Making a win-win gift through The Heartwood Fund

In Funding, News by couchiching

For Gord and Jane Ball, making a gift to the Conservancy was a win-win.

The Couchiching-Severn landscapes form the backdrop of our family’s life and history, and as such are a part of who we are. Our adult children return here to reconnect with the natural spaces they call “home”.

The Couchiching Conservancy’s Heartwood Fund provides us with a perfect opportunity to leave a legacy that will help protect those landscapes forever, in our case via a life insurance policy.

It’s a reassuring feeling to be part of the Heartwood Fund initiative. I know that our grandchildren and their grandchildren will be grateful. We are all watching precious natural spaces and habitat around us increasingly swallowed up or threatened by runaway development. It’s very comforting to know that some of these areas are safe, not only in the short-term, but forever. That’s forever! Not many things in life are forever. But we also know that protected land is only as secure as the protectors. Enter the Heartwood Fund, dedicated to that purpose.

After consulting with both our financial advisor and the Conservancy, a life insurance policy was our choice. Life insurance is one asset many people already have, and if not, an affordable current outlay over several years is leveraged into a larger future gift. For the young parent with limited dollars, it is a way to protect the family against economic loss in the event of a parent’s premature death. But at our age and stage, life insurance isn’t really necessary, and we gain tax benefits now by making the Conservancy both the beneficiary and owner of our policy. A charitable donation receipt is issued for any premiums paid or for the cash surrender value once the ownership of the policy is transferred to the Conservancy.

It’s a very good feeling, knowing that we’re helping to protect the organization that will protect the land we love. Forever.

For more information on the Heartwood Fund: click here

For more information on Life Insurance Policy Legacy Gifts: click here