Legacy Gifts to OSU Rowing
Stephanie S. Zaino, J.D., Director of Gift Planning, OSU Foundation
Back in early 2020, right before the pandemic began (if you can even remember those days), the Board of the Beaver Rowing Club and the OSU Foundation started discussions on how we could promote legacy gifts-gifts that come to OSU upon someone’s passing- that would ultimately benefit the OSU Rowing teams. The result of those discussions was a push to further educate former rowers and rowing supporters of the many ways you can support Rowing through your estate plans. We crafted articles that shared knowledge and free resources, and even created an instructional video. I am proud to say that three years into this process, we are starting to see results.
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Since we started this article series, we have added several rowing supporters and alums to the OSU Legacy Society, which recognizes all Beavers who have included OSU in their estate plans. The OSU Foundation (primarily the Office of Gift Planning and Our Beaver Nation) have worked with these donors to ensure their wishes for the future use of their gifts to support the Rowing teams were correctly documented and will be followed accordingly. Former Rower John Kennedy, Class of 1981, and his wife Kelley, class of ’83, recently documented their legacy gift with the Foundation. John worked with Steve Sullivan and me to craft a statement of intent that directed his gift to the Men’s Crew Fund at the OSU Foundation. John noted that the articles and videos explained the importance of legacy giving and provided him with all the information he needed to update his estate plans easily and accurately. While the funds from this commitment will not come for many years, John and Kelley’s gift will provide ongoing support for Men’s Rowing.
Estate gifts, like John and Kelley’s, are crucial for the future health of the Rowing program. Fundraising initiatives like Dam Proud Day and the Regatta focus on the current needs of the athletes and the coaches and are considered current use funds. In contrast, legacy gifts generally focus on creating or building endowments, which provide a perpetual source of income for the rowing programs. In many cases for legacy donors, your “last” gift becomes a “forever” gift. By combining both types of gifts (current use funds and endowments), and both ways of giving (annual gifts and legacy gifts), we can help ensure OSU Rowing has very bright future at OSU.
Interested in joining your crew mates in providing support to OSU Rowing? Contact Steve Sullivan at steve.sullivan@osufoundation.org.
Want to learn more about legacy gifts? Visit https://osufoundation.plannedgiving.org/ or contact Stephanie Zaino at Stephanie.zaino@osufoundation.org or 541-520-2832.