Charitable and philanthropic groups play a vital role in our communities throughout Iowa by funding countless worthwhile causes including giving seniors a hot meal, linking mentors and role models with children in need, providing a strong cultural environment, and sustaining quality education. Our charitable organizations and institutions provide crucial services throughout Iowa.

Americans know that charities depend on public donations to operate programs and deliver services. Each year, millions of dollars are donated to various charities and causes. In fact, The Non-Profit Times estimates that over 70% of all households nationwide contribute to a charity each year.

While your annual sustaining contributions to worthy causes are extremely important, the fact is that the need for your support will be no less the day you die. That is why you are being asked to consider how you can sustain your current support beyond your lifetime by arranging a gift through your estate.

Your decision to provide financial support through your estate to one or more nonprofit organizations can dramatically affect the lives of people in our state. In addition to potential current tax benefits, the knowledge of your continuing impact on the organizations closest to you can create a great sense of personal satisfaction.

Annual Giving Endowment Chart
The chart below is a helpful reference to illustrate how much money it would take in a permanent 5% interest bearing endowment account to perpetuate your current annual support in perpetuity.

While over 70% of all households nationwide contribute to a charity each year, this extraordinary generosity is not being expressed in terms of estate giving. Only 5.71% of households surveyed plan to leave a gift in their estate to a charitable organization.

It has been suggested for the past 5–10 years by numerous sources that anywhere from 40 to 150 trillion dollars of net worth will be transferred to the baby boomer generation by the year 2040. This has most commonly been referred to as the Great Wealth Transfer. This huge number is multiple times the gross national product and the total of private savings in the United States. Imagine what the impact to charitable organizations would be if 10% of Americans left a charitable gift through their estate plans.

The nonprofit community is well aware of the window of opportunity that lies ahead with the projected wealth transfer and the fact that time is running out. As charities struggle with the continuing loss of public dollars and government cutbacks, it is imperative that we develop a way to reach the general public (local, state and national) with the message that, “there has never been a better time to give back to the community a portion of that accumulated wealth.”

Faced with the reality that it is very difficult for any one non-profit organization to single-handedly reach the public at large, a need for a collaborative effort has emerged. That is why LEAVE A LEGACY™ was developed as a multi-year national public relations and education campaign.

The mission of LEAVE A LEGACY™ Iowa is to preserve and improve our quality of life sustained by the people, programs and services of charitable nonprofit organizations and institutions.

The goal of LEAVE A LEGACY™ Iowa is to increase the number and amount of charitable estate gifts that benefit nonprofit organizations in Iowa and bordering communities.

Thank you for considering an estate gift pledge to those organizations you have supported during your lifetime. The need for your support will still exist when you are gone.