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LIVING RESEARCH PROJECT / LRP-184

Legacy of Faith — Adventist Trust Services and Planned Giving Effectiveness

“How do Adventist trust services and planned giving programs compare in effectiveness across conferences?”

Developing evidenceReviewed 3 March 2026In review
EVIDENCE STRENGTH66/100

A review of the evidence, not a measure of whether a finding is true.

Explore the findings
trust-servicesplanned-givingwillsbequestsstewardshipfinanceNorth AmericaGlobal

Executive Summary

Adventist Planned Giving & Trust Services (PGTS) represents one of the denomination's most significant but least discussed financial engines. Operating for over 50 years since 1968, PGTS has channelled over $2.64 billion in cumulative gifts worldwide, with $487.5 million in realized bequests between 2020 and 2023 alone. This four-year figure — nearly half a billion dollars — exceeds the total annual tithe of most individual divisions. Yet effectiveness varies dramatically across conferences, dri...

Key findings

The Scale of Planned Giving.

$2.64 billion in total gifts worldwide since inception.

$487.5 million in realized bequests from 2020–2023.

An average of approximately $122 million per year in recent bequests alone.

(Proverbs 13:22, NKJV). PGTS operationalizes this principle by helping members plan both family provision and kingdom investment.

Respects donor autonomy and motivation.

Adventist Worldview

Contextual mission discernment

This LRP supports prayerful, evidence-informed action: discern the field, test responses humbly, and adapt for mission without compromising conviction.

Use this research as a stewardship aid, not as a replacement for Scripture, prayer, pastoral discernment, or local listening.

Editorial posture

Use this research as a stewardship aid for Adventist mission. God grows His church; data helps leaders understand where faithful response, care, and mission attention may be needed.

Adventist confidence
Medium
Theological risk
Not recorded
Ideological risk
Not recorded
Biblical / Adventist anchors
Research serves the church's worship, witness, discipleship, care, and stewardship under Scripture.
Methods may learn from public data and social science, but Scripture, Adventist doctrine, and mission set the interpretive boundaries.
Review gate: this LRP should be interpreted by an Adventist editor before it shapes public copy or high-stakes Mission Intelligence actions.

Cautions Before Applying

Use this LRP as a stewardship prompt, then test it against local data, pastoral knowledge, and the mission context.
Check for counter-evidence or local exceptions before turning this into policy.
This finding is graded medium confidence — worth testing against local data before it shapes a decision.
The evidence behind this paper sits in the "Developing" band — the lighter of the two grades in use across the library.

Applicability: Use when an entity shows strategic response pulse weakness or when this LRP's tags match the local diagnosis.

Related Research

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