Charitable Estate Planning Northwest is MORE than a planned giving company.

We provide a wide array of non-profit services. Click on a bullet for a description:

Charitable Estate and Planned Giving Services

Planned giving (a.k.a. charitable estate planning) has become an increasingly powerful development tool for charitable organizations as well as for individuals. Data suggest the role of planning giving will become even more pronounced in coming years.

Many nonprofit organizations now understand the incredible benefit planned giving services can provide for them. However, budget constraints and a shortage of available planned giving experts limit the design and implementation of effective on-going programs

CEPN was originally formed to fill this emerging need. The company has assembled some of the region’s leading planned giving experts who are willing to pool their resources to consult with nonprofit organizations and individuals. Our objective is to match these professionals – people with legal, accounting, marketing, development and communication backgrounds – with organizations and individuals who can benefit from our knowledge and skill.

It is our goal to create customized planned giving services based upon your organization’s needs.

Our planned giving services include:

  • Presentation to board members, administration, staff, volunteers, and/or donor groups in various settings.
  • Assessment of planned giving program readiness, including interviews with key stakeholders.
  • Development and implementation of planned giving policies to guide the organization in securing and administering planned gifts.
  • Development of a comprehensive planned giving marketing plan tailored specifically for the organization.
  • Creation of materials to support the marketing plan.
  • Confidential meetings with prospective donors, and appropriate follow-up with their professional advisors, in the implementation of charitable planning techniques in the overall estate design.
  • Comprehensive audits of existing planned giving programs.
  • Recruitment of planned giving staff members for charitable organizations.
  • Guidance in the administration of life-income arrangements related to Schedule K-1s, 1099, trust revaluations, income proformas, etc.

Contact us to help with your needs.

 

Campaign Planning & Feasibility Studies

Many nonprofit organizations are gearing up for major fundraising initiatives in the near future. The number of campaigns that are taking place simultaneously in the Northwest is unprecedented.

Before your organization decides to launch a major initiative of this kind, it is wise to conduct a feasibility study.

First, a properly conducted feasibility study helps validate your message to prospective philanthropic leaders. Second, a feasibility study reveals where the “pockets” of potential financial support are and in what amounts. And third, once completed, a properly executed feasibility study allows your board members a certain assurance that the amount of money they want to raise can, in fact, be raised once you decide to go public with your campaign.

CEPN staff are exceptionally capable and have conducted many feasibility studies and campaigns over the years. Good feasibility studies should be highly customized, and rely on the involvement of key volunteer leaders with your organization to be successful.

Often feasibility studies are too narrowly focused on outright donations. Today a good feasibility study will be more comprehensive – allowing the nonprofit organization also to know where gifts from estate and planned giving and grants from private foundations, will come from.

A feasibility study can be an important “first step” in determining whether your organization is ready for a major campaign. They are inexpensive to do, and will make a world of difference as you plan to raise new levels of support through a major campaign effort!

Contact us to help with your feasibility study and campaign planning needs.

Executive & Development Staff Recruitment

Data suggests that the number of nonprofit organizations will double in 15 years. The competition your organization faces today for charitable support will only increase in the years to come. Without highly skilled executive directors and fundraising professionals, your organization will find it harder to compete in the ever-changing nonprofit market place.

Hiring a senior level development officer can often be a difficult and time-consuming process. Many organizations become frustrated by the small pool of qualified candidates that exist today.

Rock solid recruiting is only a phone call away! CEPN has professionals with more than 34 years experience working for nonprofit organizations in the Pacific Northwest. Given our collective tenure, we are well networked with virtually all top nonprofit professionals in the Northwest. We know and recommend people who are top performers, helping you avoid those who are just good at interviewing.

We offer recruitment services on significantly different terms than a more traditional “head hunter” firm. CEPN has a track record of providing recruitment services at a fraction of the cost, in a fraction of the time. We can do that because we rely heavily on personal contact with candidates we have worked with and know well and who live in our communities.

If you’re concerned that you may hire someone who won’t perform quite as well as their resume suggests, don’t give up and certainly don’t settle!

Contact us to help you with your recruitment needs.

Visioning & Strategic Planning

Without a commonly agreed upon vision for where the organization is going, often nonprofits can become somewhat fragmented in their on-going operation. Creating a vision statement and a set of key objectives to accomplish the vision will unify your board, executives, and support staff around a common goal.

“Visioning” the organization’s preferred future is different than simply updating your mission statement. A mission statement suggest what your organization does week-to-week. A vision statement sets the course for where your organization is going five to ten years from now.

Good visioning typically happens in a retreat setting. You will need at least two days to determine your vision, key objectives to accomplish that vision, and the core elements to accomplish within each objective.

Visioning will become the anchor for the work of your organization. It will help you, your staff and your board become more efficient and purposeful in your work

Contact us to help with your visioning and strategic planning needs.

Media Relations, Web Consultancy & Grant Writing

CEPN now offers nonprofit organizations essential tools to extend their reach into communities and areas-of-influence. Our proven techniques win supporters, stakeholders and business partners.

Relations with the media often go no further than the press release. But CEPN’s media access seminars and mentoring open the gates and put you in the driver’s seat to get your message out. Behind-the-scenes understanding of media operations helps your organization get into print, on the air and in the news. You learn myths about the media, and understand strategies for access and winning tactics for gaining a wider audience. Public service partnerships with news media and their business partners open a vast canvas of opportunities for recruiting constituents and investors to your mission.

Crafting your electronic media needs takes more than publishing a Web site. CEPN provides clear, actionable assessments of your Internet needs. We help you talk the talk with the designers. We analyze and recommend what to do with your Web presence and connect you with the technology to make it happen.

Effective grant writing produces results when it’s a blend of sound research, clear writing and compelling vigor. These qualities define the skill sets CEPN offers your organization for this key initiative.

Contact us to help with your media relations, Web consultancy and grant writing needs.