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Navigating the Unexpected:

How—and When—to Prepare for a Leader's Death

 
 
 

Whether expected or not, the death of your leader or founder will be a pivotal moment in the life of your organization and a legacy–defining moment.
 
You need to be prepared. They need to be prepared.

 

While most people draft a will and do financial planning to care for their families, leaders have a much greater responsibility. They have an organization and staff—and often supporters, donors and partners—who they need to consider.
 
Leaders also need to think about their public legacy. For faith-driven leaders, this legacy is an important part of their public witness.
 
With the death of a leader, there is a natural spotlight and unique opportunity to use the moment to inspire others and point them toward God. This moment should be stewarded wisely for the leader and their organization.

 
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Who needs legacy planning?

Legacy planning is for anyone with a sphere of influence: a leader of an organization, ministry, movement, community, church or school; a notable or influential figure, artist, politician, etc.
 
Typically, when a leader like this dies, unique opportunities arise, including:

  • Interest in public and private memorial events.

  • Internal communications to staff and core audiences.

  • A narrative to shape and manage through news media, social media, videos, tributes, etc.

  • More constituent groups to communicate with:

    • family and friends

    • colleagues, staff, donors and partners

    • readers, listeners, followers, subscribers and customers

    • professional acquaintances

    • other notable figures or leaders

    • honorary guests at memorial events

  • An organization they are leaving behind and how they 
can empower it.

This larger scope requires much more planning than for the average individual, and ideally takes place years in advance given the scale and complexity.

 

Why is advanced planning important?

From a communications standpoint, a leader’s passing is one of the most crucial storytelling moments in their life and the life of an organization. It helps set and seal their legacy, casts vision for the future of an organization and, for faith leaders, it presents an enormous opportunity to point people to Jesus.
 
This is a difficult and sensitive topic for many, but it is critically important for the organization and leader.
 
By beginning the planning process ahead of time, everyone can carefully weigh the myriad of nuanced choices required and plan properly for a leadership transition.
 
For the organization, the planning:


  • Tackles the complexities around transition and continuity planning.

  • Creates a roadmap for the future without the leader.

  • Prepares a strategy to equip key constituents with vision and confidence in the organization post-leader.

For faith leaders, planning maximizes the moment for:


  • pointing people to the Lord.

  • celebrating the leader’s life and legacy.

  • bringing closure to staff, supporters and followers.

  • empowering their organization for a new season without them.

This preparation is a gift to both ministry staff and the family, allowing everyone the opportunity to peacefully grieve rather than rush important decisions and work frantically when the leader dies.

 

What areas do we typically focus on during this planning?

 

  • Project framework + organization

  • Family decisions

  • Ministry decisions

  • Internal communications

  • Public + donor communications

  • News media relations

  • Digital + online storytelling

  • Event planning + logistics

 
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What are the benefits of legacy planning?

 
 
 

The value of planning before the implementation stage cannot be overstated.

With the planning complete, important tasks can be done at implementation without unnecessary delay, deliberation or distraction. Time is on our side now, but it will be scarce then.

These projects are much more legacy planning than event planning.

We will have one moment like this to tell the story we want to share about the future of the organization and what legacy the leader will leave behind. To that end, we focus on developing communications systems and plans that will effectively and efficiently manage the flow of information upon the leader’s death, and share the narrative of their legacy.

 
 
 
 

A legacy project is a spotlight on an organization; therefore, its brand must be aligned and ready for the attention.

Everything the ministry does now is a deposit or withdrawal from the brand bank and, ultimately, the leader’s legacy. The moment a leader dies, your most recent public content will be the most easily accessed for donors and news media.

Everything reinforces (or detracts from) the brand of the organization and the individual; therefore, everything matters.

Everything includes the photo used alongside the obituary, the clarity of the information provided to the public, the social media posts by the ministry, the messages sent to donors, the venue used for a funeral or memorial service, the people asked to speak at memorial events, the design of a printed program, the media materials available for news outlets, the tribute video released by the organization, the volunteers who assist people at memorial events and much more.

 
 
 
 

Most stories don’t tell themselves.

Content (obituary, bio, background info, photos, video and audio clips) made available to news media, partners and others with public influence are an integral part of communicating a legacy. To use an example from Billy Graham’s funeral events: Without being told of the symbolism of the funeral tent representing the tent used during his first Crusade in Los Angeles in 1949, many news outlets may not have framed Billy Graham’s funeral as his “Final Crusade.” If there is something significant, we want people to know about the leader and the ministry, we need to equip them with that information.

A well-planned legacy project is a gift.

It is a gift to the family, as they can be at ease knowing the events surrounding the passing of their loved one will be peaceful and honoring. It is critical to the organization, setting it up for success in a new season without the leader. Planning ahead lets us coordinate family preferences with organizational objectives and lets us protect the leader’s family, as much as possible, from intrusive questions during an already difficult time.

 
 
 
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How long does the planning take?

Project timeframes can run from three months to three years.
 
Typically, the more notable the leader and larger the organization, the more complex the project and the more time it takes to plan properly. In any scenario, the goal is to move into more of a maintenance mode once the primary decisions are made and plans are developed.
 
We strongly recommend preparing early, and then updating as necessary. Like with a will or life insurance, it is wise to do the planning when the leader is healthy.

What is the investment?

We have developed five tiers of service for legacy planning—ranging from just the essentials to highly customized, multiyear projects for notable leaders and public figures.
 
We will meet with your team to evaluate your needs and recommend the best course moving forward.

What’s Next?

Contact our team.
 
Guardian offers extensive expertise on these sensitive projects and has guided a variety of entities with different circumstances—including complicated structures—so we can help you determine the services, opportunities and appropriate tier for your needs.
 
We are happy to share more about specific examples during a call.

 
 

See it in Action

Related case studies that show our work in continuity planning:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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