy planning. These are considered and encouraging next steps that respect the donor’s discretion.
The call to action can be placed in the middle and near the end of the page. It’s important to make this request more visible. A contact form is helpful here, but it should only request minimal information. If the form is too long, response rates may drop.
Optimize the Page for SEO Without Sounding Robotic
First and foremost, your content should be geared towards your audience, even in terms of SEO. Nonprofit content is especially reliant on this, as potential clients may be turned off by content that uses the same keywords too often.
Be sure to incorporate these keywords in the body of the text, title, subheadings, meta description, and intro: how to add a bequest program to your website, bequest program for nonprofits, planned giving website content, charitable bequest page, legacy giving page, gift in your will, estate planning donation.
Be sure to take the basics of on-page SEO into consideration. Write something catchy and compelling for the title. For the meta description, keep it neat and simple. Make sure you add internal links to your donation page, mission page, and contact page. If you’re going to add a donor image or a legacy giving banner, be sure to include alt text as well. Ensure the page loads quickly and is well-designed for mobile users, as performance directly affects user experience and search visibility.
Sample Structure for a High-Converting Bequest Page
An effective page layout encourages reader engagement and enhances comprehension of the topic by search engines. Start with an eye-catching title. Then, in brief, explain the significance of leaving a gift in someone’s will. Then, explain straightforwardly what a bequest is, how it functions, and its significance.
Then, be sure to add practical information, such as legal contact information, sample bequest language, and information for your planned giving contact. Then include a brief section on the donor’s legacy and impact. Finally, end with a soft call to action that invites readers to receive a planned gift notification or to engage in a more private discussion.
The purpose of this structure is to cater to the emotional and intentional aspects of the readers. It provides readers with enough information to take action and strengthens the mission’s reliability.
Mistakes to Avoid in Creating a Planned Giving Webpage
Many missed giving opportunities created planned giving webpages and then forgot to maintain them. Other problems include using vague, legalistic language and hiding the webpage so it’s nowhere to be found. Other webpages simply fail because they are too salesy, too legalistic, or too thin to rank well in searches.
An additional problem is a lack of page maintenance. Your bequest content needs to be updated if someone’s contact information changes, the tax ID changes, or the website design changes. Outdated planned giving pages can confuse donors when trust is most critical.
Do not make legal promises or offer personal legal advice. Donors should be encouraged to speak to qualified professionals, while planners should be educated to provide general information.
Promoting Your Bequest Program on Your Website
One page is a great beginning, but it’s really about visibility. Your page should be prominently displayed and consistently across all important sections of your website.
You can also create blog content around related search topics such as how to leave a charity in your will, planned giving ideas for donors, or what a charitable bequest is. This content can support your main bequest page and strengthen your SEO strategy over time.
Legacy giving can be included in email newsletters, donor landing pages, and campaign pages, but should not be overemphasized or overdone, and should be kept more as an option for interested individuals.
Legacy Giving Program Promotion Projections & Goals
Once your legacy giving program is set up, be sure to plan how you will promote and track it. Things you can track include page visits, time on page, the number of forms completed, and the number of people who clicked your contact links. If the numbers are low, you may need to address your internal linking or SEO. If traffic is good but conversions are low, the content may need to be clearer or include trust signals.
Use Google’s Search Console to find queries that lead to your pages. There are likely to be new and relevant keywords for your page. You might find that plenty of people were searching for things like legacy society, charity will donation, and bequest language.
Small changes can lead to big results. Make corrections to your legal information, change the text of your call to action, and update your headlines. A legacy program isn’t a one-and-done part of your website. It should be regularly managed and incorporated into your fundraising strategy.
Conclusion
For a nonprofit organization, bequest programs are among the best long-term strategies to use on its website. It allows them to provide their supporters a means to achieve their purpose and make a great gift that lasts. It also enables the organization to communicate planned giving in a direct and transparent manner, which helps them manage the program.
Bequest pages are straightforward. They explain complicated legal information clearly. They show how legacy gifts affect the mission. The information is easy to find. The pages guide donors respectfully and encourage them to take action.
If your website currently lacks a bequest program for nonprofits, the time to implement one is now. This page will serve to educate your donors and, in turn, support your SEO. Most importantly, it will provide future funding to sustain your mission for many years.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a bequest program page?
A bequest program page requires a clear definition and explanation of what a bequest is, how to leave a bequest in a will, the nonprofit’s legal name and tax ID, sample bequest wording, and a direct contact. The bequest should be tied to the mission. Finally, it should end with a gentle call to action.
Are bequests and planned giving the same thing?
No. A planned gift is broader than a bequest. A bequest is only one type of planned giving. Bequests are the easiest planned gifts for donors to arrange and understand.
What are some tips for SEO and bequest pages?
Use keywords in the title, headings, and body text. The keywords should be specific to bequest program, planned giving, gift in your will, legacy giving, etc. The page should be easy to navigate. Additionally, it should be linked to other parts of your website.
Should nonprofits offer sample bequest language on their sites?
In general, this is quite beneficial. Sample bequest language offers donors and their lawyers a point of reference and lessens the uncertainty. It should be offered as general information, and a suggestion should be made that donors pursue legal counsel for their particular situation.