February – and early in the year in general – is a good time to make sure your plans are in place to grow your endowment. As you and your team work together to reach out to donors this month, consider the ways your endowment fundraising communications help you build the long-term relationships with donors that ultimately result in both current and planned gifts to your endowment. Indeed, Valentine’s Day itself is an opportunity to truly reflect on “long term” commitments. Endowments, of course, are intended to last in perpetuity … and the earliest valentines go back to the 1400s when an imprisoned medieval duke sent one to his wife. That brings new meaning to “standing the test of time”!
Formalizing your organization’s endowment – through establishing an endowment fund at Kitsap Community Foundation – helps your organization attract donors’ investable gifts that can produce sustainable returns while the principal or endowed amount remains intact. If your organization has yet to set up an endowment at KCF, please reach out to the KCF team. We stand ready to help.
In your donor and volunteer communications this quarter, make it a priority to remind your donors about the various ways they can give to your endowment fund:
Gifts of highly-appreciated stock
Gifts of life insurance
Retirement plan beneficiary designations
Qualified Charitable Distributions from an IRA (for donors who are over the age of 70 ½)
Gifts of closely-held stock
Gifts of real estate
Charitable remainder trusts
Charitable gift annuities
Invite your donors and volunteers to create their legal will – for free – and name a charitable bequest for your cause. Your social media message could say,
Are you one of the 7-in-10 Americans without a current will? Visit FreeWill.com/kitsapfoundation.org to write or update your legal will in less than 20 minutes. This is a free service to (YOUR ORG NAME) donors and volunteers, provided for a short time by Kitsap Community Foundation. As you complete your will, please consider leaving a bequest to (YOUR ORG NAME) to ensure our mission endures forever.”
As always, the KCF is here to assist with any type of gift to your endowment fund, whether the gift is simple or complex. Like relationships in your life, endowments need nurturing, and not just during Valentine’s Day month! The team at Kitsap Community Foundation welcomes the opportunity to help your organization – and your endowment – thrive in perpetuity.
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