Consider Supporting LESA Through Planned Giving

We’d be happy to discuss how you can be a part of the Heritage Club and leave a legacy for Lutheran education. The LCMS Foundation is one of LESA’s partners in assisting you as you remember the students LESA serves in your estate plan.

As children of Christ, we are called upon to be good stewards of the assets with which we have been blessed. Good stewardship includes faithful financial planning for ourselves, our families and our community to assure that future needs will be met.

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What is Planned Giving?

Planned Giving generally refers to gifts that we make from our accumulated assets or other sources, such as insurance proceeds or annuities, to support the missions and activities of charitable or religious organizations of the donor’s choice such as the Lutheran Elementary School Association. Your planned gift will provide for Lutheran education in our community, so that it may remain vital in years to come. Anyone can make a planned gift. Planned gifts can take many forms including: wills, trusts, life insurance, gift annuities, real estate, and securities.  Click here to view the most common types of planned giving tools.

What is the Heritage Club?

Membership in the Heritage Club of the Lutheran Elementary School Association’s (LESA) Founder’s Society is reserved for those who have included Lutheran Elementary School Association of St. Louis in their will, trust and/or estate plans, have named LESA as a beneficiary (whole or partial) of an insurance policy or retirement account, and/or have established an endowment fund.

What is a Financial Plan?

Financial planning can take many forms, but every Financial Plan should include a current and up-to-date estate plan, whether it be a will or trust. If you’d like to discuss financial planning with a trained expert, contact us and we can refer you to one.

A Tax-Effective Way to Donate to LESA

When planning your IRA withdrawal strategy, you may want to consider making charitable donations through a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). QCD is a direct transfer of funds from your IRA custodian, payable to a qualified charity like the Lutheran Elementary School Association. QCDs can be counted toward satisfying your required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year, as long as certain rules are met.

In addition to the benefits of supporting the Lutheran Elementary School Association, a QCD excludes the amount donated from taxable income, which is unlike regular withdrawals from an IRA. Keeping your taxable income lower may reduce the impact to certain tax credits and deductions, including Social Security and Medicare. Also, QCDs don’t require that you itemize, which due to the recent tax law changes, means you may decide to take advantage of the higher standard deduction, but still use a QCD for charitable giving.

You may qualify for a matching gift.

Many of our donors may qualify for matching gifts through Thrivent Financial, and many may also quality for a matching gift from your employer. If your company is not listed, please inquire with your employer to verify if they have a matching gift program.

If your employer is listed below, please contact the Human Resources department and submit a signed copy of the matching gift form to LESA. We will do the rest.

Support LESA

Thank you for your interest in supporting Lutheran education. Through your support, you can make the difference in the life of a child.