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We are always honored when faithful friends make planned gifts to support our mission. Very often, however, we learn of these gifts only when we are notified by personal representatives of estates, trustees of trusts, or officials of banks, insurance companies, or retirement funds.

While these gifts are certainly gratifying and appreciated, we sometimes wonder if donors may have been better able to achieve their philanthropic goals if they had enlisted a team to provide input on these final acts of generosity. Many donors have a general desire to support our work but might not know the best way to do that. Having a team to confer with our office can bring clarity and focus to their planning.

The new year is a perfect time to create or review your estate plan and consider who should be part of your estate-planning team. Such a team would include:

Legal Advisor: Words matter, especially in legal documents. An experienced attorney can help craft estate-planning documents and explain options for beneficiary designations with insurance policies, banks accounts, brokerage accounts, and retirement plans. Provisions must be correctly worded to ensure possible income- or estate-tax benefits.

Financial/Tax Advisors: These are the people who know donors’ assets best. They will work, hand in hand, with legal advisors to choose the right assets to fund a gift for optimum tax—and practical—benefits. Decisions made about funding estate gifts can have estate-tax, income-tax, and capital-gain tax implications.

Family: Donors often vary in how much estate-planning information they want to share with their families. They consult with legal, financial, and tax advisors to get recommendations on what might be appropriate in each situation. Many of our friends tell us intra-family conversations about their charitable goals have, in some cases, inspired family members to join in to expand the scope of their philanthropic vision.

Our Organization: When donors share their estate-plan gift intentions with us, it helps us be a more effective partner in reaching their charitable goals. We may be aware of other plans under consideration—either by other donors or internally—that address needs or embrace opportunities in a manner similar to what they are considering. They may want to join forces with those plans to make them even stronger. We may also know about other opportunities they find compelling and want to redirect their generosity to support.

In any event, knowing about planned gift intentions allows us to be better prepared to use those gifts when they are received and to address other needs for which there may not be resources available. And, most important, it allows us to appropriately thank our donors and recognize them for their faithful support.

We would be pleased to be a part of your team to help plan a legacy gift that extends your support of our mission far into the future. There is no time like the present to start planning. Please feel free to contact our office to let us know how we can help.