No gift is too small. The power of endowment.

When having a discussion with clients about their philanthropic goals, many might think their assets are too small, or that they cannot offer an estate gift that will make any meaningful difference. For potential donors, an inability to truly understand just how impactful their gifts can be, no matter the size, can cause them to miss out on all the benefits leaving a legacy offers for the community they love and themselves. Kalamazoo Community Foundation (KZCF) understands that for our professional advisors, encouraging your clients to clear this hurdle is one of the most common challenges you may face. 

KZCF eagerly accepts several planned giving options and non-cash gifts, including bequests (wills and trusts), retirement beneficiary designations, life insurance gifts, income-generating charitable gift annuities, IRA-qualified charitable distributions (QCDs), and more! Whether your client is able to make a gift of $1,000 or $1 million, any gift given to an endowment here at KZCF will provide permanent support to this community we love. 

When inspiring donors to see their gifts this way and partner with us to nurture them, it may be helpful to highlight the following: 

• A $10,000 gift made to an endowment will, in its first 100 years, provide  $109,426 in grants to our community and grow its principal to $48,907.*  

• A $50,000 gift made to an endowment will, in its first 100 years, provide  $547,129 to our community and grow its principal to $244,535.* 

• A $1 million gift made to an endowment will, in its first 100 years, provide $10.94 million in grants to our community and grow its principal to $4.89 million.* 

As you can see, no matter the size of your client’s gift, the impact will be significant over time!  

When you’re ready to have a conversation with your clients about how their gifts today can leave a lasting legacy for residents across Kalamazoo County, we encourage you to keep these points in mind. Additionally, for any clients who may appreciate seeing exactly how far their gifts can go, we invite you to use the endowment calculator linked here!  

*Endowment calculation based on a 7% annual growth (net of fees) and a 4.5% total spendable. Actual net investment growth for KZCF the last five years is 7.9%.