Give Tomorrow

Legacy Gifts Shape the Future of Our Community

A legacy gift is a meaningful way to support the causes you care about most, beyond your lifetime. Your generosity matched with the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham’s local philanthropic expertise can help ensure that our community thrives far into the future.

Mission Focus

Your gift will forever support the causes you care about.

Multiple Gifts

Dedicate funding to support a range of meaningful missions.

Sustained Impact

Rest assured that yours is a gift that will keep giving.

Key Benefits of Establishing a Legacy Gift

Committed to Donor Intent

Birmingham nonprofits do incredible work, yet the unfortunate reality is that some of today’s organizations may not exist 50 or 100 years from now. Community foundations are designed to honor donor intent in perpetuity, so that your legacy lives on. If an organization ceases to exist, the Community Foundation’s board and staff will redirect the funds to support similar organizations that align with your original intent.

Customized to Your Vision

A Legacy Fund Agreement can be customized with our expert guidance to help you craft a giving plan tailored to your values, allowing you to support specific organizations, causes, or respond to changing needs over time. Partnering with our experienced staff or your advisors, you can develop a strategy tailored to your philanthropic priorities and philosophy with established timelines for distributions.

Personalized and Flexible Giving

You can update your legacy plans as your philanthropic priorities evolve over time. It is a simple process all contained within a single document. And if your situation changes, a Legacy Fund Agreement is entirely revocable until the time at which it is funded.

Multiple Options

A legacy gift can be created through a range of fund types such as Donor Advised Funds in which you, or a designate successor, serves as the advisor to the fund. Other options include Community Funds which are dedicated to meeting the needs of Greater Birmingham now and forever, as well as Field of Interest Funds targeted to impact a donor’s chosen areas of interest.

Hassle-Free

Building your legacy through our foundation allows you to bypass the expenses and complexity of establishing a family foundation. You can focus on your philanthropy while we simplify the grant process, handle complex funding assets, and ensure your wishes are clearly documented and carried out, providing confidence that your legacy will be preserved.

A Community of Donors

As a legacy donor, you become part of our Community Builders Legacy Society, a group that honors forward-thinking individuals committed to the future well-being of our community. You will receive invitations to special Community Builders events.

The Lasting Power of Endowment

Endowed gifts become a part of the Community Foundation’s permanent endowment, meaning the Community Foundation works to ensure that they will accomplish your charitable goals and benefit our community forever. Your gift is preserved in perpetuity, with the funds pooled for maximum benefit and invested to achieve long-term capital growth.

A Champion for Your Goals

The Community Foundation is, and always will be, a champion for your charitable goals, and the steward of your charitable intention. As we build an understanding of the causes and issues you care about, our Philanthropic Services team can work with you to identify unique opportunities aligned with your charitable goals. Should you elect to extend the influence of your charitable gifts beyond your lifetime, the Community Foundation will steadfastly steward your charitable intention far into the future. Preserving each and every donor’s charitable intent is essential to our mission, regardless of the size of the gift you entrust to us.

A few of the many local donors who have leveraged the philanthropic power of legacy gifts include:

Brian Hamilton

Ernie Hester

Kate & Claude Nielsen

Laverne Ramsey 

Guin Robinson

Dora & Sanjay Singh

Larry Thornton 

Richard Tucker 

Dora & Sanjay Singh

Dora and Sanjay Singh understand the importance of investing in Birmingham’s future. That’s why their estate plan includes a gift to the Community Foundation that will honor their commitment to innovation and diversity.

Dora and Sanjay Singh

Larry Thornton

From business endeavors to boardroom insights, Larry Thornton’s journey revolves around crafting a legacy of service. His commitment to the Community Foundation shows his vision of a flourishing, united community.

Larry Thornton

Guin Robinson

Guin Robinson credits his grandmother with instilling in him the belief that he should leave the world a better place than he found it. That’s why he is including a gift to the Community Foundation in his estate plan.

Guin Robinson

Brooke & Daniel Coleman

Education has always been a cause close to Brooke and Daniel Coleman’s heart. They know that strategic investments in education are a key to the long-term growth and success of the greater Birmingham community.

Brooke and Daniel Coleman

Laverne Ramsey

Celebrated as a vibrant Renaissance woman, LaVerne Davis Ramsey’s journey spanned the arts, travel and finance. Her legacy gift to the Community Foundation ensures her lifelong passion for health and community will benefit countless futures.

Laverne Ramsey

Richard Tucker

Although he was only briefly a Birmingham resident, Richard Tucker has dedicated half of his estate to the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham. Reflecting a lifelong spirit of giving, his pledge embodies a transformative vision for the region.

Richard Tucker

Confirming Intent

We respect that many donors wish to keep their estate planning gifts anonymous. If anonymity is important to you, please consider sharing your charitable intention for funds that may be left to the Community Foundation in the future with us confidentially. This is an important step to make sure that our structure and applicable regulations permit us to carry out your precise intention as stated, and that we understand your directions. Our goal is to make sure that estate planning gifts are administered smoothly, and this step helps us meet that goal.

Let us turn your philanthropic goals into a lasting legacy

If you are interested in making a gift that will be funded in the future through an estate gift or other future contribution, contact our Senior Director of Gift Planning George Gaskin. George is available to work with you and your advisors to plan your charitable legacy around the causes and issues you care about.