Author Gore Vidal's Harvard Bequest Fuels Legal Battle - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Author Gore Vidal's Harvard Bequest Fuels Legal Battle - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: Relatives of the late Gore Vidal are on opposite sides of a looming court fight over the iconoclastic author’s bequest of a reported $37-million fortune to Harvard University, according to The New York Times.

Aussies: generous in life, not so in death - ABC Adelaide - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Aussies: generous in life, not so in death - ABC Adelaide - Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A recent study has revealed Australians match western counterparts when it comes to charitable giving in the course of life with 70 per cent giving regularly but lag behind dramatically when it comes to leaving bequests to charity.

Times change wills, yet many Americans don't have one – USATODAY.com

Times change wills, yet many Americans don't have one – USATODAY.com: Almost three-quarters (71%) of adults under the age of 34 do not have a will, says a new survey by the online legal service Rocket Lawyer. And even 41% of aging Baby Boomers do not have one.

Test Your Knowledge of Nonprofits - WSJ.com

Test Your Knowledge of Nonprofits - WSJ.com: And Americans certainly are generous. In 2010, they gave $290.89 billion, according to the Giving USA Foundation—and that's from all sources, including individuals, corporations, foundations and bequests.

But how much do you really know about the nonprofit world—about the finances, the institutions and the people who dominate it? Take our quiz and find out.

Five ‘must dos’ of bequest fundraising | SOFII

Five ‘must dos’ of bequest fundraising | SOFII: There are many ways you could approach the development of a bequest programme. Staff on the road making face-to-face asks, direct mail programmes, phone programmes, press advertisements, online programmes, or a combination of all of these. There are some highly successful programmes out there and no one magic formula. But there are some things you can do to really maximise your chances of success.

Having had the opportunity to analyse and work on a broad range of bequest programmes, I’ve come across some essential ‘must dos’ that underpin each successful one.

Homegrown philanthropy works wonders

Homegrown philanthropy works wonders: Thanks, and thanks again — and again.

Homegrown philanthropy can work wonders for a community, and we have one of the best examples of that right here in Racine County in the Village of Mount Pleasant.

Last week, the village announced that it had received a $336,000 bequest from the estate of Emil Ebe, a longtime village resident who died in April.

It was not the first gift from Ebe — and it will not be his last.

Men v. Women: Who are the Best Planned Giving Prospects? | Michael Rosen Says…

Men v. Women: Who are the Best Planned Giving Prospects? | Michael Rosen Says…: "Generally speaking, men and women are just as likely to make a bequest commitment, according to Russell N. James, III, PhD of Texas Tech. However, women are more likely to make a bequest commitment to environmental, health, human service, and religious organizations, according to Giving USA. Men are more likely to leave a bequest to education or public/society benefit organizations. Both women and men are equally likely to leave a bequest to arts and international affairs groups."

Virginia Tech gets three donations totaling $45 million | Richmond Times-Dispatch

Virginia Tech gets three donations totaling $45 million | Richmond Times-Dispatch: "Virginia Tech has received three donations totaling $45 million, including the largest gift in the university's history and a $17 million bequest from a Richmond alumnus.

The gifts, announced Thursday by Tech President Charles W. Steger, all will benefit the College of Engineering.

The largest gift is a $25 million commitment from an anonymous donor to be used for the Signature Engineering Building project."

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | New Estate Tax Law Could Hurt Charity

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | New Estate Tax Law Could Hurt Charity: "December 28, 2011; Source:Forbes | A tax lawyer writing for Forbes suggests that the new tax bill's reinstatement of the estate tax isn't going to be much of an incentive for lifetime charitable giving or charitable bequests. Had the Bush tax cuts expired, the estate tax would have been reinstated with an exemption of $1 million per person and a tax rate of 55 percent. The compromise tax bill set the exemption from the federal estate tax at $5 million per person and the estate tax rate at 35 percent."

Make 2010 the Year YOU Start Planned Giving, Part VI

From Guidestar
Make 2010 the Year YOU Start Planned Giving, Part VI: "Make 2010 the Year YOU Start Planned Giving, Part VI

December 2010

A final 'Hello!'

This is the last installment of my 2010 article series to get your planned giving program started this year. We started your program with charitable bequests because they are the simplest—and by far the most popular—planned gift. There's more detail on why to start with bequests in this article from 2009.

The year's previous articles can be found in navigation links to the right.

In this final episode, we look at other planned gifts you can promote with relative ease because they do not require in-house expertise."

CharityVillage� Research: Surveying the legacy landscape: Why we’re doing it and why we need you

CharityVillage� Research: Surveying the legacy landscape: Why we’re doing it and why we need you: "Surveying the legacy landscape: Why we’re doing it and why we need you
By Natasha van Bentum, CFRE
November 1, 2010


What do senior fundraisers in Madrid, Winnipeg, Wyoming, Geneva, Singapore, Manchester, Calgary, Dublin and Hamburg have in common?

Fundraisers, gift planners, and bequest specialists all want to know more about legacy fundraising. And the interesting thing is, the more successful their organizations are at attracting bequests, the more they want to know.

But why? The answer is straightforward and simple: there is a relative lack of information in this area, data from the perspective of day-to-day, frontline practitioners that can be put to work here and now."

Paulette's Point of View

From Paulette's Point of View Blog

Paulette's Point of View: "So Bill and Melinda Gates, along with Warren Buffett, are going to challenge America’s billionaires to contribute half of their net worth to charity, either in their lifetimes or in a bequest."

Solicitations That Challenge | eJewish Philanthropy: The Jewish Philanthropy Blog

Solicitations That Challenge | eJewish Philanthropy: The Jewish Philanthropy Blog: "am often asked how do non-profit organizations set up endowment funds and solicit donors for bequests. Although the two are not necessarily related frequently donors connect setting up an endowment with their passing on. Often endowment funds are set up when organizations or donors want to arrange to use the earned interest and not the principal of a contribution. Committed donors bequeath funds to organizations and sometimes stipulate the funds should be invested and the interest should be used either for the annual budget or for a specific program in the agency. When the donors make a request for the funds to be invested and for the interest to be used by the non-profit then the agency has to set up a vehicle to handle the funds; this is the endowment fund."

New East Bay program to help Jewish nonprofits | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California

New East Bay program to help Jewish nonprofits | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California: "The Jewish Community Foundation of the East Bay is partnering with local Jewish nonprofits to teach them how to create a charitable bequest initiative — which will help them start, grow and sustain their endowments."

Astor Verdict Leaves Fate of Charity Bequests Unresolved - Philanthropy.com

Astor Verdict Leaves Fate of Charity Bequests Unresolved - Philanthropy.com: "Astor Verdict Leaves Fate of Charity Bequests Unresolved

The fate of the late Brooke Astor’s $180-million estate, and of charitable bequests in the tens of millions of dollars, remains cloudy following Thursday’s conviction of her son on fraud charges, The New York Times reports."

The NonProfit Times - Judge Rejects Donor's Intent, Rules For Tulane

The NonProfit Times - The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management: "Judge Rejects Donor's Intent, Rules For Tulane

By Mark Hrywna

A New Orleans judge has ruled in favor of Tulane University in a donor intent dispute over a century-old bequest.

Civil District Court Judge Rosemary Ledet on Monday granted the university’s motion for summary judgment while denying the plaintiffs’ motion. She ruled that language in the will of Josephine Newcomb contained “no enforceable conditional obligation to support” claims by plaintiffs, The Future of Newcomb College (TFNC). Language in the will “clearly gives the university full and complete control over how her donation will be used,” according to a statement from Tulane University."

Virginia Military Institute

Virginia Military Institute: "LEXINGTON, Va., July 23, 2009 – In late June, the VMI Foundation learned that a bequest made to it by the late Robert B. Rust Jr. ’34 will result in a gift of more than $14 million for VMI.

“This magnificent gift is the largest bequest realized by the VMI Foundation,” said Brian S. Crockett, chief executive officer of the VMI Foundation. “Moreover, it places Mr. Rust in the company of some of the Institute’s most generous donors.”"

Leave A Legacy campaign looks to future 07/23/09

Leave A Legacy campaign looks to future 07/23/09: "Southeast Michigan residents are a generous lot in life, but somewhat stingy in death.

Although 81.5 percent of the U.S. population gives annually to nonprofits, only 2.8 percent leave a bequest at death, statistics that Leave A Legacy Southeast Michigan would like to change with a campaign encouraging people to name nonprofit organizations in their wills."

More Big Donations Were Bequests in 2008 - Chronicle.com

More Big Donations Were Bequests in 2008 - Chronicle.com: "More than half of the donations from America’s top 10 philanthropists last year came in the form of bequests, The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Philanthropy 50 survey has determined."

Bequests, Celebrities, Foundations, and the Economy: a Conference Notebook From National Research Meeting - Philanthropy.com

Bequests, Celebrities, Foundations, and the Economy: a Conference Notebook From National Research Meeting - Philanthropy.com: "Bequests, Celebrities, Foundations, and the Economy: a Conference Notebook From National Research Meeting

By Debra E. Blum

Philadelphia

Too many nonprofit scholars are boosters — ignoring the serious problems that mar the nonprofit world, and the organizations that are involved in activities that harm society, says a prominent philanthropy researcher.

David Horton Smith, founder of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, took the opportunity of the group’s annual meeting here this week to chastise its members for ignoring what he called “the dark side of the nonprofit sector.”"