When Deborah and I have died, we won’t be leaving a big estate. We don’t have much. We have decided, however, that what is left will go to our favourite charities. Pillar is one of them.
Some people are motivated to leave some, or all, of their estate to charities in order to reduce their taxes after death. That’s not a bad thing and it can make a big difference on the tax bill. We are more motivated by knowing that estate gifts can make such a difference to charities and those they serve. As the executive director of a charity, it is really exciting to me when I see an envelope from a law firm that has come in the mail. It is likely to be a notification that our charity has been named in a will. These gifts have made an enormous impact on our charity’s ability to do its work. Just last month, we received one of those envelopes. I called the executor and learned this great story about the donor and why he will be leaving $150,000 to our organization (with similar gifts to 8 other health charities). This amount of money will go a long way in our charity as it would in most charities.
Pillar is one of our preferred charities not just because I had the privilege of serving on the board when it began almost 25 years ago. It’s for two other reasons. Pillar was started so that it would be a catalyst to bring together the three pillars of our community – public, private and nonprofit – to tackle the really big problems faced by our community while also raising the visibility, credibility and capacity of the nonprofit and charitable sector to be a critical partner in doing this good. Deborah and I believe Pillar has fulfilled and continues to fulfil this vital mission. The ripple effect has positively impacted probably thousands of lives in our community. We want to be part of this legacy. The second reason we will leave some of our estate to Pillar is because this is not a sexy cause. While most charities have tight budgets and can benefit from being named in a will, some charities are more likely to attract donors than others. This is good for them. It is a little harder to make an organization like Pillar look obviously like a good place to invest.
Most of us want to live long and make a difference. At the end of our lives, we hope we have made the lives of those around us better and maybe even made the world a little better. There is a sense in which leaving an estate gift extends our life and allows us to continue to do good after we are dead.
Deborah and I are hoping Pillar does not receive our gift for quite some time. When it does arrive, however, we hope every person in the London area believes there can be no community without a vital nonprofit sector. We also hope by that time that the challenges of homelessness, poverty, addiction and other big social issues have been addressed because the three pillars have worked on these together. Being part of that legacy with Pillar would feel good.