LEAVE A LEGACY^® CONNECTICUT

Nonprofit Board Resolution

Please have your board of directors review and endorse the LEAVE A LEGACY CONNECTICUT Board Resolution:

Resolution to endorse LEAVE A LEGACY CONNECTICUT, a statewide public awareness effort to promote charitable giving through wills and estate plans. We encourage people from all walks of life to consider leaving a bequest to their favorite charities, and we provide them with information to facilitate the process.

WHEREAS, Americans are an extraordinarily generous group of people with more than 72 percent of households making charitable contributions annually; and

WHEREAS, Connecticut residents rank first in per capita income, yet only 13 percent of Connecticut estates included a charitable bequest, compared to the U.S. average of 17 percent; and

WHEREAS, 3.7 percent of the assets of all estates settle in Connecticut were distributed in charitable bequests in 2001 compared to the U.S. average of 7.7 percent; and

WHEREAS, it is estimated that over $10.4 trillion of the net worth in this country will be transferred over the next 15-20 years from one generation to the next, the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history; and

WHEREAS, the National Committee on Planned Giving (NPGC) believes that so few dollars are contributed through bequests because most people have not been asked to consider bequest giving and are unaware of the options and benefits available to them; and

WHEREAS, giving through bequests gives each of us the capacity to foster and perpetuate the values and ideals most important to us and our families and is a tangible tool to leaving a legacy, being remembered and ensuring that we have each made the world a better place; and

WHEREAS, more than 730 nonprofits are engaged in a statewide collaborative effort with allied professionals and community leaders called LEAVE A LEGACY CONNECTICUT which aim is to encourage estate gifts that will enable the entire nonprofit sector to continue to serve local communities and sustain the quality of life that makes our communities appealing places to live, work and raise families; now

THEREFORE, endorses the LEAVE A LEGACY CONNECTICUT program and will participate in efforts to educate and promote the idea of giving through bequests and estate plans. It is our goal that increased awareness of and interest in charitable planning opportunities will result, as well as establishing a social norm for charitable estate planning.

Sources: American Association of Fundraising Counsel; IRS Statistics of Income Division, Connecticut Council for Philanthropy