Planned Giving
Leave Your Legacy
As someone who loves NESEA, you have the power to leave a lasting legacy in support of a built environment in the Northeast that is climate neutral, adaptive and resilient, energy independent, architecturally inspiring, and supportive of connection and community– today, tomorrow, and beyond. No matter your means or stage in life, by including NESEA in your plans, you help sustain our mission to advance the adoption of sustainable energy practices in the built environment by cultivating a community where practitioners share, collaborate and learn and carry it forward for years to come.
The Endowment Fund
Unless otherwise specified, all planned gifts support NESEA’s Endowment Fund, which is designed to provide lasting support for program development that supports NESEA's vision, especially for programs that otherwise would not have funding. Examples of how it could be used might include establishing strategic scholarships, building new partnerships, and welcoming internationally renowned speakers to our conferences. The Board of Directors has established a policy by which only a portion of the dividends may be used in a given year with the intention of securing the Endowment Fund in perpetuity as a sustainable financial asset for the organization. The Fund is managed by JPS Global Investments, and the account is focused on a stock of green companies judged by the advisor to have a net positive effect on the environment.
The Campaign: 5 x 50
Longtime NESEA Member Bruce Coldham is among the first people to make a commitment to our planned giving campaign, which has a goal of securing $5 million in commitments to the endowment fund by NESEA’s 50th birthday in 2025. This amount would allow us to support program development in perpetuity. Read below to learn more about why Bruce is choosing to include NESEA in his legacy.
"For a couple of years now (at least) I have been thinking that my last hurrah for NESEA would be to help establish an Endowment Fund, and that my contribution would be to talk to all of my NESEA elder colleague/friends about making a provision in their wills to leave some amount to the organization. But first, I have to make my own planned giving commitment. In my case, we decided to gift a certain percentage of our total assets to NESEA, which we didn’t realize was an option before exploring a legacy gift. That allows for Mary and/or me secure long-term care in nursing home care without our kids fearing that we will run out because we committed funds to a charity of our choosing. That makes it comfortable for my family and also gives NESEA a sense of what might be coming its way, and therefore enable it to chart its future planning accordingly.
From my standpoint I am thinking that all that effort that we put in to building a bridge to European practice in the 90’s and aughts (when Europe had so much to offer) would have been so much easier if we had had something like this — an unrestricted revenue inflow that could have been committed to getting luminaries like Joachim Eble to our conferences. Having a fund that can be regularly and reliably deployed to bring inspiring people into our midst is unimaginably valuable to me. I also recall that, as Board Chair, we allocated $25K for program development (for a year or two only), but something like that could be a recurrent feature of the operational budget with an Endowment Fund support. We could have a standing number of conference seats offered to student practitioners, and we could fund traveling scholarships. And that’s just from my own experience — before the more thoughtful among us chime in. I had a number of $5 million as a Fund goal probably because it rings with 50 years. That is a very large number, but larger numbers inspire, and (conservatively invested) it would yield an annual inflow of around $200,000. Imagine what could be done with that."
Start a Conversation
To start a conversation about making a planned gift to NESEA, please contact Executive Director Florence MacGregor at fmacgregor@nesea.org or (413) 774-6051 ext. 10. Everyone has a different set of circumstances and different goals in planning their legacy, and there are many options available for planned giving.
Options for Planning Your Legacy
Below are two of the most common ways to leave a legacy gift, although this is by no means an exhaustive list. We appreciate your generosity and consideration, and hope that viewing these options is helpful to your planning. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss these options, please contact Executive Director Florence MacGregor at fmacgregor@nesea.org or (414) 774-6051 ext.10.
Make A Gift
When you are ready to make your planned commitment to NESEA’s Endowment Fund, you can do so here. Thank you for your support of NESEA and our shared vision! If you would prefer to use a fillable PDF to plan your donation, please follow this link to download one.
Make Your Commitment
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Our Mission
NESEA advances sustainability practices in the built environment by cultivating a cross-disciplinary community where practitioners are encouraged to share, collaborate and learn.