Why leave a gift in your Will?
Isn't it the greatest of gifts, one that will live on for years after you?
Bequests are for everyday people
It's a common misconception that only wealthy people leave money to charity when they die. Bequests in wills are not just for the rich and famous.
The reality is that most bequests are made by ordinary, hardworking people who want to make a positive difference to their community after they're gone.
Keep on supporting
The simple fact is that without the generosity of these normal, everyday New Zealanders, many of the charities we know and support wouldn't even exist.
Bequests form the financial basis of many major New Zealand charities and are absolutely essential for ensuring the good work they do continues into the future. The good news is that including a charity in your will is just as easy as providing for your loved ones. And it can be as much or as little as you want.
Be the difference
You don't have to be rich or famous to make a difference. Whoever you are, whatever your situation, you can help make a difference and help create a better world by including a charity in your will.
Motivations
Understanding why you want to leave a bequest, might help you decide what kind of gift you want it to be, and who you want to give that gift to.
Enrich people's lives
Charities improve our lives through the work they do, be it through a live performance, alleviating a social injustice or by seeking to eradicate disease. A bequest in your will can help your favourite charity continue with its research, with its home visits, with its newest performing art. It can continue making a difference to countless lives into the future.
Leave a memory
Including a charity in your will is a way to bring dignity, meaning and purpose to a life well lived. It is an opportunity to continue to support an organisation you have supported in your lifetime, or to support the charities you always wanted to, but were unable to in your lifetime. You, and your values, beliefs and generous philanthropic role modelling, will live on in the memories of those you support.
Give back
Perhaps you were supported by an amazing organisation, but you were unable to give back as generously as you would have liked in your lifetime. A bequest in your will is a great way to ensure that their vital work carries on to support others in times of need.
For the future
A bequest in your will can contribute to the future sustainability of an organisation, ensuring the institutions and ideas you value continue in the future, for your friends and family and generations to come.
Improvement and change
Another reason for leaving a bequest might be because you want to improve the community you leave behind with your resources. Your bequest could be the seed for that change.
"Be the change you wish to see in the world" ~ Mahatma Ghandi
How to leave a gift? Who to leave a gift to?
Read stories of bequestors