Legacy Program Launches Locally

When more than forty local nonprofit organizations serving Oak Park and
River Forest get together to form a new consortium, they create a 
unique opportunity to share a message. Through Leave a Legacy™, 
an information and education program of the National Council on 
Planned Giving,  The Oak Park-River Forest Centennial Legacy Project
encourages citizens to establish a charitable bequest or other planned 
gift to organizations serving Oak Park and River Forest.

Familiar organizations are partners in this Project: Family Services of 
Oak Park and River Forest, Fenwick High School,  League of Women Voters, 
the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation, and the Historical Society 
of Oak Park and River Forest, just to name a few. The Community Chest,
Concordia University,  Dominican University, Oak Park and River Forest 
High School, the Oak Park YMCA, Oak Park Township and many more
make up the roster of active partners. 

Our Project is a three year campaign to explain the whys and ways of 
giving a planned gift to a nonprofit organization.We began with a display in 
the River Forest Memorial Day parade.  June is National Leave-a-Legacy™ 
Month.

Volunteers from member non-profits staffed the Centennial Legacy 
Project Booth at Day in Our Village. Later in the year, the Project will 
sponsor free seminars on planned giving and how wills can be effective 
instruments for legacy gifts.

People are encouraged to call their favorite charity or nonprofit or to
call the Project Answerline, 851-0027, to talk over the many ways to 
leave a legacy. 

The Centennial Legacy Project's web site:
http://www.leave-a-legacyoprf.org also offers information, ideas and
suggestions. Local groups looking for speakers on the technical and
philanthropic aspects of giving can call the Answerline or visit the 
website as well.

In the years ahead, over $10 trillion nationally will be inherited by
middle-aged children from their elderly parents. Along with this 
tremendous transfer of wealth, a small percentage of money will be given to 
charitable organizations for research, special projects or simply as gifts.

These special organizations need financial assistance from local 
citizens in order to continue their good deeds. More than 70% of Americans
contribute to the nonprofit groups of their choice throughout their
lifetimes. Only around 6% continue this support through a gift in their
will or estate plan. By making these "planned gifts," help continues 
for organizations that are making an important difference in Oak Park and 
River Forest. A planned gift insures that help is there in the future for 
those who need it.

Gifts may come in the form of money, property, an investment or 
percentage of an estate. While some gifts may be large, many are $100 or less. All 
are given generally with one purpose in mind, to say thanks for the good 
works of that organization. Tax benefits may accompany a gift from a will or
estate. People should seek the advice of a professional to find out 
about those advantages.

The Oak Park-River Forest Centennial Legacy Project  has plans for the 
next three years to coordinate the message of Leave a Legacy™ with 
historical events and celebrations in our villages, culminating with Oak Park's
Centennial in 2002. Any nonprofit group serving Oak Park and River 
Forest residents may become a partner. For more information, call the 
Centennial Legacy Project Coordinator, Henry Kranz, at 708-209-1560.

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Henry Kranz
Kranz Consulting
221 Clinton Avenue
Oak Park, Il. 60302-3113
708-848-5716
Fax: 630-604-1115
Toll Free: 877-221-0365
Visit our website: http://www.crosswinds.net/~hjkranz/
 

Oak Park-River Forest Centennial
Legacy Project

What would happen if all of us left a gift, no matter how small or 
large, in our will to our favorite charity? The charities we care about-and 
the causes and people they serve-would benefit from our generosity long 
after we are gone. This simple act of caring would enhance thousands of 
lives.
                 
These gifts could fight disease, inspire at-risk youth, sustain 
cultural organizations, provide meals to isolated seniors and enhance or 
preserve the environment. The list goes on and on. 
 
The Oak Park-River Forest Centennial Legacy Project offers a way to
provide for the future. The Project is a community-based educational
program co-sponsored by the non-profit and educational organizations
serving our community: 42 organizations are now partners. The Partners
promote interest in planned charitable giving through a will or an 
estate plan. Member organizations work hand in hand with professional advisors 
and non-profit organizations including social service agencies, 
foundations, educational institutions and religious, environmental, cultural, 
medical and other philanthropic groups. 
 

The Project aims to accomplish:
 

• increased awareness among the general public of the importance of 

• increased financial resources for nonprofit organizations in Oak Park 

•  new relationships among advisors, community groups, nonprofit

• increased notice of bequests or other planned gifts, enabling

Call the Project Answerline at 708-851-0027 or visit us on the 
Internet:
www.leave-a-legacyoprf.org
 

Why the Need for this Project?>

The NonProfit Times estimates that over 70% of households nationwide
contribute to charity each year. This extraordinary generosity, 
however, is not being expressed in terms of bequest giving. 

Giving USA (1998) reports that bequests accounted for $13.62 billion, 
or 7.8% of total giving nationwide. This number has risen from $7.64 
billion in 1990. There has been a steady rise from year to year due to
demographics. However, when adjusted for inflation, bequest giving has
remained relatively constant since 1987.

There are more than 260 million Americans, of whom approximately 2 
million die each year. In 1996, 79,346 estate tax forms were filed with the 
Federal government. These forms are required for estates in excess of $600,000.
Eighteen percent of the forms listed a charitable gift. In other words, 
82% of the nation's wealthiest individuals left nothing to charity. In
addition, the IRS tells us that charity is getting a decreasing share 
of the money in these wealthy estates, from 21.8% in 1976 to 6.3% in 1992. 

If merely 6% of Americans left a charitable bequest, the current 
number of charitable bequests would more than double. Imagine  what the impact to
charitable organizations would be if 10% of Americans left a charitable
gift through their estate plans.

In the early 90's, Cornell University Economists  Robert Avery and 
Michael Rendall  published research on the savings behavior of Americans 
suggesting that $10.4 trillion of net worth will be transferred between 
generations by the year 2040. 

In 1999, Boston College researchers published a new econometric study 
on the intergenerational wealth transfer:   Millionaires and the 
millennium:

New estimates of the forthcoming wealth transfer and the prospects for 
a golden age of philanthropy. They predict that over the 55-year period 
from 1998 to 2052 the wealth transfer will be $41 trillion, and may well 
reach double or triple that amount. The study's most conservative estimate is
that $6 trillion will be transferred to charity through bequests during 
the 55-year period.   

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Henry Kranz
Kranz Consulting
221 Clinton Avenue
Oak Park, Il. 60302-3113
708-848-5716
Fax: 630-604-1115
Toll Free: 877-221-0365
Visit our website: http://www.crosswinds.net/~hjkranz