Stewardship of Bequest Intenders

Lesson 3
10 minutes

The Stewardship Overlay: What Each Record Stage Triggers

This lesson applies the existing Four-Stage Bequest Record from Course 1 Lesson 9 and adds the stewardship overlay: what action, cadence and reporting treatment each stage should trigger.

Listen to the lesson

The record is not the stewardship plan

Course 1 Lesson 9 owns the Four-Stage Bequest Record: enquiry, interest, disclosed intention and realised. This lesson does not rebuild that record. It answers the next operational question.

Once a supporter is sitting in one of those stages, what should the charity actually do?

Without a stewardship overlay, the record becomes either decorative or dangerous. Decorative means the stage sits in the CRM but changes nothing about the donor’s experience. Dangerous means the stage triggers the wrong behaviour: a brochure request becomes a cultivation plan, a disclosed intention becomes forecast income, or a realised bequest is handled as a transaction rather than the final chapter of a relationship.

The Facts & Evidence Pack gives the strategic reason to take this seriously. Include a Charity’s 2023 analysis of participating Australian charities found that around 61% of realised bequestors were already known to the charity before death. Bequest stewardship is not mainly about chasing strangers. It is about managing known relationships with enough discipline that interest is neither ignored nor over-claimed.

The same pack warns that intentions are uncertain and long-horizon. A bequest may arrive years or decades later, or not at all. That uncertainty should not make stewardship passive. It should make stewardship precise.

The stage tells you what is known.

The overlay tells you what to do next.

The Stage-to-Stewardship Overlay

Use the existing Four-Stage Bequest Record from Course 1 Lesson 9 as the base. For each stage, add three decisions: stewardship action, cadence and reporting treatment.

1
Enquiry
What the stage means: Course 1 Lesson 9 owns the formal definition. For this lesson, the practical assumption is simple: the supporter has requested information or wording, but has not indicated that they are actively considering or have made a charitable provision.
Stewardship action: Fulfil the request accurately and calmly. Send the charity’s approved gifts-in-wills information, including full legal name, ABN, DGR status where relevant, suggested wording if approved, and a clear reminder to seek qualified advice. Do not interpret the enquiry as intent.
Show it in use: “Thank you for asking for our gifts-in-wills information. I’ve attached our correct details for you to keep or discuss with your solicitor if useful. There is no need to tell us anything further unless you choose to.”
Cadence: One prompt fulfilment touch, then one permissioned follow-up after a reasonable interval if the donor has not opted out. A suitable follow-up might be 6-8 weeks later by the same channel the donor used. After that, return the donor to normal stewardship unless they invite more contact.
Show it in use: “I’m checking that you received the information you asked for. There is no need to reply unless you would like anything clarified.”
Reporting treatment: Report as activity, not pipeline. Count it as “gifts-in-wills information requested” or “will wording sent.” Do not count it as an intention, expected gift, confirmed bequest or forecast income.
Show it in use: Monthly internal note: “14 will-wording enquiries fulfilled; no disclosed intentions unless separately recorded.”
2
Interest
What the stage means: Course 1 Lesson 9 owns the formal definition. For this lesson, treat interest as a supporter showing active consideration or values-based openness, but not disclosing that the charity is already included in their will.
Stewardship action: Keep the relationship warm and values-led. Offer a conversation, but do not push for confirmation. The right action is to help the donor imagine continuity, not to extract a decision.
Show it in use: “You mentioned that you have been thinking about how this work continues in the future. I’d be glad to send a short update on the long-term work your support makes possible, and there is no expectation attached.”
Cadence: Use light, intentional contact. Two or three relevant stewardship touches a year is usually stronger than frequent generic promotion. At least one touch should connect to the donor’s stated reason for caring, not only to organisational news.
Show it in use: A donor who cares about rural access receives a short update on a new regional outreach clinic, not a generic legacy newsletter about “leaving a lasting gift.”
Reporting treatment: Report as stewardship interest, not disclosed intention. It may inform workload, segmentation and future stewardship planning. It should not carry an expected dollar value.
Show it in use: Pipeline note: “Interest stage: future-focused conversation after regional clinic update. No disclosed provision. No value recorded.”
3
Disclosed intention
What the stage means: Course 1 Lesson 9 owns the formal definition. For this lesson, treat disclosed intention as the donor having told the charity they have included, or intend to include, the organisation in their will. It still remains private, non-binding and changeable.
Stewardship action: Thank the donor for their trust, record their exact words, ask what may be noted, confirm privacy and recognition preferences, and offer stewardship that reflects the donor’s values. Do not ask for value as the first move. Do not escalate internally beyond need-to-know without permission.
Show it in use: “Thank you for trusting us with that. I can make a confidential note so we respect your wishes properly, but you do not need to share the amount, the wording or any family details. Would you like us to keep in touch in the usual way, or would occasional updates about the future work be welcome?”
Cadence: Use a steady long-horizon rhythm. A disclosed intender should not disappear into a file. A practical baseline is one meaningful personal contact each year, plus one or two relevant updates if the donor has welcomed them. Review preferences every 12-18 months, not by asking “Are we still in your will?” but by checking how they want to remain connected.
Show it in use: “I’m updating our confidential supporter notes and wanted to check your preferences. Would you still prefer quiet written updates, or would you rather receive only the usual supporter communications?”
Reporting treatment: Report as a disclosed intention, not income. If the donor has voluntarily shared a percentage or amount, record it separately with caveats and privacy controls. Do not turn it into budget-year revenue. Do not assign false certainty.
Show it in use: Leadership note: “37 disclosed intentions on record. These are relationship indicators, not confirmed income. Values are not estimated unless volunteered by the donor and approved for internal recording.”
4
Realised
What the stage means: Course 1 Lesson 9 owns the formal definition. For this lesson, realised means the charity has received notification or proceeds from an estate gift. The donor is no longer an intender; the stewardship responsibility now extends to executors, family where appropriate, internal honouring of the donor’s wishes and accurate gift administration.
Stewardship action: Handle the estate with care, speed and restraint. Confirm the correct legal identity, acknowledge the executor or solicitor appropriately, check any restrictions against organisational policy, and honour recognition or anonymity preferences already recorded. Where family contact is appropriate, communicate gratitude without implying the charity was owed the gift.
Show it in use: “Thank you for notifying us. We are grateful to be remembered in this way and will treat the matter with care. Please let us know the best contact for estate administration, and we will respond promptly with any information required.”
Cadence: Move from donor stewardship rhythm to estate administration rhythm. Respond promptly to executor or solicitor correspondence. Keep internal stakeholders informed on a need-to-know basis. Do not use the realised gift as a marketing story unless the donor’s permission or documented preference allows it.
Show it in use: A bequest officer sends a same-week acknowledgement to the solicitor, alerts finance and the CEO privately, checks the donor’s recognition preference, and does not place the donor in the annual report until permission and policy are checked.
Reporting treatment: Only the realised stage enters financial reporting according to the charity’s accounting and estate-administration processes. The stewardship report should also close the loop: how the donor was known, what preferences were honoured, and what internal learning should carry forward.
Show it in use: Estate close-out note: “Gift realised from donor previously recorded as disclosed intention. Recognition preference: anonymous. No public story. Relationship history and stewardship notes retained according to retention policy.”

The portfolio review that changes behaviour

A bequest officer at a health research foundation prepares for a monthly stewardship review. The team has four supporters on the gifts-in-wills list:

Nora Patel requested will wording through the website after reading a page about neurological research. She has not donated before and has not replied to the automated email.

Bill Harwood told a phone fundraiser, “I’m considering leaving something to the foundation because my sister had Parkinson’s.” He asked for no call back for now, but agreed to receive occasional research updates by post.

Dr Mei Lawson emailed the bequest officer: “I have included the foundation in my will as a percentage gift. I do not want public recognition, but I would like to understand the kind of work this may support.”

Estate correspondence has arrived for Kevin O’Rourke, a former donor who died last year. The solicitor’s letter says the foundation is one of three residuary beneficiaries.

A weak review treats all four names as “legacy pipeline” and asks the same question: “What do we think they’re worth?”

A disciplined review asks four different stewardship questions:

For Nora:

“Has the information request been fulfilled accurately, and should we make one low-pressure check that she received it?”

For Bill:

“What research update would connect with his sister’s Parkinson’s experience without pushing for confirmation?”

For Dr Mei Lawson:

“What confidential stewardship rhythm respects her anonymity and helps her see the future work her percentage gift may support?”

For Kevin O’Rourke:

“Who is handling the estate correspondence, what preferences are on file, and what must be kept private?”

The record stage did not solve the stewardship problem by itself. It told the team which kind of care each person needed next.

Add the overlay to your next bequest review

Before your next gifts-in-wills or bequest-intender review, add three fields to the discussion notes for every person on the list.

1. Next stewardship action

Write the next action as a behaviour, not a mood.

Weak:

“Keep warm.”

Better:

“Send June research update by post because donor linked interest to sister’s Parkinson’s diagnosis. No phone follow-up.”

2. Cadence

Name the rhythm and the boundary.

Weak:

“Regular contact.”

Better:

“One personal written update each year, plus normal appeals unless donor opts out. No recognition invitations.”

3. Reporting treatment

State what the record can and cannot be used for internally.

Weak:

“Potential bequest.”

Better:

“Interest stage only. Do not report as disclosed intention. No value estimate.”

For disclosed intentions, add one more line:

“Permission status: what has the donor allowed us to record, share internally or use for recognition?”

If that line is blank, do not guess. The next stewardship action may need to be a permission check, not a cultivation move.

A bequest record is only useful when it changes action, cadence and reporting without inflating certainty.

What you now know

Course 1 Lesson 9 gives the record. This lesson gives the overlay.

Enquiry needs accurate fulfilment and restraint.

Interest needs values-led warmth without pressure for confirmation.

Disclosed intention needs confidential, permission-based stewardship.

Realised gifts need careful estate administration, privacy discipline and proper financial treatment.

The same list of names can produce four very different stewardship plans. That is the point. A stage is not a label to admire. It is an instruction about the next right behaviour.