Endowment Fund Challenge Grant Donors

Consider a Gift that will leave a Legacy of Caring
We never know what tomorrow may bring, so there is no better time than now, to evaluate your long-range financial and estate plans. Thoughtful planning today can help ensure future economic security for you and loved ones as you also make special gifts in support of charitable interests.

Consider a gift to the United Way of Summit County Endowment Fund. The United Way is a vital community resource that saves and changes lives. Just as we make provisions for the safety and security of our own families, so must the family of the United Way of Summit County make plans for the continuity of our Mission: To improve lives by mobilizing community assets for health and human services; and our Vision: that Our community will be a great place for all to live, work and raise a family.

Through a distinguished nearly-90 year history, United Way has an unparalleled reputation for addressing changing community dynamics and needs. The mix of community problems United Way addressed in 1920 is very different than those of this new millennium. Through the flexibility of informed and involved volunteer decision making, the United Way offers hope and comfort to a community that faces a new century of certain change and uncertain future.

Why Give to The Endowment Fund?
The Endowment Fund will enable the United Way of Summit County to enter this next century financially strong. It also provides an added venue to meet your needs, enabling you to perpetuate a lasting gift to the Summit community. The fund will serve as an enduring resource to meet vital community needs: supporting critical services, ensuring a secure infrastructure for our not-for-profit human service system, and addressing urgent problems now, and those we cannot even imagine today.

What are the Benefits of The Endowment Fund?
Benefit One:
The Endowment Fund enhances your ability to give and make a difference.  Many donors would like to support the United Way by giving assets rather than making gifts from income. A growing number of United Way donors now face significant tax, financial and estate planning problems that could be reduced or eliminated through a charitable gift plan. Consult with a professional advisor for the plan that suits you best.

Benefit Two:
The Endowment Fund allows the United Way of Summit County to increase funding for our local health and human services.  The future needs of our community remain unknown. The future costs of these needs remain unknown. The population continues to rise, while the state and federal budget revenues continue to decline. The United Way must continue to pursue additional resource revenue to close this gap.

Benefit Three:
The Endowment Fund provides for additional resources for community emergencies. Community emergencies are unforeseen, and unpredictable. The emergencies may be linked to a national tragedy or crises. Whatever the scenario may be, the result is the same: a community in need, addressed with resources.

Where Do I Start?
If a Legacy of Caring is of interest to you, take the next step:

Think about why you’d like to leave a gift. Maybe you or someone you know has been helped by a United Way partner agency. Maybe you’re an active volunteer or believer in our mission. You might want to leave a gift in memory of a loved one or for a specific purpose.

Contact your professional advisor for help, or our Planned Giving staff. Together they can make sure you are getting the maximum tax and legal advantages allowed for your gift. If you do not have an advisor and need a referral, please call Charlene Corlett at 330.643.5537.

Your Gift is a Lasting Legacy
United Way and our local non-profit partner agencies extend help to so many people in Summit County and Wadsworth; from providing care for the elderly and disabled to teaching children how to be safe in the water. Help also comes in the form of emergency assistance, job training, health education and so much more.

These non-profits rely on financial assistance from people like you to continue their much-needed services that strengthen the fabric of our community.

When you perpetuate your gift through the United Way of Summit County Endowment Fund, you contribute to the quality of life for all of us and you ensure that help continues to be there for those who need it.

• You’ll discover ways to give more than you ever thought possible.
• You may be able to make gifts that actually "give back" for a time, providing extra retirement income or helping to pay for your children’s education.
• You can add special meaning to your gift by arranging a memorial in honor of a special friend or loved one.
• You’ll save money on income, gift, and estate taxes that can instead be put to use in our community in ways you choose.
• You’ll enjoy your giving more, knowing that you’re helping your neighbors, in ways that make it possible for you to give the most you can at the lowest possible cost.

Gifts from existing plans
You may wish to provide for an endowment gift in one or more of the following ways:

• Through a provision in a will or living trust. There is currently no limit to the amount that can be given in this way free of federal estate and gift taxes.
• As beneficiary of all or a portion of the remainder of retirement plan accounts upon the death of all beneficiaries. This can help maximize tax savings.
• To share in the proceeds of life insurance policies that are no longer needed for their original purpose.

Gifts from special plans
Endowments and other gift planning can enable you to make gifts today while retaining income for yourself and/or your loved ones. Through such plans, you may also benefit from professional asset management and tax savings.

For more information on making a gift to the United Way of Summit County, contact Charlene Corlett, Vice President of Major Gifts at 330.643.5537 or email ccorlett@uwsummit.org