In generations to come, no one will remember what house you lived in, what car you drove, maybe not even what you did for a living.  What they will remember is the difference you made here on planet earth.

More and more people from all walks of life are discovering that one of the easiest and most effective ways to touch future generations is to leave a legacy.

What is leave a legacy?  Contrary to popular misconception, you don’t have to be wealthy to leave a legacy.  You have to be generous.  You have to be passionate about a cause.  And you have to be smart.

You have to be generous because—even though you can’t take it with you—there’s no law requiring you to leave your worldly possessions to charity.  You have to be passionate about a cause to be able to see the far-reaching impact your gift can have.

And, you have to be smart for two reasons.  First, to realize that, in the end, we all leave a legacy in the form of taxes.   Rather than leaving your heirs with a tax burden that lets the government decide how to dispose of your assets upon death, why not give a portion of it to charity?  Second, legacy gifts often return significant financial benefits to you and your love ones.

Still, many people are not familiar with such arrangements, often referred to as planned or deferred giving.  They may have heard terms like bequest, life insurance gift, charitable remainder trust and charitable lead trust, but don’t fully understand how they work or what it takes to set one up.

Nonprofit organizations work hard to educate donors about planned gift opportunities. Unfortunately, no single charity—especially smaller institutions—has the resources to inform the general community about the benefits of planned giving.

The La Porte County Leave a Legacy campaign first began in March 2000 to help nonprofit organizations communicate with donors about planned giving.  The goal was to better inform the general community about the enormous impact each and every one of us can have on the nonprofit organizations and causes we care about, even after death.

Unity Foundation encourages all people, regardless of personal wealth, to make gifts from their estates to nonprofit organizations of their choice and, where necessary, to help them find professional advisors to guide them through the gift planning process.

For more information about Leave a Legacy, or to request a speaker to address your group, contact us online at unity@uflc.net or call (219) 879-0327.