Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation

www.Facebook.com/NiagaraLutheran

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 help 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.

Your generosity impacts lives, because over 80% 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.

You can DONATE ONLINE or make your contribution payable to:
Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation ~ 64 Hager Street ~ Buffalo, NY 14208
Phone: (716) 886-4377     Fax: (716) 886-0036       E-mail: [email protected]

 

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.

 Our 2012 campaign was chaired by Foundation Trustee Donald Will, President/CEO of Will Poultry, Inc.  

Our 2012 Leadership Council campaign officially kicked off with our Leadership Council Benefactors Reception on the evening of June 13^th at the Lancaster Country Club. Our drive focused on raising funds to defray the cost of building the new GreenField Terrace memory care and enhanced assisted living residence.

Our goal for the 2012 Leadership Council campaign was to raise a total exceeding $215,000 from gifts of $500 and more, and gifts totaling $451,721 were received by the Foundation during the campaign (179% of goal). This total included a most generous $100,000 Leadership Council gift from Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower.

The 2012 Leadership Council campaign total is a new record high, exceeding our previous record total of $373,447, set in 2011, by 21%.  Refer to our chart for comparison to past years'  Leadership Council campaigns.   Below are a few additional 2012 Leadership Council campaign statistics:

• 44 of 45 Leadership Council Committee members made pledges totaling $109,083 (24% of our total raised)
• 551 prospective Leadership Council members were contacted by the volunteer Leadership Council Committee 
• 4 new Leadership Council gifts were confirmed
• 30 lapsed renewals were confirmed
• 57 renewal upgrades were confirmed    
        

For the past several years we've presented Music and a Message and Food for Thought programs in early autumn which we've used as cultivation events for each year's Leadership Council campaigns. We like to change the themes of these fall cultivation events to keep the formats fresh for our guests, so on September 18^th we presented our first German Oktoberfest. We were pleased to have a capacity crowd of 240 in attendance at the Richard Seibold Chapel & Auditorium in GreenField Manor to enjoy our German food, beer and wine, along with music by The Auslanders.            

Our Oktoberfest program was highlighted by the presentation of the Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation's Caring Heart & Soul Award to NLHS Chairman of the Board, The Rev. Paul Mertzlufft (left). The Caring Heart & Soul Award was created in 2005 to honor our longtime benefactor Melba Seibold, and is presented from time to time to an individual who demonstrates dedication of the highest order to the Niagara Lutheran Health System, and who exemplifies the spirit of "caring heart and soul." Other award recipients have included Catherine McFarland Hamberger, Peter & Elizabeth C. Tower, and Donald Will.   

Invitees to our Oktoberfest program included all Board members and Trustees, 2011 donors of $250 or more, selected donor prospects, Legacies for Life benefactors, and Leadership Council Committee members. Invitees were welcome to bring guests.

Over $11,000 was raised from our generous corporate sponsors who underwrote the cost of our Oktoberfest. These sponsorships made it possible for us to gather our donors and prospects together to thank them for their past support and ask them to renew their support in 2012. This amount was more than double what was raised in sponsorship for our 2011 Food for Thought event. 

EMPLOYEE ANNUAL APPEAL

The Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation conducts an Employee Annual Appeal throughout the Health System each October to seek contributions in support of resident needs or other special initiatives. Our 2012 goal was to raise a total of $40,000 from our employees. 

 During our appeal, 248 NLHS employees contributed a total of $43,952 to the campaign (109% of our goal). The average gift amount per employee increased to $177, up from an average of $151 in 2011. As is the case each year, some of the most generous givers were employees in positions that earn the least. Congratulations to all of our compassionate employees who made this drive such a wonderful success again last fall!  See the chart for comparison to past year's Employee Annual Appeal.

ANNUAL FRIENDS APPEAL

The theme of the 2012 Annual Friends Appeal direct mail campaign focused on raising funds for improving the quality of life for our skilled nursing residents. The first solicitation package was mailed in April to our development database of over 1,300 prospects, including past givers, those who have not yet made a gift to the foundation, and those that have made gifts-in-kind, but not financial donations.  The April solicitation letter asked the recipient to help us to renew the physical and spiritual strength of our residents through donations to the Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation. 

In November we mailed a second solicitation to over 6,500 donors and prospects. The November appeal shared a message of Thanksgiving and spoke of the thankfulness our residents and their families feel for the care they receive while at Niagara Lutheran. 

Our overall goal for the 2012 Annual Friends Appeal was $275,000.  Through the Leadership Council, the Employee Annual Appeal, and the Annual Friends Appeal, the funds raised totaled $506,428, or 184% of our goal. This total is our highest ever, exceeding our 2011 Annual Friends Appeal total of $426,387 by 19%.   See the chart for a comparison to past year's Annual Friends Appeal.

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.

Niagara Lutheran's Legacies for Life program currently has 77 living members and 93 deceased benefactors. We have confirmed a total of 68 new Legacies for Life members since we launched this planned giving program in 2005.

 

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.