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$210 M future estate gifts for Queen’s

764 living donors who have made an estate gift commitment

These are big figures, but you might wonder how planned gifts have impacted Queen’s. Over the last five years, more than 55% of the value of received planned gifts has been directed to support or establish a student award, while more than 25% has been directed to other restricted-use purposes. 

We also know that there continues to be a big opportunity for estate gifts going forward. For example, due to changing demographics, estimates of expected Canadian inheritances over the next decade are as high as $1 trillion. With this in mind, Gift Planning is focused on increasing the number of gift planning commitments and realizations to Queen’s by providing training, resourcing and support to our frontline fundraisers engaged in legacy conversations. We are also using the changing fundraising landscape as the impetus to embark upon a review of our Gift Planning operations, with a goal of offering contemporary service to our donors in the most effective way. 

So what are we doing, how are we working together, and how can you help?  

We aim to highlight the impact of estate gifts, as well as their relative accessibility and ease of implementation, across many communication channels including our face-to-face conversations. This is important for two reasons: First, legacy donors give in alignment with their values, so communicating impact and future opportunities is vital. Second, estate and legacy planning often evolves over a long period of time and can’t be rushed. We also know that planned giving donors have diverse profiles – many are loyal annual givers, some are our well-known major and principal gift donors and, perhaps surprisingly, some planned gifts come from donors where their estate gift is their first and only gift. This underlines the importance of including legacy messaging frequently, in a variety of communications, as well as in all philanthropic discussions.

In the 2019/20 fiscal year, we confirmed $16.3M (65 confirmations) in new planned gifts, well exceeding our goal of $6M (36 confirmations). $3.1M (12 confirmations) were led by our faculty development partners and several more were collaborated on. Many thanks to you and your teams for your strong contribution to help Queen’s meet and exceed our goal. We look forward to continuing to work together as we build a robust pipeline of legacy gifts for Queen’s. And remember, to a donor, a planned gift is simply another modality of giving to a cause that they value -- just at a future date, so please continue to include gift planning conversations in your day-to-day donor discussions. These discussions are often enlightening, heartwarming and very personal and, for me, the highlight of my work in Gift Planning.

 Take part in the Gift Planning workshops

The Gift Planning team continues to offer training and education that will be helpful in engaging in legacy giving inquiries and discussions. Please join our sessions and encourage your team members to join as well. Upcoming topics include: 

• Gift Planning Conversations
•  Estate Gifts – impact and administration considerations
• Gifts of Securities – including Holdcos and employee stock options
• (completed in March 2021)

The ongoing engagement and stewardship of legacy donors is extremely important given the revocable nature of most planned gifts. (Wills and beneficiary designations can be changed at any time, removing some charities and adding others). We are very excited to host our inaugural “tea-talk” for Royal Legacy Society (RLS) members (donors who have confirmed a planned gift for Queen’s) on June 17. To thank and engage RLS members, we plan to host annual talks where leading ����ֱ�� researchers from a variety of fields of study will share their passion for discovery and learning. On June 17, Dr. Lynne Postovit, Professor and Head of Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, will provide a glimpse into the exciting human health discovery and education work that is happening at Queen’s.

Jobs with Advancement

We need your recruitment help. Know great talent that would be a good addition to our team? If so, please promote the vacancies below with your networks and let’s find some amazing new team members.

Applications (including a cover letter and résumé) must be submitted through CareerQ. For additional information on this posting, please reach out to either Carla or the hiring manager for the position you are interested in.

Available Position:

Fun Fact

Queen’s motto

The ����ֱ�� motto is Sapientia et Doctrina Stabilitas, generally translated from the Latin as "Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times." The phrase is adapted from Isaiah XXXIII.6 and has been in use since the 1850s.

Two faculties and one student organization also have mottos:

The motto of the Faculty of Law is Soit Droit Fait, a Norman French phrase for "Let right be done." The phrase is traditionally associated with the rule of law in England.

The motto of the Faculty of Medicine is Manu et Corde Medicus, which translates from Latin as, "The doctor works by hand and heart."

The motto of ����ֱ�� Engineering Society - Quis Dolor Cui Dolium - is more irreverent. It translates as "Who suffers who has a cask of wine?" It was devised in 1963 by Classics professor Tony Marshall after he was approached by Engineering Society executives interested in lending Latin dignity to the society's informal English motto, "What the hell as long as there's free beer."