The end of the calendar year is a natural time to assess your financial position, your tax implications, and to at least begin thinking of how you’d like to be remembered – because that, essentially, is what charitable gifting and estate planning is all about, says Andrea Stevens.

Stevens is a charitable gift advisor with New Covenant Trust Company, which is part of the Presbyterian Foundation. Stevens brings nearly 15 years of experience in fundraising and the nonprofit sector; about half that time spent at faith-based organizations, most recently at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

“My proposition is when you think about what you want to leave behind, you are thinking about values you hold the people, the places, the causes that are important to you, and what you want them to receive from you – whether that’s now, in a few years or in many years. It’s a conversation with donors about their values and what they want to do ‘forever.’

“It’s a very personalized approach to giving,” Stevens says. “What is your legacy? What will you leave behind?”

Estate planning and charitable giving aren’t just for the wealthy, she reminds individuals, churches, and congregations. Assets “include life insurance, retirement plans, IRAs, homes, vacation homes, Grandma’s silver – they all have value, and how you plan for those assets can make an important difference to the family.”

“Charitable gift planning is the vehicle by which you express your values,” Stevens says. “It’s much better to make those arrangements when everyone is in a clear mind and able to think about long term impacts, versus when someone is sick and dying and the family is maybe overcome with emotions and grief and don’t know about the assets and it’s the last thing on their mind.”

Setting up a charitable gift plan can help the family bring tax benefits they may not understand or be aware of, Stevens says.

“The stuff that we have at the end of our lives is the main way we express what we ‘earned’ and then we translate that into what’s valuable to you, what your values are when you are gone,” she says. “That can be taking care of your family, certainly, or giving to your church, or also giving to causes that are important to you and your beliefs – but it’s best to lay out those plans sooner rather than later.”

Part of her work is to open conversations with churches and their congregants, to let them know of the resources available through the New Covenant Trust Company and Presbyterian Foundation.

To learn more about charitable gift planning, visit https://newcovenanttrust.com/ or https://www.presbyterianfoundation.org/.