This article was originally printed in the Hospitallers Newsletter Volume 21 Summer 2021, Page 8.

In the American Association, a member’s Annual Contribution provides the resources to run the organization. Additional resources to fund the hands-on work (i.e., support the charism of serving the sick and the poor and giving witness to the faith) come from the Malta Human Services Foundation, the Pilgrimage Foundation, Area fundraising and individual donations. Much good comes from these resources as many members are engaged regularly in the hands-on work that is essential to the path to salvation that Blessed Gerard marked off for those who follow.  In truth, though, there are very few significant gifts that can sustain and improve the balance sheet in the current environment.

The ability of the Association to grow membership through its support of hands-on work will require an investment for the future. Building the resources of the Malta Human Services Foundation and the Pilgrimage Foundation is an important objective of the Capital Campaign which is currently working through its quiet phase. The goal is to engage members in a more impactful way, to bring in the uninvolved with works that suit their skills and interest, to expand the reach and the depth of the projects that are supported. This will serve to create a sustainable path to growth in membership and in membership engagement.

The Capital Campaign is opening the door, starting opportunities and seeking to bring about a culture of philanthropy. While the campaign is still in the quiet phase, 79 pledges exceeding $8.5M have already been received. Such generosity is unprecedented in recent memory and provides hope as we move forward. It is not just the average size of the pledges (exceeding $100K) and the fact that two million-dollar pledges are among the generous gifts; maybe as important as the pledge totals so far is the out-of-the-box thinking that suggests that the seeds of philanthropy are starting to sprout.

There will be many ways in which a donor will be able to contribute to the American Association’s Capital Campaign, once it moves beyond the quiet phase.

CASH and Cash Equivalents: The simplest and most direct way is through a cash gift, usually in the form of a check or a credit card payment. Some members make their annual contribution by transferring stock to the Association. Stock is liquidated, converted to cash, and then deposited in the appropriate Association account. Cash, checks, credit card payments, money orders, wired fund and gifts of securities all provide for the immediate transfer of a donor’s assets to the Association.

PLANNED GIFTS: Planned gifts (also sometimes referred to as gift planning or legacy giving) normally refer to any major gift, made in a donor’s lifetime or at death, as part of an overall financial or estate plan. Gifts might be in the form of equity (stocks, bonds, IRAs or similar financial instruments), life insurance, real estate, personal property, retirement assets, or cash. Planned gifts often enable donors to make significantly larger gifts than they could make from ordinary income; often assets used in planned giving have accumulated significant value over time.

Planned gifts are usually developed with the help and advice of a financial planner and often include legal assistance to ensure that all the requirements of the commitment are met while structuring the gift in such a way to maximizes the tax benefit for the donor – the structuring of the gift to maximize the tax advantage allows the donor to provide a much bigger impact for the receiving organization than might ordinarily be possible.

In the United States, tax policies have generally been crafted to encourage individuals to donate to non-profit organizations. Although the laws have changed from time to time, there has generally been support in the legislatures and in the general environments to continue to support philanthropic giving because of the recognition that non-profit organizations serve the public good. If you need help in getting started on a planned gift, contact Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Trexler, Executive Director of the American Association at the New York office.

The needs of the American Association are for today and for the future. The goal is to deliver services to the organization’s constituents today and tomorrow. That is one reason why planned giving can play an important part in the financial life and health of the Association. It can provide capital supporting the work of today’s Knights and Dames and for the generations that follow.

People who give to the Capital Campaign have a nine-hundred-year history of commitment to the same charism that drives the Order today. You do not just give to an organization that will do something good with your money — you give to support an organization in which you and your fellow Knights and Dames do something good for those we serve right now. Gifts to the Capital Campaign will help to support and sustain the kind of personal involvement which is the hallmark of membership in the Order of Malta. At the same time, the Capital Campaign is intended to grow the ability to impact the sick and the poor over the decades to come.

This article was contributed by Gail and Joseph Berardino, Co-Chairs of the Capital Campaign.