Quote from Oliver
Excerpt from JCYC Up Close Fall 2015
In talking with JCYC board member Oliver Dunlap, his passion for the nonprofit is evident. Upon learning about JCYC’s comprehensive work enriching and empowering San Francisco’s youth, Dunlap, an attorney at King and Spalding LLP, found that the nonprofit’s values aligned with his own. He has since spent several years working to create planned giving opportunities to benefit JCYC, even naming the organization as a beneficiary of his life insurance policy.
Dunlap has “led by example” in designating a legacy gift to JCYC, its Executive Director Jon Osaki said. Financial or estate planning can enable a donor to make a “maximum impact” with a legacy or “planned” gift made either during their lifetime or after they have passed on. Legacy gifts are “mutually beneficial.” They make a “big difference” for an organization the donor cares about, with a minimal impact on the donor’s budget, including those living on a fixed budget Dunlap said.
Planned gifts express the donor’s values, and allows them to “create a legacy,” Dunlap said. Legacy gifts are a good fit for established organizations that are in a position to wait, Legacy Giving Dunlap added.
Setting up planned gifts, both for the nonprofit and the donor, is relatively simple, which Dunlap and his fellow board members were pleased to learn. For a donor, making a planned gift can be as simple as logging on to their employer’s human resources’ online system, looking at their life insurance policy and changing its designations, Dunlap explained. JCYC’s current board members have been updating their life insurance policies to add the nonprofit as a beneficiary, just as Dunlap has done, he said. And if a donor’s financial situation changes in the future, they can always change their mind about naming an organization as a beneficiary, Dunlap said.
Changing one’s will to add a nonprofit as a beneficiary is another option for legacy giving, though it is slightly more involved, Dunlap said. As for other options, a couple of donors have left JCYC property in their will, Dunlap said. This is an opportunity for those with a “sizable estate” to minimize their tax impact, he explained. Dunlap acknowledges that some cultural sensitivity is involved, as legacy giving is a difficult subject for some families to discuss. However, he advocates for normalizing the conversation.
As for those who haven’t considered making a planned gift — and possibly naming the JCYC as a beneficiary — Dunlap just wants them to know that the option is available. It’s about letting people with a demonstrated desire to support the agency know about other opportunities to do so, and be recognized, he said. Simply put, it’s about giving to the JCYC because one believes in its mission.
For more information about supporting JCYC through a planned gift, call (415) 202-7900 or email Executive Director Jon Osaki at josaki@jcyc.org.To download a complete version of JCYC Up Close Fall 2015, click here.