The start of a new year is a particularly reflective time for many of us. As we close the book on one year and embark on the next, it’s a time ripe for reflection, contemplation, and setting our intention for the year ahead. (It is no coincidence that intention is our theme for the month of January.)

 

This time of transition has held particular meaning for me over the past few years. Christmas—the winter holiday of my childhood—sets off a domino of bittersweet moments in my life: December 29th marked the third anniversary of my father’s death, quick to follow is January 7th, which was his birthday, then the anniversary of his memorial service, and of my family’s journey to scatter his ashes at the Grand Canyon. (He was an amateur photographer and astronomer, so I know that he appreciates the sweeping vistas and being far from the modern scourge of light pollution!)

 

Over the past three years, this period has grown from a wholly difficult time marked by grief and anger, to a time of reflection, contemplation, and the opportunity for change.

 

After all, as Aristotle is often summarized, “We are what we repeatedly do.”

 

And so, our daily actions form our legacy. Often I think of how my life carries my father’s forward; I consider what activities make up my life and how I work to both honor the past and build my own future.

 

A legacy can be many things, of course. Our children. The collective impact of our life’s work, paid and unpaid. The efforts we support with our time or our resources.

 

As a professional fundraiser, I have the privilege of connecting people with causes they are passionate about. In my work, I’ve met donors who made massive, multi-million dollar gifts, with little impact on their daily lives, and those who have made much smaller, but intensely personal and meaningful gifts, often at great personal sacrifice.

 

When I worked in the planned giving office of a major university, I had the privilege of getting to know many donors who enjoyed comfortable, but often modest lives as school teachers, public servants, or writers, and who were, with careful and intentional planning, able to make transformative gifts through their wills.

 

Gifts made through your will, also called bequests, are a simple and flexible way to support your values and make a lasting impact, without affecting your current financial situation. A kind of “buy-now, pay-later” arrangement in the charitable giving world, donors can make a revocable commitment to a charitable organization in their will, and the funds are given after one’s death. You are able to provide a gift for a cause you care about, while also ensuring that you can use any and all of your assets should you need them in your lifetime.

 

There are three main types of bequests, any of which could be incorporated into your will with the addition of just a few sentences.

 

• A specific bequest names a specific dollar or percentage amount, or a specific piece of property to be given to a charitable organization.

• A residual bequest commits all or part of your residual estate to a charitable organization after all other obligations have been met.

• A contingent bequest makes a gift as a contingency. For example, if you would like for your estate to go to a particular relative, but if that relative is not alive at the time of your death, the funds would go to one or more named charitable organizations.

 

If you have a will, or intend to make one, I encourage you to work with an attorney to include support for WES. I hope that you consider the many ways you can incorporate WES into your legacy and future plans, and if you would like to learn more or have questions, please contact me or Amanda.

 

It is up to us, as members, to secure WES’s future, both for the good of the congregation as a whole, and for WES’s continued work in our community and the world in our absence. And I know that together we can, through our daily actions and our generous commitments.

 

Hannah

WES Member and Member of the Stewardship Committee

 

Sample bequest language:

I give to the Washington Ethical Society, a charitable organization located at 7750 16th St. NW Washington, D.C. 20012, [insert $ amount, percentage of residuary estate, or otherwise name gifted assets], for the [insert name of use or fund designation, such as “endowment fund”, “building fund”, or “general fund”].