NSU Partners With The Hibel Foundation’s Planned Giving Initiative
What happens when the co-founder of the leading academic job board, HigherEdJobs, ignites his passion for planned giving? The answer: You form a foundation and a Planned Giving Initiative (PGI) within that foundation that encourages education and collaboration in the planned giving field.
Andrew Hibel, co-founder of HigherEdJobs, is also the co-creator, along with his wife, Elizabeth, of The Hibel Family Foundation launched in 2020. PGI has a two-fold purpose–to nurture people seeking a career in planned giving, and to increase accessibility and integration of planned giving in charities that will benefit by implementing a planned giving program. “The Planned Giving Initiative was incorporated in 2020 and was created with the vision of universal and equal access to planned giving for all nonprofits. We feel that planned gifts enable a nonprofit to not only survive but be truly sustainable,” said Amy Roy, executive director of The Hibel Family Foundation.
Through PGI, Roy works to promote planned giving education and application as well as career development. “The vision of PGI is universal and equal access to planned giving in a range of areas from education, career paths, and access.”
“A primary purpose of the PGI is to even the playing field for those organizations that have little to no access to planned giving education. PGI also supports organizations that are excelling in planned giving efforts to bring their programs to the next level. Norfolk State has a talented and committed development staff and a strong desire to expand on its planning giving efforts for lasting and impactful results,” said Andrew Hibel about PGI’s partnership with NSU. “Perhaps more importantly, NSU has a great relationship with a committed alumni population that would like to continue the educational legacy of the University from generation to generation.”
Last year, PGI launched a partnership effort that bridges the unique fundraising needs of two HBCUs to connect with the powerful skills of the University of Illinois Foundation (UIF) advanced giving program. “PGI is passionate about planned giving and is grateful to its UIF academic partner that shares that passion,” explained Hibel. “Through a unique granting opportunity, Delaware State University (DSU) and Norfolk State University are each hosting a PGI-funded Fellow as part of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s (CASE) year-long graduate trainee program. In tandem, the University of Illinois is also hosting a CASE fellow with a focus on planned giving. Through peer-to-peer collaboration, these HBCUs and UIF are sharing resources, knowledge and learning opportunities between the fellows and the schools themselves for the betterment of all three programs.”
“Our partnership program that funds planned giving at HBCUs was recently featured in an article published in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. It highlighted NSU’s securing $4.5 million in future commitments since joining our partnership. PGI is committed to funding at both DSU and NSU for three years, providing a stipend of $55,000 for the fellows for each year of the three-year program,” explained Roy.
The Hibels expect the PGI partnership will have a profound impact on Norfolk State University. “By expanding the giving practices for major gifts of assets, NSU will be positioned to establish a pipeline of funding that will be available to the university for generations to come to aid students across all areas of the University,” concluded Hibel. “Planned giving enables organizations to have legacy gifts over the generations which can ensure the sustainability of their missions. Planned giving also enables alumni and other donors an opportunity to make a difference that will transcend their lifetime at the organizations that are most important to them,” Elizabeth Hibel added.