Participating
In AEBI

Participation in an AEBI program can provide confidence that your mission will continue to meet the needs of communities you serve for many years to come.

Ensure your organization’s long-term future

Over 40 charities have completed the 15-month program and a new class begins every January. Nonprofit organizations that find success with the AEBI program have characteristics that include:

  • Ten years or more of operation and an annual budget of $1 million or more.
  • A history of five years or more of fundraising, generating at least $250,000 annually.
  • A donor and volunteer database.
  • A sufficient number of individual donors (1,000 or more) to consider planned giving.
  • Enough paid staff (at least an executive director and a development director) to implement the program’s assigned tasks.
  • The participation of executive staff and board leadership.
  • A solid reputation for audited fiscal management over several years.
  • Regular communication channels with constituents.
  • Willingness and ability to invest $5,000 for the participation fee, which may be made in two installments.

In each AEBI class, four or five nonprofit organizations work with ACF and mentor volunteers to formally build their endowment program. The participating nonprofits are required to:

  • Build a team comprised of key board and staff members.
  • Have up to 2,000 records screened for planned giving prospects.
  • Prepare deliverables to further their own planned giving program. These include donor testimonials, endowment goals, marketing plans and engagement strategies.
  • Prepare or refresh policies that support endowment building.
  • Implement or develop a "legacy society" for donors who make legacy commitments.
  • Attend monthly class meetings.
  • Attend the annual day-long symposium of the Arizona Planned Giving Round Table.
  • (Optional) Attend Arizona Musicfest.

All participants pay a $5,000 fee to participate. The fee covers instruction, data screening, textbook and lunches. The PGRT AZ symposium and Arizona Musicfest are not included in the course fee.

Participation in this program provided the tools for us to establish formal guidelines and steps to achieve some practical goals that will assure the sustainability of the organization. Our participation has emphasized the importance of planned giving and endowment within our organization.

— The Phoenix Zoo