Calvin Donor Legacies in Action
From helping to fund new and upgraded facilities to creating student scholarships, estate gifts are making a difference in the student experience at Calvin University.
Over the past decade alone, a lot has happened at Calvin.
Outdoor athletic spaces and indoor community learning and gathering spaces have been created. Graduate programming and student scholarships have been expanded. Classroom technology and performing art spaces have been upgraded.
What’s common to all of these creations, expansions, and upgrades? They were partially funded through estate gifts.
Planning Ahead
“The point in our lives when we have the most to give is when we die, when our assets are liquidated and are freed,” said Cheri TerHaar, a 1995 graduate of Calvin. “That’s when we no longer need it and can go bless someone else. And that doesn’t happen without having made a plan for that.”
So, TerHaar and her husband Curt made such a plan. Their moms were college roommates at Calvin, both Cheri and Curt had a great experience as students, and now their kids are attending their alma mater too.
“When we decided we were going to do a will, we started thinking about what are the organizations that made the biggest impact on our lives and that we want to see continue,” said Curt TerHaar. “So, Calvin made the list because it’s been such a big part of our family’s story.”
Children and Charities
Lynelle Cook, associate director of planned giving at Calvin, says there are many ways for someone to remember Calvin in their estate, including a gift in your will (either as a percentage or a dollar amount), through an IRA, as a beneficiary in one’s life insurance, or through a charitable gift annuity.
“The simplest way to remember Calvin is as a beneficiary in your estate. If you have kids, you may have your kids all listed to receive a part of your estate, but you also then leave part of your estate to ‘my child called charity,’” said Cook, which she says could include more than one organization that means something to the estate holder. “I love the child called charity because it’s a way of saying my children are my legacy, but so too are these organizations that continue the values that are important to me.”
“That’s really why Calvin is in our estate,” said Cheri TerHaar. “I’ve never met a student who came to Calvin and didn’t have a great experience. They are learning, they are thinking deeply, they are learning to be involved citizens in our world with a Christian point of view. The quality of education that a student gets and the missional component of that I think is unrivaled.”
Leaving a Legacy
For the past couple of years TerHaar has joined Cook on Calvin’s gift planning team, where she’s encouraging others to join the William Spoelhof Society, a community of people who are helping leave a legacy at Calvin for generations to come.
“People with average means can make significant estate gifts,” said TerHaar. “Once you put it all together, it’s pretty sobering how big an impact you can make through estate planning.”
For many, their names are never made public. But when you look around campus, it’s not hard to find something or someone their generosity touched.
Did you know that August is Make a Will Month? Calvin has a team of gift planning professionals that can help you with your estate planning questions and the best way to leave your legacy gift at Calvin University. Contact giftplanning@calvin.edu or visit Calvin University - Planned Giving Home.
