A Guide to Estate Planning in the New Year
Written by David Salmo, Director of Donor Engagement
Email David at dsalmo@waukeshafoundation.org
The beginning of the New Year is a perfect time to plan for the future. Ensuring your estate is in good order is a wonderful way to make sure you and your family have peace of mind. Working with the Waukesha County Community Foundation is a way to ensure a lasting impact and support the nonprofits that matter most to you.
The Foundation offers a variety of ways to support your philanthropy. One of the simplest ways to ensure your favorite nonprofits are supported through your estate is to set up a Donor Designated Fund with us. You can designate annual donations to any valid nonprofit, religious organization, or government entity. A Donor Designated Fund ensures sustainable and perpetual support for the nonprofit.
If you want your family to continue participating in ensuring your donations impact nonprofits, you can set up a Donor Advised Fund. This is a wonderful way to make sure your family continues to support the communities that you love and give the next generation an opportunity to make a difference in the future. Another way for your family to be involved is by establishing a Scholarship Fund to support students who share the same past times that you enjoyed throughout your life be those sports, professional interests or extracurricular.
Serving a broader interest of yours can be accomplished with a Field of Interest Fund, a fantastic way to have your legacy impact on an area of our community that is close to your heart. Through the Field of Interest Fund, the Foundation will evaluate organizations that do the best work in that area and make grants to that organization that best fits your interest through our Community Grants process.
In each example, a fund can be set up in your lifetime or be incorporated into your estate planning documents. If estate planning is on your mind as we start 2024, please reach out to us. Our team stands ready to partner with you—and your professional advisors—to establish an estate plan that remembers your community, your neighbors, and your causes for a time when you are no longer here.
I look forward to hearing from you and Happy New Year!
