New Zealanders are a generous people, and giving to the causes we care about is something that comes naturally to most of us. New research tells us that the majority of New Zealanders are interested in more structured forms of giving, including the idea of leaving a gift in their will to a cause close to their heart.
The research also tells us something else reassuring: leaving a gift in your will doesn’t mean choosing between your family and the causes you care about. Interestingly for many people, while they are open to the idea of leaving a gift in their will, what is missing is simply the conversation itself. Most of us are never asked the question, by family, by a lawyer, or by a financial advisor, whether we might like to leave something behind for our community, or a charity we care deeply about.
The idea of leaving a gift in your will to benefit your local community is one that has been growing steadily around the world since the very first Community Foundation was established in Cleveland, USA, in 1914. A lawyer and banker named Frederick Goff saw the need for a community-based structure that local people could give to – one that could respond to local issues and remain relevant for many years to come. The Cleveland Foundation was born, and since then many similar foundations have sprung up across the world, including a growing network of 18 Community Foundations here in New Zealand.
One of the very first personal funds under a Community Foundation was established in Tauranga through Acorn Foundation, on the instructions of Edna Brown’s lawyers in 2003. Edna left a gift in her will, asking that it be put to work supporting local healthcare causes. Acorn Foundation invested that gift, and it has continued to give, and to grow, every year since. Invested for the long term, Edna’s fund keeps earning income year after year -income that has, over the decades since, supported cause after cause dedicated to medical research, treatment, and quality of life in her local community.
What we see through our work is that people appreciate guidance so they can structure their giving and give well into their local community. With more people wanting this kind of advice, the network of 18 Community Foundations, all of them not-for-profits themselves, have helped many hundreds of Kiwis turn a gift in their will into something invested for their community’s benefit, for good.
For those of us that work in Community Foundations we enjoy seeing the fulfillment that giving well into a community can bring, as local people shape the legacy they want to leave behind for the community that shaped their lives.
To find out more about Community Foundations, go to www.communityfoundations.org.nz or write to PO Box 24-220, Manners Street, Wellington 6142 for a free Will Information Pack.