Prior to my career in nonprofit fundraising and management, I was a practicing attorney. As anyone who’s been to law school knows, or who has the (mis)fortune of delving into dense legal documents and case material, lawyers love their special vocabulary. It isn’t that they’re always trying to obfuscate. (See what I did there?) They just might be trying to be precise.

Words matter, yes, but as the executive director of a community foundation, I became keenly aware of the power of communicating not only from the head, but also the heart. We had many brochures with examples of planned giving vehicles and lengthy descriptions of beneficiary designations and charitable trust types, shared in careful technical terms.

What I realized, though, was that prospects and donors seemed to be put off by the language in these materials. In any case, they didn’t actually read them. This caused me to think about the importance of putting the why before the how in our communications with donors.

With this in mind, we adjusted our materials to provide more basic descriptions along with invitations to “learn more by contacting staff.” But what really moved the needle towards more effective communication was allowing donors to speak for themselves.

Right before I started in my position, my predecessor had begun to collect testimonials from donors who had already made legacy endowment gifts. Whether they were memorializing a loved one who had passed away or passing the torch of responsible giving to the next generation, donors shared from the heart. Their stories were compiled in a physical “Book of Life” and were also preserved digitally in an electronic kiosk, to be kept in perpetuity.

This project proved so meaningful that we launched an event where donors would publicly sign the Book of Life and share their stories of “why” they gave.  The signers, their families, and prospects were invited, their entries projected on a large screen with the donors’ photos and read aloud, giving their words the value and respect they deserved.

Many in the audience at these events have been inspired by the stories of “why” to share information about existing planned gifts and to create new ones, me included. As a fundraiser and nonprofit executive, I naturally had thought about my legacy, but when I was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, (Yes, that one.) the reality of how I wanted to be remembered was pushed to the fore, and I was moved to think more deeply about my plans and set of “whys.” Somewhat surprisingly, rather than feeling unnerved by the process, I felt good … settled. That’s what thoughtful planning does.

That’s the power of philanthropy, when we put the why before the how.