The National Committee on Planned Giving did it when it changed its name earlier this year to the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning.

Now it may be time for charities to follow suit.

“It’s time to get away from the planned-giving phrase because apparently it is not resonating with people,” Larry Stelter, a marketing consultant in Des Moines, Iowa, told a group of, well, planned-giving officers at the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning’s annual meeting today.

More than six out of 10 Americans in a new study said they were not familiar with the term planned giving, explained pollster J. Ann Selzer, who surveyed 800 people 30 years or older. At the same time, she said, many more people were familiar with specific ways to make planned gifts, such as by leaving money to a charity in a will.

“The jargon of planned giving may in fact be an obstacle rather than an open door,” Ms. Selzer said.

Mr. Stelter suggested that nonprofit organizations adjust the way they reach out to prospective donors, such as by changing wording on their Web sites.

“It says, Click here for planned giving, but 62 percent of the people don’t understand it,” he said. He offered alternative phrases, such as charitable gift planning, giving options, and opportunities to give.