According to the 2023 Giving USA Report released in June 2024, charitable bequests, totaling nearly $43 billion, are up 4.8% over the previous year, keeping pace with inflation. This extraordinary generosity signals the possibility of tremendous impact in communities across the country, including ours.
We are grateful to so many of you who have chosen to leave an estate gift to The Community Foundation of Frederick County. Whether your will or trust includes a bequest to create or add to a fund at the Community Foundation, or whether you’ve named the Community Foundation as the beneficiary of your IRA, your gift will help improve the quality of life for people in our region for years to come.
At the Community Foundation, we’re honored to work with donors who are not only interested in leaving a legacy but also want to maximize giving during their lifetimes. Indeed, many donors are interested in establishing funds at the Community Foundation for a variety of reasons:
- They want to experience the joy of seeing the results of their gifts.
- Parallel to providing financial support through their Community Foundation funds, many donors enjoy the opportunity to get involved, whether as volunteers, trustees, or at site visits to nonprofits they support.
- They want to involve their children and grandchildren in supporting favorite nonprofits, especially by working with the Community Foundation to participating in making suggestions on how the family’s funds are distributed.
- They like the added perk that they may be eligible for an income tax deduction for lifetime charitable gifts and that the gifted assets are no longer subject to potential future estate taxes.
We would be honored to work with you as you incorporate lifetime giving into your charitable giving plan which already includes a generous and much-appreciated estate gift to the Community Foundation. Please reach out to our Philanthropic Services team at 301.695.7660 or via email at Giving@FrederickCountyGives.org. Thank you for being part of the Community Foundation!