Case Study: American Heart Association raises millions in legacy and non-cash gifts with FreeWill

How the American Heart Association raises tax-smart gifts today and secures millions for the future with FreeWill

The American Heart Association (AHA) sought to grow its planned giving program and streamline the cumbersome process for non-cash donations like bequests, stock, and Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs). A key challenge was making these tax-smart gifts more accessible to donors and efficiently managing the high volume of tax acknowledgments. The organization partnered with FreeWill to address these obstacles.

FreeWill implemented its Planned Giving Suite and Smart Giving Suite, which provided a user-friendly platform for donors to create wills and make non-cash gifts. This solution centralized the giving process, improved donor engagement, and gave the AHA’s team greater visibility into commitments. The results were significant: since 2018, FreeWill has helped secure over $644 million in legacy commitments, including $6.6 million in bequests and $1.9 million in real-time gifts in 2023 alone.

American Heart Association

Pamela Leonard

National Executive Lead, Charitable Estate Planning Program Advancement