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"The Perfect Vehicle" For Anonymous PhilanthropistIn 2004, Andrew F. Kagen’s work with an anonymous donor brought the largest unrestricted gift to date to the Community Foundation. “An unrestricted gift of this size strengthens the character of the Community Foundation and shores up the ability of the Foundation to do good works. It is a lot of money.”
How did Kagen bring the donor and the Community Foundation together? “It’s a fairly simple story,” he said.
Kagen has been in practice for about 24 years. In the course of his work, he ran into a number of people looking to make charitable contributions. Unfortunately, the existing tax laws, excise taxes, and other regulations really made it too inconvenient to establish private foundations for the majority of his clients.
Through seminars for professional advisors sponsored by York County Community Foundation, he became aware of the charitable endowment model as a force for positive change in the community. Kagen then began to explore that option for a number of clients.
When this client began to work on her estate plan, she had recently lost her sister, and had no other family. This client wasn’t sure what to do with her estate after her death. Her feeling was, “The money should be for the betterment of the community, the good of the community,” according to Kagen.
Kagen knew Dick Brown, both a former Executive Director and a former Board Chairman of the Community Foundation. Brown and Kagen sat down with the client who made it clear that she did not want to advise any specific use for the funds. “I was glad to be able to show her the good work the Foundation does — the Community Foundation fits the bill for a lot of people, Kagen said.
“An unrestricted gift to the Community Foundation was the perfect fit,” Kagen said. “When we explained that the Board would distribute the income from the Fund in the best interests of the community, she was happy letting the Board make those decisions. The Community Foundation was so helpful and even provided sample language for the bequest. This was the perfect vehicle for her—there was really no other place to put the estate.”
Kagen respects the desire of his client to remain anonymous, even in death. “I wish she would have taken a lot more credit for her good works. I would have preferred she establish a fund during her lifetime,” he said. “She named the Charles and Adaline Frysinger Fund to honor two people who had always taken care of her.” And Kagen’s fondness for his client shows in the many warm-hearted stories he shared about her life. “She had such clarity of thought and mind, right up until the end, at age 93.”
Kagen has many charitably oriented clients for whom the Community Foundation serves multifaceted purposes. Kagen likes the idea that the client has a pooled investment option for the funds, and the option of naming multiple charities as beneficiaries. Also, he likes the idea of adding a family component to advising. “York County Community Foundation is a great avenue to express charitable intent for the good of the community,” he said.
This article appeared in the November, 2005 edition of Partners in Philanthropy, a publication of the York County Community Foundation.
