Planned Giving Made Simple
ACRES protects local land for the benefit of all – today and forever. Planned giving helps ensure that the places you cared about and worked for in your lifetime are preserved long after you are gone. In this article, Jeri Kornegay and Lyn Winchell share their reasons for including ACRES in their estate plans.
“We trust and believe in the ACRES forever promise.”
Jeri Kornegay
Jeri Kornegay and Lyn Winchell learned about ACRES decades ago when Kornegay’s former Manchester University colleague, Bob Frantz, gave her walnuts from his trees. Frantz spoke fondly of ACRES and his intentions to protect his beloved land, now Wildwood, through the land trust, inspiring Kornegay and Winchell to join as members in February 2008.
Their reason for getting and staying involved is a sentiment often expressed by ACRES members. “We are reminded constantly of the frailty of healthy, native space,” Kornegay said. “We’re hikers and kayakers and walkers. We favor solace for those activities, when we can spot a blue heron nest or startle a doe or marvel at the plethora of pawpaws in the very first ACRES preserve, in Noble County.”
Since joining, Kornegay and Winchell have supported ACRES in a variety of ways. In addition to exploring preserves on their own, they’ve joined in on multiple outings, events, book discussions and more. “At every event, we make new friends and discover old friends who we did not realize share our ACRES passion,” Kornegay said. They helped plant trees at Blue Cast Springs and have attended dedications of new preserves. ACRES wish list is part of their regular big-box store shopping, and they continue to volunteer in many ways, including Kornegay serving on ACRES advancement committee and Winchell researching ACRES history.
Their commitment to protecting local land now extends beyond their own lifetimes. ACRES is part of their estate plans. “It was a natural progression for us to embark on planned giving to ACRES,” Kornegay said.
“We have no children. Assigning one of our pensions to ACRES upon death was simple; it took but a few minutes. We then filled out an ACRES form so they know where the funds await. Easy peasy.”
WAYS TO GIVE
Planned giving, or “legacy giving”, is the process of making a notable donation during your lifetime or at death that is part of your financial and/or estate plan. This type of gift requires a bit more effort than writing a check or swiping your debit card but can still be a fairly simple process.
COMMON TYPES OF PLANNED GIFTS INCLUDE:
• Bequest: donating assets such as cash, real estate or proceeds from the sale of assets through a will
• Life Insurance: you can name ACRES as the beneficiary of a permanent policy
• Retirement assets like an IRA: a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) can help satisfy your required minimum distribution for the year if certain rules are met
• Stocks and Securities: transfer ownership of shares of stock either during your lifetime or through your will
UNIQUE GIFTS
Some donors get creative with planned giving to ACRES. A few donations from more recent years include:
• A donor with no surviving family members donated his small city lot and house to ACRES with the intention that ACRES sells them, using the proceeds to protect and care for other land.
• A longtime ACRES member donated valuable artwork, directing the group to use it as decor in the ACRES office, auction it off at a benefit event or sell it to a private buyer, using the proceeds to further its mission.
• Two brothers who jointly owned Bitcoin donated it to ACRES. At the time of the donation, it was valued at around $15,000. When sold, the proceeds exceeded $57,000.
ACORN SOCIETY: What will your legacy be?
By making your plans known to ACRES, you will become a named or anonymous member of the Acorn Society. Unless you specify otherwise, we will not publish your name or give your information to anyone without asking your permission.
If you want to include ACRES in your plans, please contact us so we can help guide you in making a gift that suits your own needs while having maximum impact on our mission of protecting local land. Sharing your plans also ensures we properly recognize your donation and manage your gift in accordance with your wishes.
The above information is not intended as legal or tax advice. Please contact your professional advisor prior to making any planned gift. To learn more about planned giving, contact ACRES Advancement Director Heather Barth at 260-637-2273 ext. 105 or [email protected].
