|
Plan for Your Future with Write-A-Will Month
Rev. Andrew Warner
In 2021, my husband and I decided to update our will. We talked about it again in 2022. A new estate plan became our New Year's resolution in 2023. We finally wrote our new wills in 2024. Four years!
I'm not the only one who delays attention to important life-planning tasks.
This is why many nonprofits promote August as a "Write-A-Will" month. A will creates a legacy. By focusing on the importance of a will or other estate plans, we can help the people in our congregation care for their loved ones and support charities close to their hearts. Promoting Write-A-Will Month can give people the encouragement they need to complete this important life plan.
Here's what you can do to promote planned giving:
-
Adapt the "Gift in Will" document to your church and send this to every church member with encouragement to complete a will if they haven't.
-
Attend the "Planned Giving in Your Congregation" course I'm offering on the Damascus Project for practical ideas and strategies on planned giving.
- Promote "Write-A-Will" month in your congregation with a testimony in worship (and record and send it to everyone in the church). A testimony by someone who wrote their will and included a gift to your congregation can motivate another person to do the same.
Creating our will allowed my husband and me to think about the legacy we want to leave. We found ways to balance care for our young adult children with our commitment to charities. Planning together allowed us to talk through our goals, the places that shaped our lives, and the impact we want to make on the world. Encouraging the people of your congregation to write a will can be an expression of pastoral care.
The National Ministries and the Pension Boards partnered to provide additional resources to make the promotion of planned giving more accessible in your congregation. We created a new website where people can create (or draft and take to their lawyer) a will. The site prompts people to consider a charitable gift in their estate, but it doesn't require it. You can learn more about this resource by visiting www.freewill.com/ucc.
It shouldn't take 4 years to write a will. In fact, with our new website, you can create one in 20 minutes.
Take time this summer to promote planned giving, with a particular push during August.
| 
