Introduction to Bequests
A practical course that helps nonprofit teams understand gifts in wills, recognise supporter readiness, raise the option respectfully and build a realistic first-year bequest plan.
What you will learn
A practical foundation for making bequest fundraising visible, ethical and operational inside a real nonprofit team.
A practical path through gifts in wills.
Twelve lessons that move from opportunity and donor psychology through conversation, boundaries, recording, stewardship and first-year planning.
1 The Australian Bequest Opportunity, Without the Hype
This lesson establishes why gifts in wills matter for Australian charities, while keeping the opportunity in proportion: large, real, long-term and uncertain.
2 From Death to Continuity
This lesson reframes bequest fundraising from an uncomfortable conversation about death into a disciplined conversation about values, memory and future impact.
3 Readiness Is Not Wealth
This lesson teaches staff how to find the right supporters for early bequest attention without confusing wealth, age or major-gift capacity with genuine readiness.
4 Silence Is Not Neutral
This lesson explains why respectful asking matters: many Australians are open to charitable gifts in wills, but most will never act unless the option is made visible at the right time and in the right way.
5 Words for Real Conversations
This lesson gives staff practical, channel-specific language for raising gifts in wills, answering direct donor questions and responding to family-first objections without pressure or retreat.
6 When Not to Start the Conversation
This lesson teaches staff how to recognise moments when a gifts-in-wills conversation should be paused, deferred or avoided because the donor’s situation cannot safely carry it.
7 Interest, Hesitation and Disclosure
This lesson teaches staff how to respond when a donor shows interest, hesitates, or discloses a gift in their will — without escalating too fast, retreating too far, or treating intention as income.
8 What You Can Say — and What You Must Not Advise On
This lesson gives staff the Australian legal and tax boundary for gifts-in-wills conversations: what charity staff may explain, what must be referred to a solicitor or adviser, and what should never be improvised.
9 Record the Signal, Not the Fantasy
This lesson teaches a simple bequest recording system that separates enquiry, interest, disclosed intention and realised income so staff can steward properly without treating future gifts as certain.
10 Steward Without Owning the Decision
This lesson teaches how to steward supporters who have shown bequest interest or disclosed intention, without treating the donor as future income or making every contact about the will.
11 When Confidence Becomes Overreach
This lesson challenges the course’s own emphasis on confident bequest fundraising by showing how a charity can damage trust, family relationships and its own reputation when it treats permission-based asking as permission to push.
12 Your First-Year Bequest Plan
This lesson turns the course into a realistic first-year operating plan for a small-to-medium Australian charity: materials, staff roles, supporter segments, solicitor and will-writing touchpoints, activity measures and leadership reporting.
A practical fit for teams starting bequest fundraising properly.
This course is for teams that want a safer, clearer and more repeatable way to talk about gifts in wills without pressure, legal overreach or internal hype.
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers for fundraising leaders deciding whether this course fits their team, training needs and practical workflow.
Is this a legal course about wills? +
No. It explains the fundraising boundaries and gives staff practical language, but it does not replace advice from a qualified solicitor or estate-planning professional.
Is it only for bequest specialists? +
No. It is built for fundraisers and small teams who need to make gifts in wills visible respectfully before they have a mature planned-giving function.
How long is the course? +
The course contains 12 lessons. The lesson reading time totals roughly 109 minutes, with practical reflection and planning time likely taking it into the 2–3 hour range.
Is the course Australian-specific? +
Yes. The lessons use Australian bequest, DGR, tax and succession-law boundaries, while still drawing carefully on relevant international research where useful.
Does it include practical wording? +
Yes. Several lessons give specific language constructions for conversations, written mentions, family-first objections, disclosures and stewardship.
What should a team have by the end? +
A clearer first-year bequest plan, safer language, better supporter-readiness judgement, and a simple way to record and steward bequest interest.
Build a stronger bequest fundraising practice.
Give your team a practical foundation for making gifts in wills visible, respectful and professionally bounded.
Enrol now