Talking to donors over the last couple of months, I have learned what kind of an impact the financial crisis is having on so many of you. Diminished investments, job insecurity, pensions in jeopardy—it all adds up to a lot of anxiety, and a rethinking of financial goals and financial planning. For many of you, this has meant that you’ve had to rethink your budgets for charitable giving, and we understand that.
At the same time, as I’ve learned about donors’ financial anxieties, I’ve been hearing a lot about how disheartening it is to have to cut back on your giving. I know that you’re well aware of the special challenges that charities face in times like these, when fundraising becomes more difficult.
I know that you worry about the kind of impact this will have on our ability to support our missionaries, as the impact of our economic downturn reaches even into areas so remote from the world of the financial markets and investment portfolios. Many of our committed donors feel torn between a keen desire to support our mission work and the urgent need to ensure the financial future for themselves and their families. These are uncertain times, and in uncertain times, it is more difficult for many of us—depending on our own situation, of course—to be as generous as we would like to be.
Funding to help remote mission communities could be affected by the economic downturn. In photo, church and community at God’s Lake Narrows, Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas, Manitoba.
Still, if you’re affected by the downturn but still want to help, there are ways you can do so without eating into your cash flow or depleting your assets. This might be a good time to consider including a bequest to Catholic Missions In Canada in your will once you’ve provided for your family. The gift of a bequest won’t add financial stress—but it will give us, and you, the assurance that the work of our missions WILL continue into the future—that we can weather this financial storm and continue to provide the kind of support our missions rely upon.
The following bequest clause may assist you when you meet with your lawyer to make your will or to add a bequest to your existing will.
BEQUEST CLAUSE:
The suggested legal text for a gift in your Will to Catholic Missions In Canada is:
“To pay to Catholic Missions In Canada, whose general offices are located in the City of Toronto, Ontario,
(Choose one or more)
1) a sum of money
2) percentage of estate
3) shares or bonds
4) a piece of property
5) residue of estate
The receipt of the person professing to be the Treasurer or other proper officer of the said Charity shall discharge my Trustees.”
