New Interest in Giving Through a Will or Trust

The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant effects on nearly every aspect of our lives. Charitable giving and gift planning are no different. According to a report from Indiana University and Purdue University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy on the first months of the pandemic, 56 percent of households engaged in charitable activity in response to the crisis, many with donations to nonprofits but also by directly supporting hard-hit businesses like restaurants and hairstylists who had to close their doors.

There is a renewed interest in planned gifts or estate plans. It may be that the seriousness of the pandemic has generous people thinking about the role charity will play in their legacies.

Our experience at The Community Foundation is that people make a planned gift – such as through a trust or adding a new provision to their will – when they have a life event: a new grandchild, a retirement, the sale of a business. These are times when people reflect on gratitude, on their place in their community and on the legacy they might like to leave behind. In some ways, the entire country is going through a life event together.

If you would like assistance planning a charitable gift, please contact Teri McNally, Executive Director at terimcnally@cfrrr.org, or Emma Miller-Richards, Fund Development Associate at emma.miller-richards@cfrrr.org. We are happy to listen and happy to help!