Why Give?

All of us wonder: Will my life make a difference?  How will I be remembered?  What can I accomplish to advance my community, my people, my most deeply held convictions?

As college loans morph into mortgage payments and our assets focus on family and retirement needs, those larger questions of life’s meaning can become derailed.  But when the kids are grown, the mortgage is paid, and we once again listen to our hearts, our priorities shift once again.  The Cranberry Legacy Endowment creates an attractive opportunity to make a lasting difference in our community.

Creating a Legacy provides the assurance that your name and contributions will continue to benefit your community, your children, and their children – in perpetuity.  A community foundation allows you to invest directly into the fabric of your own community. The Cranberry Legacy Endowment enables anyone to create a fund supporting their choice of more than 40 different causes.  

The Cranberry Legacy Endowment is patterned after the successful Centre County Foundation in central Pennsylvania.  As Cranberry’s 25 year-comprehensive plan was being developed, we looked at other communities to see what they were doing to strengthen their local nonprofits.  That’s when we discovered the Centre County Community Foundation, in the State College area.  Back in 1983, a county judge bequeathed $10,000 to help local nonprofits.  A group of people then joined together to encourage the formation of other endowments, and a foundation was started.  That original donation eventually grew to over 300 endowments valued at more than $20 million today, and the foundation donates more than $1 million each year to nonprofit organizations.

Approximately 28,000 people make their home in Cranberry Township.  But projections indicate that our population will increase to 52,000 by 2030.  The average age of Cranberry’s residents is now 34.  Their lives today benefit from the past contributions of others.  But in time, we know that this generation will want to leave their own legacy for others to enjoy and to be remembered for what they accomplished in making our community better.

There are many ways to give.  Some strategies can be excellent estate planning techniques, depending on your circumstance.  As with all investment and donations, we highly recommended that you consult with your accountant and attorney to decide the best way for you to give.