A Sound Gift

Presented by Micki McCarthy, CGPA, Director of Gift Planning, OSF HealthCare Foundation and Lanna Scannell, MBA, CFRE, Strategic Philanthropy Officer, OSF HealthCare Foundation

When Marg Colley decided to make a gift to charity, she wanted two things: to honor her late husband, Bruce, and see her gift at work.

A man admired for his quick wit and dedication to friends and family, Bruce Colley had lived with Parkinson’s Disease for 16 years before passing in 2018. He was passionate about managing the disease and was his own best health care advocate.

“The doctor used to tease him about working on his medical degree,” Marg remembers fondly. “Bruce would go to every appointment armed with questions about things he’d learned or researched.”

She said he approached treatments to control his disease in the same way. He pushed himself at every physical therapy session and faithfully exercised at home. 

After he passed, Marg said she wanted to do something in his memory to support the things he was so passionate about, and she wanted to give a gift now, when she could see it at work and appreciate its impact. She talked with her financial advisor and he suggested a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) gift (also called an IRA Charitable Rollover) from her IRA. A QCD gift would satisfy some or all of her Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), giving her great tax benefits. This seemed like a perfect option.

Marg is using her QCD gift to create the Bruce & Marg Colley Charitable Endowment at OSF HealthCare Foundation. Her gift will support vocal therapy for programs like OSF LOUD Crowd, which helps Parkinson’s patients maintain vocal ability. 

“I know Bruce would have wanted me to do this. He wasn’t able to participate in LOUD Crowd because he was already on hospice when it was introduced, but he would have liked it.” A QCD gift gave Marg an opportunity to honor her husband and do something special for others affected by Parkinson’s Disease, in a way that was also meaningful to her. It gave her a desired tax benefit and helped fulfill her philanthropic goals.

This past December, the SECURE ACT was signed into law, making significant changes to how we use our retirement accounts, including raising the age for people to take their RMD from age 70½  to 72. (You must be born on or after July 1, 1949, to wait until age 72). People who turn 70½ in 2020, however, can still enjoy tax benefits when supporting 501c3 charities like OSF HealthCare, with a QCD gift.

To learn more about the benefits of an IRA Charitable Rollover gift and how you might support the area of OSF HealthCare most meaningful to you, please visit osflegacyofhope.org or contact Micki McCarthy, Director of Gift Planning for the OSF HealthCare Foundation at (309)566-5653 or [email protected].

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