Planned Giving
By Laura Simic, IWCF Investment Committee Member (Summer 2024, reprinted)
In my 38 years as a philanthropy professional working with donors and nonprofit institutions, my favorite thing has been facilitating planned giving. Call me a planned giving nerd–I’ll admit it! I really get excited about how such gifts are good for the donors as well as the organizations they support.
Why planned giving?
For the donor, planned gifts can achieve multiple personal, financial, and philanthropic goals. Planned gifts:
- Often allow the donor to make a larger gift than otherwise possible, with little immediate outlay.
- Can use multiple assets.
- Ensure the future of that which the donor supports with current giving.
- Have tax and financial planning advantages.
- May provide a lifetime stream of income.
- Cement relationships with organization, for life.
- Perpetuate values.
- Leave a legacy.
For the recipient organizations, planned gifts provide:
- Larger gifts than may otherwise be possible.
- An effective way to build endowment without affecting annual budgets.
- The ability for a degree of long-term planning.
- Indication of a donor’s lifetime commitment to the organization.
- Increasing organizational fundraising capacity and sophistication.
- Perpetuation of organizational values.
- Increased sustainability.
When is the right time to think about planned giving?
Any time is the right time to think about making a planned gift! That said, there are particular times when making a provision for a nonprofit in your estate plans may be naturally top-of-mind. For example:
- Reaching a particular age.
- Experiencing a life event, such as having a child or grandchild, a marriage, the death of a loved one, or retirement.
- Receiving or anticipating a financial gain, such as a required minimum distribution from one’s IRA, receiving an inheritance, or winning the lottery!
- Anticipating the need for a tax deduction.
- Dependents become financially independent or when downsizing.
- Becoming financially comfortable and having more than one needs.
- Finding a philanthropic passion and wanting to have a long-term impact.
What are the first steps in making a planned gift?
Exactly how you approach making a planned gift is very personal, based on your current circumstances and future needs. The following are suggestions to get you started.
- Discern your legacy. Think about and articulate what’s important to you and what impact you want to have.
- Determine your future needs, the financial resources necessary to continue to live comfortably, and whether you will need to provide for loved ones in the future.
- Think about the different assets you have to work with to make a gift commitment.
- Talk to your financial advisor and/or your estate planning attorney who can also advise you on the ideal amount, form, and tax consequences of your estate gift.
- Have a conversation with the nonprofit(s) you are thinking about supporting.
- Find out if there are timeless, mission-central needs or programs that will be just as relevant to the mission of the organization many years from now as they are today.
- Explore whether the nonprofit has the long-term vision and stability to still be doing its work in a few decades.
- Decide if the organization’s current leadership has the ability to document and steward your deferred gift commitment so that the future leadership will understand and can carry out your gift’s intended purpose and use.
- Talk to your family members so they understand and support your decision to include a gift provision in your estate plan.
G.I.F.T. (Give It Forward Together)
An example of a planned gift that may work for you is to name “Idaho Women’s Charitable Foundation Susan Smith Endowment Fund” as the beneficiary of a retirement plan. Such a gift may produce tax savings for your estate or your loved ones and is an effective way to ensure the future sustainability of IWCF. Regardless of what organization you choose, or the particulars of your planned gift, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you are helping to sustain a nonprofit’s mission far into the future. Learn more here
