Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

David Harris

I love my morning coffee, and I drink it every day. It’s my morning routine and I am a fan. I could pretty much enjoy a coffee-flavored anything. Right now my mug is sitting in front of my computer screen, despite the keyboard close by.

Likewise, I am enthusiastic about philanthropy, and I speak of it every day with our community supporters, sometimes even over a cup of coffee. Those of us who enjoy coffee have so many options available to us. In the same way, those of us who are philanthropic have many ways to support our communities. So why do many donors settle on the idea that their giving to our community should be the same, year after year? Each of us makes our own unique selection of coffee drink—why not find our own special way to give charitably?

I like dark roasted coffee of whatever kind, and have for years. It’s my “morning joe.” Recently however my son, a newly minted barista, introduced me to “vanilla lavender.” I didn’t even know that was a thing. It’s actually a vanilla lavender latte—and at first, sitting in the coffeeshop where he works, I said to myself:  no thanks. I am committed to my dark roast. But you know what? I tried it, and liked it.

So many times in life we think we must choose between two alternative ways of giving, like two different flavors of coffee. Our donors may state that they can only give to the Annual Campaign or make a gift to a capital campaign and they couldn’t possibly make a legacy gift. They know through an annual gift they  can receive up-front tax benefits and see firsthand the results of their gift.

But why not combine the annual gift with a planned gift? Your gifts today help your organization now, but what about its future? When you combine an annual gift with a legacy or planned gift you are helping that organization stay vibrant well into the future. Your legacy gift can actually perpetuate your annual gift forever and, importantly, your legacy gift costs you nothing today.   

As we move into our 2018 Annual Campaign, and you think about your annual gift, know that you can also think about making a legacy gift now. Did you know that over 700 of our donors have made a commitment to our local organizations, agencies, and synagogues through their will or as a beneficiary to their IRA or life insurance?

You can continue to commit to your values and to being generous to our community in the present, while making a gift for our community in the future. It’s easy to do and we at the Jewish Federation can show you the steps to formalizing your legacy gift in support of whichever agency, organization, or synagogue you care about—subsequently helping them maintain a vibrant future. 

It’s great to have favorites, but it’s also great to branch out. Try that vanilla lavender latte. You may enjoy both flavors of giving.

You can reach Deb Steinbuch, Planned Giving and Endowment Manager at the Jewish Federation, at 513-985-1593 or dsteinbuch@jfedcin.org. You can reach the Jewish Federation’s Create Your Jewish Legacy team here and the community-wide Create Your Jewish Legacy initiative here.  

What’s the best way to give back? Our Giving Strategies Library offers smart, practical giving strategies show you how.