Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation

The Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation exists because costs to care for our residents and maintain and expand our Health System facilities are constantly increasing. Funds raised by the Foundation helps to improve the quality of life for our residents and the work environment for our caregivers by contributing toward the purchase of necessary equipment, programs, and furnishings and the expansion of our facilities.

Your generosity impacts lives, because over 75% of our skilled nursing residents cannot afford to pay for their care and must rely on Medicaid reimbursement. However, the New York State reimbursement system does not come close to covering our cost of providing care, and the gap between the reimbursement we receive and our cost to provide care to a single resident for one year is over $18,000! Your gift enables us to continue our mission of caring for those who can no longer care for themselves, and ensures that quality care is available in our community.

The Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Every gift is used to help others, while providing you with tax advantages, as all gifts are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. We look forward to assisting you in the selection of gift opportunities that best meet your financial and charitable goals.

Gift options include:

• Cash - Gifts of cash entitle you to an immediate charitable income tax deduction.
• Stock and Other Appreciated Securities - Gifts entitle you to an immediate charitable deduction of full fair market value.
• Gift of Personal Property - Gifts entitle you to a charitable deduction based on full fair market value.
• Life Insurance - Gifts entitle you to a current income tax deduction, plus possible future deductions through gifts to pay policy premiums.
• Retirement Assets - Avoids income and estate tax. 
• Real Estate - Gifts entitle you to an immediate income tax deduction and the reduction or elimination of capital gains tax.
• Retained Life Estate (give your residence, vacation home, etc. now, but continue to live there) - Gifts entitle you to a charitable deduction and lifetime use of residence.
• Trusts and Annuities - Gifts entitle you to a charitable income tax deductions, income, reduction of taxable estate, and other benefits.
• Bequests in Will - Donation is exempt from federal estate tax, and you retain control of your asset for your lifetime. Learn about our Legacies for Life Planned Giving Program.

Gifts and pledges may be fulfilled with a credit card, check, via transfer of stock, or through United Way's Donor Choice program. Pledges may be made over the next year- just tell us how much you would like to pledge and how you would like to be billed (monthly, quarterly, twice a year, in one installment in a specific month, etc.).

Gifts may be made without restriction or designated to support a specific purpose. Gifts may be offered in honor or in memory of a loved one, and a variety of recognition opportunities exist including the naming of a building, room, or program, and the placement of tribute plaques in Health System facilities.

MAKE A GIFT

Click to download a printable gift/pledge form in PDF format

All contributions should be made payable to:
Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation
64 Hager Street
Buffalo, NY 14208

Please call or e-mail us at:
Phone: (716) 886-4377
Fax: (716) 886-0036
E-mail: foundation@niagaralutheran.org

Contact:
David E. McMullen, Director of Development
E-mail: dmcmullen@niagaralutheran.org

ANNUAL FRIENDS APPEAL & THE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

Helping those who face isolation, despair, and serious illness is a noble mission. Gifts to our Annual Friends Appeal support ongoing resident care initiatives at our skilled nursing homes. Each year a team of volunteers that we call the Leadership Council Committee meets to assist in the personal solicitation of new and renewing benefactors. All donors who make an annual gift of $500 or more are granted Leadership Council status and are entitled to special recognition opportunities, including our Benefactors Reception. Donors who make an annual gift of at least $500 and also ask others to do the same are entitled to become members of the Leadership Council Committee.

EMPLOYEE ANNUAL APPEAL

The Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation also conducts an Employee Annual Appeal throughout the Niagara Lutheran Health System each fall to seek contributions in support of resident needs. During our 2009 appeal, 323 Health System employees contributed a total of $46,163 to the campaign. Despite a turbulent economy, it was the second-highest Employee Annual Appeal total − second only to the record total of $49,314 reached in 2007.

LEGACIES FOR LIFE

Niagara Lutheran's Planned Giving Program

Legacies for Life is a special program that recognizes and honors generous individuals who have decided to provide a planned, "legacy" gift through provisions made in a will, trust, or insurance policy. Planned gifts assure the future for Niagara Lutheran's mission of service, and they enable benefactors to help others for generations to come. Legacies for Life benefactors know that their gifts will have great importance for those who cannot provide for themselves.

A bequest (transfer of property by will) to the Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation is one of the easiest ways of perpetuating your support for the role we play in the lives of the elderly and infirm. You may stipulate whether the bequest is for general support or for a specific purpose. A bequest may also be made in honor or memory of another individual. Bequests to the Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation may include cash, securities, life insurance, IRAs, annuities, trusts, real estate, works of art, or other personal property. When making a will, you should obtain the advice of an attorney, and if you already have a will, a bequest may be added as a codicil, without rewriting your entire will. We will be pleased to work with you to design a gift specifically tailored to your wishes.Click here for more information about our Legacies for Life program.

THE HUMANITARIAN AWARD DINNER

Each year, the Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation recognizes several outstanding community leaders at a special dinner that raises funds to support resident care. The Niagara Lutheran Humanitarian Award is our highest honor, and the recipient is chosen for his/her scope of positive contributions to the quality of life in Western New York. We salute the following past Niagara Lutheran Humanitarian Award Recipients.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Niagara Lutheran is blessed to have active board members and trustees who serve as special advocates for our mission of service. We gratefully recognize our Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation Board of Trustees for their outstanding philanthropic leadership in our community. Click here for a current list of the Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation Board of Trustees.