Mike Wells: Small gifts can have large impact
December 6th, 2021 by admin
One of the encouraging trends in our society today is that more people are considering charitable gifts during their lifetimes or at their deaths.
Interestingly, however, while 70% of Americans give to charities during their lifetime, fewer than 6% give to charities at their death, although the trends for giving more to charities for both times are growing.
To the surprise of many, you do not have to have much money to make an impact. All gifts count, and even a gift the giver may think is modest can provide a profound benefit to the recipients.
Years ago, a widow, Ida Tilson, a life-long teacher in one of our local public high schools, left her small life savings to a trust for small educational scholarships to any students in need. As a young lawyer, I served on the committee to choose the scholarship recipients. Since the distributions were limited to the income generated by the fund, I wondered privately at the time, not long out of college and very much aware of the significant costs of it, what real impact distributions of a few hundred dollars for a few recipients each could have on the recipients.
What I did not know, however, was that the recipients would cobble together the money from this fund with other funds, grants and scholarships to get their educations.
Our committee received letters from recipients noting that money from our fund was the last bit of money necessary for them to go to college, to go to the college of choice for their intended career or to stay in school after their parents’ divorce.
This humble schoolteacher knew more about giving than I did. And many years after her death, that teacher, dedicated to helping young people during her 42-year teaching career, is still helping students, a few hundred dollars at a time.
Here is the point: Anyone who gives to a charitable/faith organization that promotes values dear to their heart or our personal life experience, whatever the size of the gift, makes an impact. In one of life’s sweetest stories, it really is the widow’s mite that teaches us the deepest insights about what matters most.
In addition to providing for your family, we can also provide for organizations and institutions that foster the values and principles which shaped our lives in meaningful ways: bodies of faith, educational institutions and organizations that extend the collective community hand to people in need.
A will or trust can be amended for the simple purpose of adding a gift to a charity. The cost of a small change should be very modest.
An efficient income-tax gift to a charity/religious body while you are living or at the time of your death (whether you itemize your income-tax deductions or not) is to give some of your annual required (at 72) minimum distribution (RMD) of a (non-Roth) IRA or qualified retirement account. But confer with your advisers before you make any distributions to be sure they qualify for the favorable income-tax treatment.If you have questions about charitable giving, in addition to your body of faith, some highly regarded charities which meet the needs of others are the United Way (336-723-3601), The Winston-Salem Foundation (336-725-2382), Food Bank (336-784-5770), Senior Services (336-725-0907), Shepherd Center (336-748-0217), Habitat for Humanity (336-765-8854) and Salvation Army (800-725-2769). Of course, there are many others.
We should remember, in this high religious season, the simple but powerful principle that unites people of all faiths: We are all joined, one to another. When we reach down to help others, we are exalted high in the place that matters most of all.
Remember: An informed choice is a smart choice.
Posted in: WS Journal Articles