Fwd: Missouri Botanical Garden - Heritage - August Edition (Estate Giving)

[MORRISJE1@aol.com]

All,
 
Sometime back during or after the Fall Board meeting, Bob Pries indicated  
that AIS lost out on some estate gifts because we do not have a procedure or 
 process for estate giving.  I know that to be true and the amount we 
missed  out on to be in excess of the DuBose/Hager estate.  I write most of the 
AIS  obituaries and have had contact with lots of AIS deceased member's  
families.  Several have mentioned to me that their relative would have  
preferred giving to AIS rather than to other charities, their University, or  even 
surviving family, but there was no process for doing so and that AIS didn't  
seem interested or was perceived as not open to new directions.  Carry over  
of the good ole boy syndrome.   
 
AIS needs for someone to be identified (not me) who has the interest and  
time to develop such a procedure/process.  Toward that end I have forwarded  
the MOBOT Planned Giving Newsletter.  MOBOT receives huge endowments  
because they actively pursue same and have a good process in place.  True,  they 
have one full-time employee dedicated to the process, strong backing from  
the Garden's Director (a big fundraiser himself for Tropical Research) and  
can call on other staff as needed, but we could easily pattern a  
procedure/process after their's (or someone else's -- every  University has a program) 
that could be administered by a part-time  volunteer.  If the process grew to 
actually be meaningful perhaps a  paid employee could be justified in the 
future.  You never know  until you try.  One thing is for certain we can't 
continue doing  things the way we have in the past. 
 
This requires some executive action to get someone actively working on  
this.  Even advertising in the Bulletin for volunteers would be a  positive 
step (it is not too late to get something in the January  Bulletin).  There is 
a lot of talent out there if you look beyond  the same old guys and gals.  
Who knows, we might have a professional estate  planner as a member or a 
non-member in an affiliate.  When I research AIS  obituaries I am often amazed 
by the "other lives" our iris growers have  led.  We just need to tap in to 
some of that talent.
 
Jim M.  
Return-Path: <dialogbounce@wpgdialog.com>
Received: from rly-dg03.mx.aol.com (rly-dg03.mail.aol.com
  [172.19.151.87]) by air-dg03.mail.aol.com (v124.15) with ESMTP id
  MAILINDG034-5b74a8d9218250; Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:13:12 -0400
Received: from mail.wpgdialog.com (mail.wpgdialog.com [216.81.154.134])
  by rly-dg03.mx.aol.com (v124.15) with ESMTP id
  MAILRELAYINDG038-5b74a8d9218250; Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:12:40 -0400
Received: from dialog1 ([127.0.0.1]) by mail.wpgdialog.com with
  Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.1830); Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:40:01 -0500
Message-ID: <1.46wyd.4kj8.rs.0.2jsrl.9ldy@dialog>
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:35:48 -0500 (CDT)
From: Sharon Mertzlufft <membership@mobot.org>
Reply-To: membership@mobot.org
To: morrisje1@aol.com
Subject: Missouri Botanical Garden - Heritage - August Edition
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 20 Aug 2009 18:40:01.0062 (UTC)
  FILETIME=[A007CC60:01CA21C5]
X-AOL-IP: 216.81.154.134
X-Mailer: Unknown (No Version)
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative by demime 1.01d
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/html

Don't miss out on remaining 150th-year anniversary events! See calendar
of events at mobot.org/150

Missouri Botanical Garden Heritage

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Morris,

When it comes to estate planning, you want to protect the people and
causes closest to you. Take steps today to provide peace of mind and
financial support for your family, friends and favorite causes.

Ways to give when money is tight
(If you experience difficulty accessing the links below, please click
here.)

[IMAGE]

Estate Taxes: Keeping Up With the Changes
When you first drafted your estate plan, you probably worked with an
estate planning attorney to make decisions that met your goals, protected
your family and saved you the most in taxes. But because estate tax rules
change frequently, your current plans might not be the best they can be
anymore. Review these upcoming changes-and then review your estate
plans-to get your plans back on track.
Read More

Charity Begins at Home 

Charity Begins at Home
The seeds of charitable giving are not planted at birth. We all must
learn the values that inspire philanthropy. It is important, then, to
share what you have learned and pass those values on to loved ones.

Read More

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make a Gift Later
Would you like to help us continue our work, but can't make a donation
right now? Then consider including a gift to us in your will or living
trust (a charitable bequest). This type of gift works well for people who
believe in our cause but can't part with the money today.

Read More

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do You Know the Value of Your Estate?
It can be difficult to plan for the distribution of your wealth without
knowing the value of your estate. Yet many people don't realize what
their assets are worth. Here's how to put your financial house in order.

Read More

More Information
Request eBrochure
Donate Now
Gift Calculator
Contact Us

[IMAGE]

If you have questions or need further information, please contact:
Sharon Mertzlufft
Sr. Vice President of Institutional Advancement
Phone: 314-577-9495
sharon.mertzlufft@mobot.org

Missouri Botanical Garden b" P.O. Box 299 b" St. Louis, MO 63166-0299
Missouri Botanical Garden respects your online time and privacy. If you
no longer wish to receive this planned giving e-newsletter, please click
this link: unsubscribe.

[IMAGE]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/