Planning a Planned Gift:
Thoughts and Ideas for Donors
If you attended ALA’s Planned Giving Seminar at the 2005 Midwinter Meeting in Boston, you heard a surprising statistic: According to legal publisher Martindale-Hubbell, only 42% of American adults had a will in the year 2004.
Estate planning is important, in part, because without a properly executed will, you may not have a say in what happens to your assets after death. One objective of ALA’s Planned Giving program is to educate ALA members and friends about the importance and the process of estate planning. We also hope that you will consider remembering ALA through your will.
We invite you to contact development@ala.org should you require more detailed information.
Named Legacies:
Creating an ALA Endowment
The Joseph Lippincott Award. The Randolph Caldecott Medal. The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal. What do all of these prestigious awards have in common? They were all created as named ALA endowments. There are many newcomers in this category as well that are having an impact today. The Schneider Family Book Awards, the Haycock Award, and the Betty J. Turock Scholarship are just a few.
Creating an ALA endowment is a wonderful way to reach out and make an impact on future generations of librarians, library workers and library users. Years from now, the membership of the American Library Association – and the people they serve – will benefit from your foresight and generosity. They will see your name on your endowment, meet your scholar or read about your award winner, and know that you made an important contribution to the profession. They’ll also know that you cared enough about the future of libraries and librarianship to support ALA’s ongoing mission.
There are many ways to create an ALA endowment, and many examples of the powerful impact they can have over time. You can create an endowment in your own name. Or you can memorialize a loved one or someone else who has strongly impacted your life.
An endowment can be established with ALA now - you can use cash or securities to create a restricted fund right away. Or, you can arrange for an endowment to be established through your estate plans.
Some of our donors do a combination of both.They establish an endowment now so they can watch it grow and enjoy the satisfaction of seeing their fund benefit others. They may add to it periodically and possibly encourage family members and friends to get involved. Then, through their wills, they make provision for a final and often larger contribution.
One reason for establishing an endowment now is to have in place a means whereby friends and loved ones can tangibly express their thoughts during birthdays, holidays, special events, or bereavement. Being able to give to something established that represents your ongoing influence can mean a lot to them. No matter how you choose to make your gift, you accomplish several things when you establish an endowment: You express confidence in the future of ALA; you create a lasting legacy; you encourage present and future leadership; and you make a difference.
To find out more about creating your own endowment fund, please send an email to development@ala.org or call (312) 280-3259. Our staff will be happy to discuss your charitable giving objectives with you, and will always be respectful of your confidences.
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