Thoughts about Giving: Continuing Our Opportunities to Give
By Susan Wells Courtney
After several years of dedicated service, former MSAA Vice President of Development Kimberly Goodrich has moved on to a new career opportunity. We wish her much success in her new position! We now welcome new Vice President of Development Kristine Magnifico to MSAA’s Development team. In addition to her business background, Ms. Magnifico has extensive experience in special events, grant submission, and other areas of donor development. She comes to MSAA following 10 years of work with the American Diabetes Association. Ms. Magnifico will be instrumental in ensuring that necessary funds are raised for MSAA’s vital programs and services, all aimed at Improving Lives Today for the entire MS community.
Among the many different avenues Ms. Magnifico will be addressing in an effort to provide as much funding as possible to MSAA’s valuable services, MSAA’s new Vice President of Development will also be continuing many of the current initiatives for raising money. To follow are a few giving opportunities that have been featured in recent issues of The Motivator in our Thoughts about Giving column.
Tribute Gift: This can be the perfect gift to honor a special occasion or someone’s important achievement. Whether it’s a birthday, anniversary, graduation, or other special time, a tribute gift is a wonderful way to honor someone you respect, admire, or love. Similar to a tribute gift, a memorial gift is a beautiful testimony to the life of a friend or family member.
Sustaining Gift: A sustaining gift is a donation automatically given at regular intervals, such as monthly, quarterly, or annually. These gifts can be set up in advance and given directly via electronic funds transfer (EFT) or credit card. A big advantage of sustaining gifts is that MSAA can plan ahead and count on these contributions when ordering equipment and provides significant savings in postage and administrative costs.
Leaving a Legacy: This type of giving is often called “planned giving” because of the careful consideration taken when making such a gift, or “deferred giving,” because of the gift’s timing. Legacy gifts are easily made and can be as simple as naming a charity as the beneficiary of your savings, checking, or retirement account; or listing a charity in your will.
And don’t forget about matching gifts! If you are making a contribution to MSAA, please be sure to check with your employer. Many companies will double the dollar amount of the donation as part of their Matching Gift program.
For more information about these opportunities to support MSAA and other ways to give, please visit our website at mymsaa.org or call (800) 532-7667, ext. 101.