PGgrowth - Planned Giving podcast

For this episode of the PGgrowth Podcast, Ed Sluga is joined by Goody Gibson to discuss a subject on everyone’s minds lately: data. As Principal Consultant for Empower NFP, Goody is consistently helping fundraisers unlock the full potential of their donor base through data. Tune in to hear Goody make the case that after your brand, data is the most valuable asset your organization has.Interested in learning more about planned giving? PGgrowth's new membership space, PGcommons, is the place for you. Go to pggrowth.com/podcasts and click on the PGcommons button to access your 30-day free trial.

For our first episode of 2026, Ed interviews Mark Halpern, one of Canada's top life insurance advisors. As the President and Founder of WEALTHinsurance.com, Mark reimagines life insurance as a way to build individual philanthropic desires. Tune in to hear Mark talk about how he started his career in life insurance, the need to emphasize philanthropy in wealth planning, and the importance of good faith advice in the insurance world.Interested in learning more about planned giving? PGgrowth's new membership space, PGcommons, is the place for you. Go to pggrowth.com/podcasts and click on the PGcommons button to access your 30-day free trial.

Join us for a special episode of the Planned Giving Podcast. Today the tables are turned and Julia Magnuson-Ford, PGgrowth's Vice President, will be interviewing Ed to celebrate his 30th year as a fundraiser. They discuss how Ed started in the industry, how he has seen it change, and what advice he would give to himself 30 years ago. 

From the Archive: Ken Ramsay and Ed Sluga discuss the Golden Age of Planned Giving and how to implement a Planned Giving campaign methodology into an existing Planned Giving program so that an organization can take advantage of the current opportunity.First broadcast in 2021, the information in this podcast is as relevant today as it was then - perhaps even more as the opportunity continues to increase while the investment in programs across the country continues to either not keep pace with the business need or even decline.

In this episode, Ed Sluga offers a glance at some important research PGgrowth has been doing. Research in the world of planned giving is often focused on donors and donor attitudes. But what are charities doing to respond to these attitudes and take advantage of them? That question was the central focus of two PGgrowth research surveys conducted over the past few years. In this episode, Ed goes over three key findings from the survey that offer a snapshot of charity attitudes, especially when it comes to the “Great Transfer of Wealth”. These takeaways offer a preview of a larger report that PGgrowth will be publishing in Fall 2025.

In this week’s podcast, Ed Sluga is joined by Julia Magnuson-Ford and Erika Ewacha to share some exciting news!As many planned giving professionals know, the industry is changing rapidly and facing new challenges as a result. The digital age has made it harder for fundraisers to connect with each other, and smaller charities are finding it difficult to access necessary services.In response to these issues, PGgrowth is launching The Planned Giving Commons, an online community for fundraisers, by fundraisers.In this episode, Ed, Julia, and Erika talk about the motivation behind PGcommons, what to expect from this new community, and why it is set to become an important resource in this age of planned giving.

In a continuation of PGgrowth’s 15th anniversary, this week’s podcast is all about Tracey Church. Tracey is a Senior Research Consultant at PGgrowth and one of the preeminent prospect researchers in Canada. In addition to her work with over 400 organizations, Tracey was a part-time faculty member at Western University for 15 years and also co-edited and co-authored “Prospect Research in Canada: An Essential Guide for Researchers and Fundraisers” (Civil Sector Press, 2016). Join us as Ed and Tracey discuss how she started her career, how she first got involved with PGgrowth, and the importance of prospect research in the world of fundraising. 

In this special episode, we shine a spotlight on Suzanne Bone, Senior Consultant at PGgrowth and a trailblazer in hospital foundation fundraising. With over three decades of leadership as the inaugural—and for 31 years, the only—CEO of the Foundation of Guelph General Hospital, Suzanne has built a legacy of progressive impact and fundraising success.Join us as we sit down with Suzanne to reflect on her extraordinary career, the lessons she's learned along the way, and her invaluable insights into the evolving world of Planned Giving.

In this episode of The Planned Giving Pod, Ed Sluga continues the conversation sparked by last week's discussion with Ken Ramsay, diving deeper into the realities of working in planned giving.Planned giving can often feel like a solitary pursuit, but it doesn’t have to be. Ed reminds us that the heart of this work is community, a shared space where fundraisers can lean on one another, exchange ideas, and find encouragement.Whether you're just starting out or have years of experience, this episode is a meaningful reflection on the importance of building and belonging to a community that truly understands the unique challenges and rewards of planned giving.

In this thought-provoking episode, PGgrowth President and Co-Founder Ed Sluga revisits a critical question: Why are so many charities still struggling to embrace planned giving?Back in 2017, PGgrowth launched an in-depth research initiative to understand how charities across the country were engaging with planned giving—an often-overlooked yet powerful source of revenue. Now, in 2024 and into 2025, we've gone back to the roots of that original survey, updating it and gathering fresh responses to see how things have evolved.The findings? While planned giving remains a deeply untapped opportunity for sustainable funding, many organizations are actually stepping back from it.Tune in as Ed reflects on what this means for the sector, why this revenue stream continues to be under utilized, and what your organization can do to avoid becoming a part of the trend—and instead, lead the way forward.

Navigating the professional pressure of raising funds for great causes is difficult. Yes, we feel a great sense of well being by working to advance a mission that helps our community. But with that comes great stress and pressure. There is help! Fundraisers are coming together and meeting to support each other. Building a community of support that understands - and does not increase - the stress a fundraiser is under is important. It can be a path to succeeding at being a professional fundraiser and being able to truly enjoy its benefits to your community and to you!

Enthusiastic promoter of planned giving and all around friend to everyone, Theresa Butler-Porter feels like she has always been a planned giving professional - she just didn't know it. Now, an expert in the field and much sought after mentor and speaker, Theresa takes some time to talk about her journey working in the field, what she has learned about herself and what others can do to 'lean in' and make it happen!

Peggy Killeen and I sit down and discuss the messages of planned giving - there are the old standards AND the NEW thinking around how to speak to donors. The most important additions are simple: not everyone is the same so your messages need to relate to known types of donors who make a gift (one size does not fit all!), and, remember, at the core of giving is the fact that it makes people happy. Add a little happy to your day today and have a listen!

From time to time, we mark important moments in the planned giving world with a discussion around the current state of this form of fundraising. We've done it again. This time it is a way to look at the 15 years we have been working to raise the bar within the sector around planned giving. Joining me for this discussion are noted experts in the field Peggy Killeen, CFRE, Grant Monck, LL.B and Ken Ramsay, one of the 'founders' of planned giving as a profession in Canada. The conversation is honest - both in a positive and critical way - and offers both practical and strategic next steps for the sector and for your organization.

In our 15 years, PGgrowth has had as part of our team extraordinary leaders and experts in planned giving. This year, we will be taking the time to highlight these professionals. Peggy Killeen is a well known leader in the planned giving sector. Based in Montreal, her impact is national not only helping charities create and launch programs but also mentoring staff and inspiring donor engagement. At the core of her work is the understanding that anyone can become a philanthropist and that through planned giving we in the charitable sector can 'democratize' major giving - and its impact on charities, communities and Canadians. Her journey is unique in specifics but not unique in that her arrival in planned giving was not the original destination - but it has made all the difference.

In our 15 years, PGgrowth has had as part of our team extraordinary leaders and experts in planned giving. This year, we will be taking the time to highlight these professionals. First up is Grant Monck - leader in planned giving for 30 years, sector expert in blended gifts, a fixture both in British Columbia and across the country in leading best in practice programs. His journey to planned giving success, like many others, did not start in fundraising. He, like so many others, was drawn to working in the charitable sector by personal experience, thoughtful examination of the career he wanted to have - and being at the right place at the right time. Although his journey did not start in fundraising, through his time working with charities, mentoring organizational leadership and staff, inspiring volunteers and engaging with donors, Grant has helped to shape how we approach planned giving in Canada. His thoughts are both inspirational and practical.

In May of 2020, with the pandemic officially taking hold of all of our daily lives, PGgrowth held a Town Hall to examine fundraising in the ear of lock downs and economic unknowns. Now, 3 years later, we look at the after-effects of COVID, lessons learned - or not - and what to do so that your program is ready for the next economic down turn, whether it is caused by a pandemic, a bad economy or some other un-expected factors.

Working with charities across the country, we do find one common thread when professionals discuss their ability to - or inability to - launch a truly proactive program: leadership commitment. While the rational and the data continues to support proactive engagement of supporters to increase giving in the way, organizations continue to hesitate, missing the important leadership imperative to launch a program. In the end, this hesitation is simply a decision to 'leave money on the table'. In this discussion we hear from Doug Earle, current CEO of the West Park Hospital Foundation (Toronto) and former CEO of Fighting Blindness Canada about the leadership decisions and steps he took to launch a program and position his organization in transformational success in the area of fundraising.

This one is from the archives and firmly focused on the future. My colleague Katherine Blake is regularly talking about the coming transfer of wealth - one that we know of well in planned giving - and the fact that charities need to get involved now in planned giving or risk missing the opportunity. This reminded me of a conversation I had with Ken Ramsay a few years back. It was about the charitable giving circumstances of the time and how they had made that an important time for charities to launch a planned giving programs to ensure their future financial security. Everything old is new again and planned giving - accelerated by the pandemic - is entering another 'Golden Era'. For more Planned Giving Podcasts and to sign up for our regular updates, please go to www.pggrowth.com

Many experts in planned giving might say that it all begins and ends with donor stewardship. My guest on this episode of The PGgrowth Planned Giving Podcast - Peggy Killeen - is one of those experts. And her passion for stewardship and how it leads to gifts of this kind is unmatched - and so is her knowledge. Listen and learn that for some, it is all about stewardship.

Any marketing tactic to engage your donors about planned giving needs both a preparation and a follow up plan. Otherwise, the cost and work put into the initial contact is not only wasted, the trust you need with your donors so they will create a planned gift will be eroded or even lost. In this first episode of season 8, we will explore the basics of preparing for direct donor lead generation and the necessary 'next steps' to make the process worthwhile.

Why and how should your charity examine in a deep and meaningful way, its data and donor bases to find its best prospects for Planned Giving. Ken Ramsay brings his decades of experience leading programs asking hundreds of thousands of people across North America for Planned Gifts has provided him with a 'one-of-a-kind' knowledge and expertise in mining data for your best prospects, He is experience is unmatched and his insight is extraordinarily valuable to YOUR Planned Giving program.

Ed Sluga is joined again by planned giving thought leader Ken Ramsay as they discuss the most important asset of any organization's fundraising program - their data base. Using data effectively for the advancement of a planned giving program is fundamental to long-term and sustainable success. Ed and Ken discuss the rationale for regular data review and the steps necessary to use your data base to its fullest effect in your program.

Janice Meighan - in a conversation with Ed Sluga - describes the purpose, process and outcome of a fulsome review of your Planned Giving program. Put simply, it is difficult to start a journey to greater success when you don't know where you are starting from. Janice discusses policies, metrics, reporting and more in what she describes as a 'business unit' of your fundraising program.

Ed Sluga is joined by long-time senior hospital foundation executives Colleen DeJager and Jane Jamieson to discuss the unique approach the hospital foundations must take in developing and benefiting from planned giving. From community hospital to research juggernauts, the role that the hospital plays in the life of the community means planned giving must be approached in a unique and thoughtful way.

In this first episode of the seventh season of The PGgrowth Planned Giving Podcast, host Ed Sluga discusses the new reality of planned giving programs and their importance to overall fundraising with legacy giving expert and innovator Ken Ramsay. Planned giving as a fundraising channel has gone from a niche secondary funding source to an important main focus of every development program. BUt what are organizations doing about this new reality and are they ready to lead or be left behind.

As there continues to be an evolution of giving - particularly individual giving - to charities, organizations are forced to confront a growing new reality of the nature of gifts. Most if not all of the larger gifts from individuals can be viewed through the lens of Planned Giving. It is a new perspective that major and campaign fundraisers must understand to continue to do their important work in gathering community support for our increasingly 'in need' not-for-profit organizations.

Ed Sluga, CFRE and Ken Ramsay discuss the new reality that to truly engage donors as partners in your mission, all personal philanthropy - Leadership giving, Major Giving and Estate Giving - can and should be considered part of a larger Planned Giving program development.  

Ed Sluga and Tracey Church, well known and well regarded Prospect Research Professional, talk about how to use the techniques of prospect research in a Planned Giving Program. Research is often reserved for Major Giving and Campaign Giving programs. This podcast rethinks that conventional wisdom in the new era of Planned Giving Campaigns.

Ed Sluga and Colleen De Jager - Trust Officer and Fundraising Executive - discuss the process of Estate Administration from the perspective of the charity. The process is to ensure the charity is properly represented but the reason is not what you think. In short, its important to understand so that the wishes of the donor are protected and met. Colleen and Ed talk about steps to take and details to be focused on.

The step toward engaging donors directly is a difficult one and often has - even the most seasoned professional - pausing before meeting face-to-face. We are pulled two pod casts from our archives that address some of the tactics that can be used to make these meetings easier and more successful for both the donor and the fund raiser.

In this third of our three part series on being 'Worthy and Prepared' in the Planned Giving context, Peter Barrow and Ed Sluga discuss some practical steps to take to best position a charitable organization to truly be ready to receive and activate the funds that donors would give to support their mission.

In this second podcast of this three part series, Peter Barrow and Ed Sluga examine the concept of being 'prepared' for legacy gifts. To purchase their book 'Worthy & Prepared' go to www.charityinfo.ca To comment on this podcast, please email [email protected] or visit us at www.pggrowth.com

Every charity feels that they are worthy of donations. In fact, at some point, each charity has felt confused as to why they are not getting even greater amounts of support from donors given the worthiness of their mission. In this conversation with Peter Barrow - marketing guru, university lecturer, writer, business owner, philanthropist and co-author of the book Worthy & Prepared - the notion being 'worthy' is explored as a purposeful activity rather than an assumed fact. This is the first in a three part series taking the concepts of the book Worthy & Prepared and articulating them in the Planned Giving context.

In this podcast, we revisit a discussion with internationally known Planned Giving consultant Richard Radcliffe. Richard has spent years researching donors and how they wish to be engaged by those charitable organizations they care about with regard to Planned Giving. His thoughts are insightful and provide a deep understanding of the donor journey toward making a gift.

In this last of the three part series with Ken Ramsay, Ed and Ken discuss how to implement a Planned Giving campaign methodology into an existing Planned Giving program so that an organization can take advantage of the current opportunity. For more Planned Giving Podcasts and to sign up for our regular updates, please go to www.pggrowth.com and look for our series Planned Giving Tip of the Week. These are in informative series of podcast giving practical tips on how to start and be successful with a Planned Giving program at your charitable organization.

In the second of the three part series of discussions with Ken Ramsay, Ed and Ken discuss how to take advantage of the current Planned Giving opportunity through conducting a targeted Planned Giving Campaign to build momentum, engage donors and secure gifts to the program and the organization. For more Planned Giving Podcasts and to sign up for our regular updates, please go to www.pggrowth.com and look for our series Planned Giving Tip of the Week. These are in informative series of podcast giving practical tips on how to start and be successful with a Planned Giving program at your charitable organization.