How Blinded Veterans Association built planned giving confidence and generated $38K+ in bequests

The Opportunity

The Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) is the only congressionally chartered Veterans Service Organization exclusively dedicated to assisting America’s blinded veterans and their families. Since 1945, BVA has served as an advocate, resource, and community for veterans coping with sight loss.

As the organization approached its 80th year, National Development Director Meredith Buono-Dagrossa saw an opportunity to strengthen BVA’s planned giving efforts. But as a small development team, she was managing a wide range of responsibilities across fundraising, donor relations, revenue generation, and cause marketing.

Before FreeWill, BVA had limited infrastructure for planned giving. The organization often did not learn that a donor had included BVA in their estate plans until the gift was realized, leaving little opportunity to steward and build relationships with these supporters.

I’ve been in development for more than 30 years, but planned giving was never my forte. I’m 1,000% more confident now.

Meredith Buono-Dagrossa
National Development Director

“Our website needed a more professional and comprehensive way to present planned giving opportunities,” shared Buono-Dagrossa. “This platform gives us the structure, credibility, and resources to better educate donors and support meaningful conversations about their legacy.”

BVA needed a scalable way to educate donors, identify planned giving commitments, and grow its program without hiring additional staff.

The Solution

BVA partnered with FreeWill to build a more structured, accessible, and donor-friendly planned giving program.

The partnership began with the launch of a dedicated planned giving microsite, giving BVA a single destination to share accurate, up-to-date information with donors. The site also helped the organization strengthen how it communicated and presented planned giving opportunities.

“I can now confidently direct donors to our website, knowing they’ll find a professional, accurate, and helpful planned giving resource.”

Working with FreeWill also gave BVA access to a dedicated Partner Success Strategist, Erica, who has become an extension of the team. Through regular check-ins, BVA receives proactive guidance, campaign support, and accountability to keep planned giving efforts moving forward.

“Over the years, we have partnered with many companies, and I can say with certainty that this team stands out as one of the very best in planned giving. Their expertise, responsiveness, and support have made them feel like a true extension of our staff.”

FreeWill’s content support has also helped BVA engage donors without adding significant work to its small team. From the Marketing Library to custom content support, the organization has been able to quickly launch polished, mission-aligned planned giving communications.

“The content is written beautifully,” Buono-Dagrossa shared. “I rarely have to rewrite anything. They understand us and the language we use, especially the sensitivity around sight loss.”

Accessibility has been an especially important part of the partnership. FreeWill provides accessible versions of BVA’s quarterly reporting, helping ensure that information can be shared more effectively across the organization and with its Board of Directors.

Since launching with FreeWill in January 2025, planned giving has also become a more natural part of the conversation at BVA. Veterans and supporters have begun asking about ways to give back, creating new opportunities to connect with donors who may never have been identified otherwise.

One particularly meaningful shift has been BVA’s ability to steward donors before a future gift is realized. Rather than learning about planned gifts only after a donor’s passing, the team can now identify supporters, thank them, and build relationships with them during their lifetime. For a one-person development operation, that visibility has been transformative.

“With more than 30 years in development, I understand the importance of presenting planned giving with clarity, accuracy, and confidence. This platform has strengthened the way we communicate those opportunities and has given me an even greater level of confidence in donor conversations,” Buono-Dagrossa said.

The results have also helped planned giving become more prominent across the organization. Board members and veterans have increasingly raised the topic on their own, and the program is becoming a more integrated part of BVA’s broader fundraising strategy.

Since partnering with FreeWill, BVA has generated $1.2 million in promised gifts and $38,000 in realized bequests, giving the organization both near-term revenue and a stronger pipeline of future support.

With FreeWill’s tools, dedicated support, and visibility into donor activity, BVA has been able to build a stronger planned giving foundation without significantly increasing its internal workload.

“It was the best decision we made as an organization,” said Buono-Dagrossa. “FreeWill makes it make sense.”

It’s like having another planned giving staff member. Erica answers the question before I even have the question.

Meredith Buono-Dagrossa
National Development Director