Harvard planned giving expert shares thoughts in West Hartford

WEST HARTFORD - Charles B. Gordy, J.D., director of planned giving at Harvard Law School, addressed a crowd of more than 40 Hartford area Jewish professionals and community leaders at a Fundraising Academy workshop sponsored by the Jewish Community Foundation in West Hartford on Sept. 9.  Gordy labeled 2008 "the year planned giving died," noting that donors have not fully recovered from the economic downturn, which negatively affected charitable giving and continues to influence donor behavior.  Last year, he said, most charities saw a decrease in contributions, as well as in the number of donors to the organization, sparking concerns about fundraising in 2010. 
  
Gordy emphasized the attractiveness of charitable gift annuities in this economic climate and the importance of donor stewardship.  Bequests, he added, are recession proof and should be part of every donor "ask" or conversation. 

Gordy's training session comes at a critical time for the Hartford Jewish community. as more than 20 local Jewish agencies, schools and synagogues have signed on to participate in the Foundation's "Leave a Jewish Legacy" initiative aimed at capitalizing on the anticipated intergenerational transfer of wealth that experts predict for America in the next 25 years.

For more information about "Leave a Jewish Legacy" call Deborah Rothstein or Doreen Fundiller-Zweig, at (860) 523-7460, or visit <a href="http://www.jcfhartford.org">www.jcfhartford.org</a>.
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