Earlier this year, a dear friend of mine died suddenly. She was one of the most generous people I knew. Generous of heart and humor, and generous of monetary gifts to the nonprofits and community she loved. In her late 60’s, after she retired as a scientific lab technician, she launched a second career as a handy person. She focused on home repair and computer assistance for low-income women who found things like leaky faucets, running toilets and laptop set-up too complicated to tackle on their own, and too insignificant to call in the professionals. She was trusted and trustworthy and enjoyed everything about helping people fix nagging household problems, and she used the income from that second career to increase her charitable giving.

When she died, her obituary named one of her favorite nonprofits for her friends and family to remember her by, and her estate directed some significant gifts to several others. These will be her final gifts to the nonprofits she supported with her time and money and it was her wish that these gifts help sustain these organizations over time. The only problem. She never shared her intention with those nonprofits. She just assumed her gifts would support the nonprofit’s endowment.

An endowment is a permanent charitable fund that generates an annual gift to the nonprofit for generations. 

If you’re a member of a nonprofit board, or serve on the development or fundraising committee, consider creating a policy of placing a final donor gift into your nonprofit’s operating endowment. When someone who supports your organization with an annual gift dies, and they name your nonprofit to direct memorial contributions, they’ve elevated your nonprofit to family status. Those gifts, or a bequest or retirement plan designation, all represent final gifts from your closest donors.

If you’re a current donor or have named your favorite charities in your estate plan, consider adding instructions that direct your final gift to the nonprofits endowment fund. That decision, in essence, will continue your annual gift the organization has relied on for years. You might also consider writing a letter from the heart, explaining to the nonprofit why you named the organization to leave a final gift and what you hope they might do with the money.

Too often, nonprofits receive an gift from a donor’s estate without any instruction, wish or intention. When that happens, it’s up to the current board to consider options. If that nonprofit doesn’t have a “final gift policy” the entire gift (and the memory of that donor) is gone forever.

People create charitable endowments at the Adams County Community Foundation to ensure their annual gifts to the community and nonprofits they love continue for generations to come. Naming the fund for themselves or their family ensure they will be remembered.

Does your nonprofit have a final gift policy? I’d like to know. Email me at rserpe@adamscountycf.org or call 717-337-0060. Ralph Serpe is president & CEO or the Adams County Community Foundation and serves on the board of Community Foundation National Standards.