Thank you so much for your time and coming out to see me today and hear this topic. It’s something near and dear to my heart: charitable planned giving. When I got into the business one of the issues was always what are you giving back in return. And, as I mentioned this morning, I was told by one of my friends, “Cedric, you are so serious in this topic today. Now, can you smile? Can you grin a little bit? Can you do a soft shoe?” So I’ve got to make sure I’m not as serious, but this is a very serious subject to me. When I speak to churches, 501(c)(3), nonprofits, American Heart Association, you name it, people are thinking that you’re just pitching another product. For me to go in there very serious is part of the key to the presentation.

How many in here, just by a show of hands, have done charitable planned giving before? About seven and out of 33. It should be more. They taught me in undergraduate, graduate and law school that you can always give a one-time gift or certain directed funds that you can deal with now. And it has to be a little bit more. My goal in the next 44 minutes is to let you know how simple charitable planned giving is and then we’ll, of course, have questions and answers. So that’s the purpose of today. I just want to add an extra arrow in your quiver. And that’s super important because by adding that extra arrow, it will give you the ability to serve more of your community.

How would you like to help your community more? One of the issues in helping the community more is stating, “You can give tithes and offerings or you can give donations, but using leverage and economics is taking a very, very small amount of money and turning it into a very large amount of money.”

That happens to be one of the larger hospitals in Los Angeles. That’s our client, Cedar Sinai. Their foundation had never heard of charitable planned giving. But yet that’s what’s being done at Harvard. It’s been done at UPenn, Wharton, Stanford. Gifting.

The introduction of charitable planned giving is to know peace of mind. There’s a website that you may want to write down for both international and local: charitynavigators.org. They give where that charity was a year ago, two years ago, five years ago. Most charities right now are going through a down trend. People aren’t giving money. For me, it is the easiest presentation in the world. I’m going to cover that, including objections. Because I’ve spoken on this subject in San Francisco, Quebec and in Scottsdale, Arizona. Each time that I’ve spoken people have stated, “Well, you know, when I thought about approaching my university, I thought about approaching my hospital in the community…” And to me it’s a very, very, very easy approach.

I’ve got to make sure to paint my smile on because my buddy said, again, “Cedric, you’re so serious in this. You’re acting like this is life or death.” And it is to me because this is a serious subject.

It also talks about economy for future endowments because many charities are going banks, including my church in Los Angeles. They used to be able to say, “We’re First AME Church or West Angeles Church of God in Christ or St. Burges Catholic Church,” and the bankers would say, “No problem. How much do you need to borrow to build a new font, to put new air conditioning in, to put in new carpeting?”

Now bankers are saying, arms crossed, “Nope. We want to know: What is your revenue stream? Where is the money coming from? Where is your profit and loss statement?” It’s about business.

Now you can say, “We have 75 policies. Each one ranges from $100,000 to $75 million.” That talks to a banker. It talks to a financial institution. It truly does.

Charitable planned giving allows donors and foundations to work together. In Canada what are foundations called? Nonprofits. And everybody has tax status in whatever country that you’re in. But 98 percent of my charitable planned giving policies never lapse. It’s like writing a bad check to the church. It’s like writing a bad check to the American Red Cross. Why do it? And when it allows the funds to insure the institution’s future. In Los Angeles, there are mega churches, like Joel Olsten’s church in Texas, that have 25,000 to 30,000 members. When the pastor passes away, giving goes down. It’s just the way that it works. The new pastor doesn’t acknowledge you being in MDRT. The new pastor doesn’t like the shoes that your wife is wearing. The new pastor doesn’t say hello to you when you’re leaving church. He looks at the bigger tithers. And so it allows continuity when people leave the church.

And people will leave the church. They will leave the board. I’m on the board of Pepperdine University, at Loyola Law School. My daughters’ schools are constantly hitting me up for donations. And I will ask them in return, “Who is in charge of your advancement team?” I will call them and say clearly, “If I can raise $5 million for your organization in the next 24 months, may I have 15 minutes of your time next Monday?” Not one person in the last 14 years has said no. Not one. It’s so simple. And I will dig deeper.

Since this is “deeper dives,” I will tell you the exact words to say, the exact wording and how to set up the appointment. And the big one is the follow-up. Because Jonathan was telling me earlier about how sometimes he has given a presentation but nothing really happened. Well, you have the names and numbers after the presentation and you call them and say, “Excuse me, Joanne, I know you’re a busy but do you have any questions that I could not answer for you while you were at my presentation?” And they’ll say either two things. “Yes, I do have some questions,” or “No. I’m ready to move forward.”

It’s never an outright “no.” And I’m learning “under ego,” edging God out, no, to swallow my ego. Because before people would say, “Well, I take out one for $50,000.” That’s it. And they drove to the meeting in a Bentley or a Rolls Royce. And that used to affect me, 15, 16 years ago. But now for every person that states, “We’ll take out one for $40 a month,” there are five that will take out one for $5 million, for $10 million.

Of course, organizations benefit from this program with favorable benefits. I’m going to cover it deeper into my presentation. But favorable benefits are the ability to grow their foundation. The Los Angeles chapter of the American Red Cross was about to go under because tithes and offerings and gifts were decreasing. People weren’t giving like they used to. And if you go to that site, charitynavigators.org it states the revenue, their phone number, address, and names. And that will tell you in seconds if you’re numbers are trending downward. “Let me help. Let me show you the money.”

The plan. I like the plan. Again, even though it states 501c3, this will work in any country. This will work in any organization. This will work in any area, because it’s more attractive and no disruption to the donor’s personal assets. An objection: “Well, will it take away money (from current giving)? They’re currently giving us $15,000 a year. If they do this will it take away money?” And the answer is no. it will enhance their giving. It will enhance because I will still say, “Take $12,000 and gift it to  the organization. And give me $3,000 and let’s leverage it to something bigger.”

Again, what many people will do is they will say, “Well, it’s so complicated. I’ve got to get an attorney.” I was just talking with the gentleman from Lake Oswego, Oregon. He said, “We have someone who sets it up. Then we’ve got to talk to the individuals. Sometimes people will get frustrated.” But this is very simple. No ownership. Incidence of ownership in Section 2042. And this is for you, Ellis. Incidence of ownership. It’s a running joke. Sorry about it.

I’ve been so serious. I lost my sister a couple of weeks ago. I lost a nephew. So I’ve been in this really serious mode. And normally I will tell you a joke in a heartbeat. I’m trying to transition out of that serious mode today to please bear with me.

The planned gifts are used to finance strategies. West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles is building an $87 million facility. They built a $66 million facility through planned giving. They have 27,000 members. Every year, they lose 75 to 80 members from the church. This replaces their gifting. This replaces their ability to go to a bank and say, “We want to build a brand new school as part of our mission.” Unfortunately, there is never enough money.

The planned gifts for tax strategies and the owner and beneficiary, to make it so simplified, must be the entity. The question will come up, I’m going to give you a negative. “Can I take out a $1 million policy and give half to my children and half to the entity?” And the answer is no. If you want to do something for your children, do that separately. But this is strictly for the 501c3, the nonprofits. And it really simplifies the argument of “I don’t want to take away from my children.”

And then, of course, depending on the structure, the gift can create benefits in return for their contribution. Someone may say, “I’m already giving $1 million a year to their American Diabetes Association.”

“Well, of that $1 million per year, let’s take $200,000 of that and let’s leverage it.”

“Yes, but you want my time, you want my energy and you want my effort. You want me to come down and see an attorney, draw up paperwork, do a GRIT or GRAT for gifting property, donor abides funds.” There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal and it spoke about whether it is a tax haven for the rich. It should work for everyone.

The next area is a plan of action. When I gave this presentation to the University of California, Los Angeles, everyone said “Well, all this talk is nice. But what’s the plan of action? Do we have to do it? Do we have to go out and hire a new team? Who is going to give the presentation to the individuals?” The plan of action is to take 100 donors. I was telling Jonathan earlier that that’s where it’s key for your follow-up. Because many times people have stopped me at Top of the Table and MDRT meetings and said, “I gave a presentation and then I waited for them to call me.” And the answer is very clearly, that’s your follow-up.

You’re get the names from the sign-in sheet at the board meeting and then you call and say, “Excuse me, I saw your head going up and down. I was wondering, can I answer any further questions that you may have?”

He might say, “Cedric, I didn’t want to ask in front of everyone else…” But I will answer that question to overcome the objection and they will take out a policy on the spot. And it works 98 percent of the time. Like I said before, for the first five years in this industry court, court, court and sit, sit. You would have made Top of the Table and stayed there.

Let me give you this nugget. Sol Hicks told me when I first joined in my late 20s, he said, “Man, I don’t want to see you one time. I want to see you year after year after year after year.”

I would be embarrassed if I didn’t show up. Sol could be 99 years old and I’d say, “Sol, I’ve made it to another Top of the Table meeting.” So that’s important to me, if targets are met within a 12-month period.

People are always asking me, “Is this over 50 years? When do we get our money?” Well, at my church 27 people passed last year and there are 19,000 members. If three people get charitable planned giving, that’s $2 million to the church. That puts in new air conditioning, programs, gives out food to the homeless on Sunday or Saturday afternoons. And then of course, the donors’ influence will inspire others to give.

Now I always mention, “Well, you can do $25,000, $50,000.” It must be cash value policies. Term just won’t get it.

As it’s cash value, it allows someone to say, “I want to do more than $50,000. Can I do $1 million?” Seven boards that I’m on currently, almost every board member gave $1 million. At my church on the board, the people with money will take out a bigger policy. The church is the owner, the church is the beneficiary and when they pass with a death certificate, the funds are turned over quickly. There’s no haggling. There’s no problems. There are no issues at all with that.

And then, of course, how it works. The donor insured purchases an insurance policy that he or she desires as a gift. I heard a lot today in the presentations before mine about people giving gifts. But as we get older you start wondering, “Well, I’m going to leave something for Uncle Charles. I want to leave something for Aunt Mary. And the pastor has changed or the organization has changed.”

And the big thing I hear is, “They’re not acknowledging.” Everybody, even Christians, have egos. I always say that “ego” means, “edging God out.”

But it’s important for me that the death benefit is owned and payable to the charity. So again, when I’ve given this at universities, people will get into a mode of, “Do we have to set it up with all kinds of paperwork?” By the time that’s done, 30 days, 40 days have gone by and people will say, “You know, I really don’t want to do it.”

But if they want to give a $1 million policy, owner and beneficiary, many pastors are big on that, because when the pastor dies or the parish priest or the monsignor, everybody leaves the church. And when they leave, offerings go down. What better way to say, “The church owns the policy on the priest.” That policy is for $2 million, $5 million. There is zero break in income to that organization. The donor pays the premium. Once the deferred gift is in place, these funds can be used in discretion.

Another question that I’ve gotten, if you can believe it, is, “Will the church or the foundation or the university run off with my money if they change leadership?”

And the answer is no. Why? Because the 501c3 has an EIN, and they’re the owner and beneficiary of the gift.

Types of planned gifts. Outright gifts of money, artwork, real estate property, securities, life insurance and annuities. People will ask me very clearly, “Does it have to be property?” At Pepperdine University, it seems like everyone on the board is a CEO of some type of organization and they don’t blink at taking out $1 million to $3 million policies. Everyone in this room has something that they believe in. It could be an organization. It could be, if you’re my other half, animals and specifically dogs. And there are foundations for those causes. But it takes money to run those organizations and, in this case, any one of these areas can be a planned gift. But the most simple and easiest planned gift is the gift of life insurance.

Tax provisions. Charitable giving, the market is comprised of donors and tax-exempt organizations. In the States, as Collin would say, it’s 501c3. Over the pond, or over in your country, they’re nonprofits. But I don’t know of one since, I’ve been doing this, that will say no. Again, I’m shocked that more universities have not been approached. They’re called the advancement team. They’re only job is to raise money. They send you birthday cards, Christmas cards, phone calls and say, “Hey, can you give to Loyola Law School?”

“Why? I gave last year.”

“Can you give again? And can you give again? And again. And again. And again.”

I believe it’s important to say, “Look. I will give but let me tell you how I can help raise.” Gift giving gift.

Different types of 501c3 organizations. Hospitals. Johns Hopkins. St. Jude’s. Cedar Sinai. In Los Angeles, Cedar Sinai, I just assumed they had a gifting program. I called the president of the hospital and said, “Excuse me. My name is Cedric Watkins. I’m managing partner of the Watkins Group. We’re a wealth management firm. I was wondering if I could come speak with you for 15 minutes about raising $10 million for your hospital?”

He said, “You’re a gift from God. Our contributions are down. People aren’t gifting anymore. Our revenue is down. What’s a good time for you Mr. Watkins?”

And I went in there and gave him the same presentation I’m giving you right now. I spoke about the gift of life insurance. Yes, they can give annuities and appreciated property and artwork. But the gift of life insurance, “How would you feel about getting that? You lost 23 board members last year from your hospital to death. What if four of them would have had $1 million policy that the hospital owned?” That’s super important.

And then, of course, putting yourself in a position where there are different types of entities. My mother, at 84, had Alzheimer’s, walking outside with no clothes on, turning on the fire in the kitchen and there’s no pilot light so she could have blown the whole neighborhood up. But when she passed away, we gifted $150,000 from a life insurance policy to the Alzheimer’s Foundation. And because of that, hopefully, they will get something going to take care of this crazy disease. Make-A-Wish, American Red Cross. The YMCA in Los Angeles just built a brand new building and we were able to gift $12 million of that through planned giving. Verifiable. And so it’s so important that each one of these institutions have never been approached.

I thought everybody here at Top of the Table, we’re the top of the top of the top of the top. I always say that. I’m proud to be part of this. But I’m shocked at the number of people who say, “Planned giving works, but they’re not returning my call.” Or, “The secretary screened me.”

I don’t know of one assistant or gatekeeper who will say, “I have a guy on the phone who wants to raise $5 million for our organization. Do you have time to speak to him?”

Who’s going to tell you no? I mean, who’s going to tell you no?

Our next area is benefits. It replaces contributions and increases the capability of the average donor. It provides for capitalization of current cash values. It stabilizes the fundraising and it creates assets which will enhance. Why is that important? Because every single organization I have, there’s one person who sits there with their arms crossed and says “This will mess with our chicken dinners after each service. This will mess with our cookies after Bible study. This will mess with our current fundraising.”

Now if I was a smart mouth, I would say, “How’s that working for you? Cookies? Chicken dinners for $12 and it costs you $8 to make it. How is that working for you?”

This is something that I’m even surprised when I come to our meetings. I was able to speak at MDRT in Florida last year. People weren’t aware that the gift is maximized. The legacy lives on. The gift that I have for my church, when I die, it will give five $5,000 scholarships a year to young students, for the next 50 years. All by a drop of ink on a piece of paper. I think if that concept is given to your clients or to organizations in your town, you would be surprised at how they will jump on that. The personal assets remain intact. The charity receives the proceeds promptly. Premiums are tax deductible as long as there is no incidence of ownership. In estates, the Internal Revenue Code, Section 2042. Section 2042 allows them to deduct it like you would your tithes or your offerings on your tax returns as long as you have no incidence of ownership.

The charity can receive some of the benefits of your gift while you are alive. The biggest thing I hear is, “Do we have to wait to die before the charity gets anything?” And the answer is no. My current $5 million whole life policy has over $869,000 of cash value. So, if I wanted to start gifting that out, if I were a 501c3, I could. And where else can you go and borrow money or take money from a gift and not have it reflect negatively on you? And your privacy is protected.

I have found some of the bigger donors that take out $1 million to $5 million policies, they don’t want anyone to know. The pastor will say, “Excuse me, John, I want you to stand up. I want the whole church to see you that you gave out $5 million to the church.” Well, privacy is protected because of confidentiality. Organizations I’ve been affiliated with are super important. At the United Negro College Fund, we raised about $9 million in the last year just for scholarships for people to go to college. And that’s amazing because that’s more than the $5 gift that they asked for through the organization. Five-dollar gifts. It takes a lot of $5 gifts to do anything for the organization.

Of course, my church, a woman-of-color breast cancer support group, it used to be called the Revlon Cancer Support Group. I spoke to a group of women about seven months ago who had all had their breasts removed. And they’re spreading the word in Los Angeles about taking out these policies, because their organization is losing money. People are no longer gifting. And that’s super important to gift.

 

Dave Nabity

Dave Nabity from Omaha, Nebraska. I’ve got two questions. The first one is simple. Can you write off the premium even though you pay for it out of your personal checking account? Or do you need to send the money to the charity and then they pay it?

 

Watkins

You can definitely write off the premium. Why is it important? Because the entity, being the organization or the church or the parish, they will say it’s taking up too much of our time because some people will send in the premiums late. It’s so important that you make their life very simple. University of Southern California, I approached the provost and they said, “We’ve never had anybody approach a university this big about charitable gifting through life insurance.” Ever. But one of the concerns that they had was that they didn’t want to have to track or deal with someone’s check bouncing or premiums not making it. But that’s my job. That’s called service. I do it for my current clients. I have a young lady in my office. When a check bounces, she’s on the phone. When an account changes, she’s on the phone. And that’s part of the service that I offer when I state, “We will do all that for you.” That’s part one. Please go to part two.

 

Nabity

OK. Part two is the politics. You approach a university or a charity. How do you get over the issue of well, “Cedric, if we let you be the speaker and we let you do that, then we’ve got to let the agent of New York Life or the Mass Mutual agent or somebody else.” They also have to have equal access and you get into where they’re too afraid of looking like they’re endorsing one guy that’s going to get all this business from the charity. How do you deal with that politics?

 

Watkins

That is a perfect question. I hope everybody heard it. How do you get past that is that this is a specialization. I’m in an organization, the National Bar Association which is predominantly African-American attorneys. And someone said, “Well I’ve got a good insurance man in Omaha. And I’ve got one in Chicago. How about Bob Jones? He’s a member of our church.” It’s not as simple as one would think. Someone thinks I’m going to go in there, the guy from Prudential, to the bar association, and I’m going to clean up. I’m going to write 500 policies. Excuse my vernacular, ladies, but you can’t be perceived as prostituting the institution.

For years I never approached my church. I approached everyone around me, but I didn’t want my church to think I was using the church for my benefit. But finally, when I saw people dying year after year after year and the pastor was making a plea, “What can we do? You’re on the board.”

I said, “I have an idea that works for other institutions and it’s called charitable planned giving. A drop of ink, a piece of paper and a promise to keep this institution going long after.”

Most of the people who see that opportunity, to be very honest, are people who are salespeople. I don’t want to be perceived as a schlepper, someone who’s in there selling them a $28 policy. I’m a professional. I’m degreed. I’m licensed. And I’ve done this year after year after year. Some people who want to do that are there to sell a policy. Bob Jones, who sits in the back of the church, is there to sell a policy. But there’s a real process, as Bruce Etherington would say. And that process is sitting down and selling that concept to the pastor. And then selling it to the board. And then selling it to each board member. And then following up and giving a monthly report on how many people have signed up. And the average schlepper is not going to want to do that. That person is going to say, “I got the policy. Praise the Lord. Let’s move on.”

I give a commitment of five, 10, 15 years of every quarter sending a quarterly statement or attending a board meeting.

 

Question

Thanks for all the great ideas today. In your example, you used someone giving $15,000 a year to the organization. Peel three off and do a policy. I think in the past that was a genius idea but with the new tax law that wouldn’t be deductible. Is that correct now? It’s got to be for bigger premium? Or bigger donations?

 

Watkins

Well, they’ve talked about it and that’s a very good question. I looked through the CCH, which is the California Clearing House and I’ve seen accountants use gap methods. They’re talking about taking that away for that smaller gift. But it hasn’t happened yet. It hasn’t been enacted yet. And if it is enacted, then my thinking is we’ll up it. We’ll up it to a higher amount that fits into their budget.

What I’ve learned to do is swallow my ego. When someone says, “I want to do a $10,000 policy at $22 a month,” what are you going to do about it?

I’ll say, “Praise the Lord. Thank you. I’ll take that.”

But when that goes into effect, yes, it will affect, in some instances, larger gifts. But it’s not into effect as of yesterday morning. I’m checking my phone. Checking the Journal. Checking the tax laws to see if it’s in place yet. At least for California, which is where I’m from, it’s not in effect yet.

One of the questions now is if you give a $3,000 gift, will they still be able to deduct that through their taxes because of the amount of the gift? And the answer is, they’ve spoken about it, they’ve talked about it, but it hasn’t been enacted yet into law. I hope I answered that question that you had.

 

Eszylfie Taylor

Eszylfie Taylor, from Los Angeles, California. Top of the Table seven years. I just wanted to speak to you. I met Cedric probably about five, six years ago and he shared this very process with me. I immediately took it back to my practice. I thought, “It can’t be that easy.” But it really is. I started, actually, with the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital. The way that I got in was by sitting active on a board and I did it myself. I donated $1 million to the children’s hospital via this planned giving strategy. Then I challenged the other board members to follow my lead and do it as well. Cedric actually was working with me. In university, I played ball at school. Then I had an opportunity to go to other organizations as well. So again, it’s not the crux of my practice, but I’ve had a great opportunity to go in there and add value. Someone had said before if not you, someone else. And it’s like you brought the idea. Now my response typically to that is, “If you’d like, I can come back with a new idea every year or so. You can go out and see if somebody else can execute it. Or you can work with the person who brought it to you.”

At the end of the day, it’s just a numbers game. You’re not going to talk to 50 organizations and have 50 do it, but if you talk to 50 organizations and five do it, you’re good.

I just wanted to speak to the value of this concept and the impact it had in my practice and its effectiveness and really the ease of it.

 

Watkins

Thank you. The check will be in the mail to Pasadena tomorrow.

 

Gary Heuer

Gary Heuer, from Lake Oswego, Oregon. I have smaller churches and I have presented to a pastor the idea of him being the insured and parishioners making premium payments and he was onboard. I took it to church council and half of them were OK but the other half weren’t. It ultimately did not happen and the reason why is we didn’t have a single person who could make the premium payments. In this case it was $15,000 a year. We had three, four, five people that had to make the donations. And the worry was, what if this person or that person can’t make that full payment, then it’s on the burden of everybody else. How do you overcome issues like that?

 

Watkins

Great question. Every possible negative you can think of will pop up. And the answer to overcome that is, it’s not the church’s responsibility. I’m in the insurance business. My sister passed at age 70 and she had let her policy lapse. My brother and I paid out of our pockets, a couple of weeks ago, for her funeral. The analogy is the church has cash value that’s building up. They have the right as the owner to remove cash value to make up for that shortfall. That’s important versus the church digging into its pocket and paying the premiums for the person who can’t make the $15,000. But that will come up every single time. “Well, what if they get behind in their policy?” That’s why whole life or cash value insurance has to be implemented. If it’s term, there is no cash value.

It overcomes that objection every time. “Well, what if they have hard times?” Pull out that cash value. Pull it out. I’ve never seen a Brinks truck following a hearse. When we pass on, we’re passing on a legacy. Every speaker before me today spoke about some type of gifting. They’re passing on a legacy. I’m not leaving $100 million of my money, but I’ll surely leave someone else’s money. And that’s the insurance. That’s how I overcome that objection. Use the cash value that you have to pay that.

 

Wayne Kaneta

Do you use a limited-pay policy or minimum-pay policy for life. Or what kind of policy do you use?

 

Watkins

Wayne, that’s a very good question. It depends on the individual. Probably 70 percent of the time they’re on a monthly withdrawal. But there are people, as a gentleman spoke to me this morning, who will pay $400,000 upfront. They will say, “We have money sitting in an IRA that’s only earning 0.1 percent,” and they’re over age 70½. Because of the required minimum distribution issues, they will use that money to go into a policy that will be of help to them. And that help would be to take out policies that will fit their needs.

A million dollars is not for everyone, but I actually shouldn’t use the word “attack,” but I direct my attention toward board members. Because, normally, everyone who sits on a board has large amounts of money. I’m working on right now the Museum of Modern Art in Los Angeles. Every board member is a retired CEO of something. And I’m giving a presentation there in a couple of weeks on charitable gifting. I believe I can get four or five of them to take out a $1 million policy.

 

Brent Kimball

Brent Kimball, from Concord, New Hampshire. I have two very different types of questions actually. One is very simple, how important do you think it is that you’re a JD or MBA, particularly a JD so you can actually talk law and talk about estate tax law and practice it? I’m a CFP. I really legally can’t.

 

Watkins

In law school. That’s a compound question. Part one and part two. The first part of that question is all of our initials in here help. I see stuff that states doctorates or all different kinds of initials. I think it puts you above the norm. I don’t walk in there and say, “Look. I know more than you.” I’ve given the same presentation to the National Association of Accountants and then I’m talking gap methods. I’ve given it to people who are planners or agents for athletes and entertainers in Los Angeles. When I’m talking to a large group of people, it helps. All of us have gone on to get advanced degrees for whatever sundry of reasons. And for me, it puts me just a little bit notch different when someone states, arms crossed, “So tell me the legal ramifications and how would the church be at issue?” And I can address it. But it’s something, again, that makes charitable planned giving so simplified that there are no issues: “Well. I don’t understand.”

“Great. I’d like to see you next Wednesday. Is 10:00 good for you, at my office, or is 2:00 more convenient?”

And let me explain to you a little bit more how this works. Because this may not be the venue. People hate to ask questions in a large group. If I can get one-on-one, it’s a sale. If I can get one-on-one, it’s a done deal.

 

Question

I’m a past president of the MDRT Foundation and one of the astounding things to me, having been on the board and involved in the Foundation for over 15 years, is the Million Dollar Round Table came from being a life insurance organization primarily and we have a charitable gift giving program of life insurance and we don’t have that many policies. It is always very surprising and a little embarrassing to me. It just seems like a no-brainer to me. I’ve spent days in Chicago calling people who I thought would be good candidates to give life insurance policies. Personally, I practice what I preach. I own a policy for the MDRT Foundation. So, my question is: What can we do to get more members to be charitable gift givers through life insurance, which seems like a natural fit, being a life insurance organization. And how will you help us?

 

Watkins

To answer that question, two parts. I gift every year. I get my little purple badge from the MDRT Foundation. And exponentially, I try to give more and more. But what happens is on the board I’m on now, like Eszylfie said, I’m going to take out a policy. And I’m going to jump on this board and take out a policy, and pretty soon you’ve got 20 policies you’ve taken out.

I would love to wind up. It’s called target marketing. I’m surprised how many people stop me every time I give this speech, which has been four times in the last 12 years. And they say, “I never knew it was so simple.”

I ask them, “You’ve been in business 40 years, have you done that?”

“Well, I’ve dabbled in it.”

I talk to one or two people. Jonathan made the comment to me, one or two people. I had a chance to go out to Atlanta and visit Sol and his lovely wife. I was thinking, “Look at all these pastors that showed up at his being touted as the best of the world,” which is he. “These people all need your help.”

By a show of hands, the members who are members of a church, how many people in here have approached your pastors or priests? Three out of 48 people. What would it hurt to say, “Pastor, I enjoyed your sermon. May I talk to you next week about a concept that I learned at Top of the Table that I feel could triple our revenues and our congregation?”

Number two, how many people in here have been contacted by their universities? Everyone. And how about reversing that by stating, “I would love to talk to you about raising $10 million in the next 48 months for the university. May I come in and speak to the provost or the advancement team for 15 minutes next week? Harvard does it. UPenn does it. Stanford does it. University of Michigan, Notre Dame, they all do it. Why not you?”

How hard is it if they say, “I’m sorry no”? We all have had some nos. I have nos. But my ego is not so big anymore that to a no I say, “Thank you so much for your time.” And I move on to the next.

 

Question

I was thinking about how you were so reluctant to go to your own church. I think I know why that reluctance would be there because I think it’s the same reluctance that I have. I know I’ve always thought about Jesus losing his temper on the moneychangers and that was the only time he really lost it when it was overturning the tables. And I’ve always had this reservation or this reluctance to say, do I really want to ply my wares in God’s house. And what you’re saying right now is deeply convicting. It’s like we have an obligation to provide this Biblical wisdom and this financial advice to constituents of the church, the body of Christ. So, was that a hurdle for you in that you didn’t go to your own church for the longest time because you didn’t want to cross that line or was it something else?

 

Watkins

Jonathan, it was youthful indiscretion. I’m on fire for charitable planned giving. I can’t stop like the other guy. I can’t sing “This is the Light of Mine” the way Sol sings it. Because I’ll jack it up. But I can tell you that I’m on fire for this. And when I was 28 and new in the business, I really didn’t know what I know now. So fear, false evidence appearing real, is what I had. I was afraid to approach my pastor, 21,000-member church in Los Angeles. Magic Johnson goes there. Denzel Washington. But I was afraid. But when I got to be 32 or 33, the late Sid Friedman gave me a pitch here at MDRT. He said, “Stop being afraid.” Stop being afraid. When Sid told me that, it just opened up my chest. I will approach anyone. I’ll approach the Pope if he can understand me. I will. I think it was strictly fear and youth. I’m older now and so the fear is not there. But then I was afraid of what the pastor might think. Would he think I was prostituting the church? When people stop me on Sunday I will say, “I’m sorry. This is the Lord’s day. Can you call me Monday? Here’s my card.” I won’t do business on Sunday. But I won’t turn it down. I’ll say, “Call me the next day.” It was just strictly fear.