Each endowed and current-use fund should be accompanied by a gift agreement that provides guidance to the Hospital for the application and use of a respective fund. Ideally, such an agreement can be established when you make your plans, referred to in your gift plan, amended at your request before the funding event takes place, and funded with the minimum threshold amount required at any time in advance of the final funding event determined by your gift plan.
Whenever you make an additional contribution to your fund, you may choose to allocate your gift to either the principal, the spendable (i.e., current-use) account for your fund, or both— by a proportion you select at the time of your gift.
Many gift planners, upon the establishment of their endowed fund, may want to increase the amount of their total contribution along with instructions to allocate enough to the principal of the fund to meet the minimum threshold requirement, applying the excess amount to the fund’s spendable account. This technique can ensure more immediate impact for the intended applications of the fund.
The Hospital’s Department of Philanthropy shall seek the advice of its legal and financial advisors in matters pertaining to its planned/deferred gift program and shall execute no agreement, contract, trust, or other legal document prior to receiving approval of competent legal/tax counsel.
Prospective donors are urged to seek the counsel of their attorneys and financial advisors in all aspects of their proposed gift particularly on matters related to the legal and tax effects of a gift and its effect on their estate planning.