About the Arizona
Endowment Building Institute

Healthy, well-funded charities are critical to healthy communities. While many Arizona charities are effective, they often survive on small annual gifts, neglecting critical planning for long-term growth and continuity.

Ensuring a sustainable financial future

Low endowment balances, coupled with a lack of understanding on the part of nonprofit Boards as to the importance of planned giving, can lead to programmatic instability. Endowments enhance financial stability and allow charities to focus on delivery of quality programs. The organization becomes more effective when Boards and staff can build the needed capacity to develop planned gifts.

A sustained effort that cultivates planned gifts from long-term constituents can secure the financial future of a nonprofit organization. Staff members who represent the participating organizations and their AEBI mentors attend regular training sessions to discuss a variety of topics including:

  • AEBIPlanned giving and endowments.
  • The organization’s case for endowment support.
  • Cultivation and solicitation of prospective endowment donors.
  • Policies for gift acceptance, windfall, investment and spending.
  • Reporting and measuring success.
  • Prospect identification, marketing, cultivation and stewardship strategies.
  • Engagement and involvement of board members.

Volunteer mentors who are development professionals or estate planning experts will work with participating nonprofit organizations throughout the program. Each charity has an assigned mentor who attends regular training sessions and shares knowledge and experience along the way.

This unique opportunity provides tools your organization can use to build endowment through planned gifts from long-term supporters. AEBI's comprehensive, proven approach helps your organization prepare for the future by:

  • Developing appropriate policies that assure funds will be utilized and nurtured for the future.
  • Helping you identify likely endowment donors.
  • Building a case for why your organization needs endowment.
  • Understanding the overall view of planned giving programs and the types of gifts that will build endowment.
  • Revealing ways to cultivate, market and steward endowment gifts.
  • Showing how you can report and measure success.
  • Engaging and involving your board members.

Participation in AEBI gave us the guidance, structure, and, frankly, a kick in the pants to formalize and engage our endowment building. The things we learned had direct influence on our request and receipt of a $2 million initial gift that was the cornerstone of a formal campaign launched in January 2008. To any organization considering participation, I can only say, "€Do it!"

— Foundation for Blind Children