Shorewood Foundation President’s Club – Questions and Answers
Q. What is the Shorewood Foundation?
A. The Shorewood Foundation, begun in 1964, is a 501(c)(3) entity that receives tax deductible gifts from residents and friends of Shorewood, Wisconsin. In turn, the Shorewood Foundation Board – following a review and approval process – awards grants based on applications from village volunteer groups. In this way, Shorewood residents can help enrich Shorewood’s quality of life with a tax deductible gift.
Q. What is the President’s Club?
A. The Shorewood Foundation’s President’s Club provides an opportunity to provide for the future of Shorewood through estate plans. By pledging to support the Shorewood Foundation with a bequest, you can honor your interest and commitment to the village and provide for amenities that government funding cannot.
Q. Why is the Shorewood Foundation inviting Shorewood residents to include a planned gift to the Shorewood Foundation at this time?
A. The Foundation typically relies on unrestricted gifts from Shorewood residents through the Annual Appeal and from the Celebrate Shorewood dinner. The quality of life in Shorewood is enhanced by the many voluntary efforts that the Foundation supports. Your planned gifts will allow the Foundation to fund special future projects that annual fundraising alone cannot.
Q. What is a planned gift or a bequest?
A. A planned gift is a promised gift made from the donor’s assets – rather than from current income. The distribution of assets, at the time of death, typically provides for loved ones and the community and special organizations.
Q. How will this help further the grant making work that the Shorewood Foundation does?
A. Special gifts – in the future – provide an opportunity for our community to have bigger dreams. Perhaps it is landscaping a park, or adding a special collection for the library or buying new equipment for a youth soccer team. The Foundation board’s use of these funds will be strategic, and the special donor who has made the gift will be honored.
Q. How will the money be managed once the gift is made?
A. The funds will be held, as with our annual funds, in an interest-bearing checking account, accruing interest until the Foundation makes the grant. It is the Foundation’s desire to spend these special gifts over no more than five years.
Q. How will donors be recognized?
A. All planned gifts will be acknowledged in writing at the time the commitment is made. Annually, planned giving donors will be listed, in a special way, in Foundation reports and activities that recognize annual donors.
Q. May I select a grant making area of interest for my gift?
A. Typically, the Foundation has made grants in the following areas: youth, culture, parks, and community celebrations. Although the particular nature of any area may vary, the major themes continue. If one of these areas is especially important to you, please indicate so on your pledge card, which you can create from the document file on this page..
Q. How do I let my attorney know that I want to include the Shorewood Foundation in my estate plans?
A. Let your attorney know what you are planning to do for the Shorewood Foundation. Your attorney should then change your existing will to indicate your intention and ask you to sign the completed document.
(For more information on planned giving to the Shorewood Foundation, please click on the Planned Giving Summary document on this page.)
