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Over the years, The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. has benefited from the generosity of our community — people who care about our employees and want to help create opportunities for them.
One of those donors — a former member of our Board of Trustees who has asked to remain anonymous for this article — created a significant positive change for our employees this year with a generous donation from a charitable fund honoring his family.
The Lighthouse is so grateful to have been chosen for this generous donation and we are proud to use it to advance our mission.
This particular gift followed a family tradition for the donor. In the past, he had encouraged the entire family to participate in making decisions about where their charitable gifts would go and had originally set up a donor advised fund. As market conditions changed, he decided the charitable funds could do more good if they were contributed in one gift.
Charitable gifts to the Lighthouse make our work possible. Donations support our ability to create accessibility in the workplace, a critical element of the success of our employees and our organization. Our goal is to make every aspect of the workplace available to employees who are blind, Deaf-Blind, or blind with other disabilities — including production equipment, written materials, facilities, and information technologies. We’re only able to work toward that goal with the financial contributions of people who care about our work.
Donations like this one help cover the costs of making our jobs accessible through technology, training, employee support, and other modifications.
Setting up an advised fund, as this donor did, is just one way to make a significant future gift in support of the Lighthouse. All types of planned gifts provide an ongoing and meaningful commitment for donors and their families, as well as creating improvements for Lighthouse employees.
We honor individuals and families for their commitment to the Lighthouse by naming them as members of our Legacy Society. All that is necessary to be a member of the Legacy Society is to indicate that you’ve named the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind Foundation as a beneficiary in a will, annuity, or other planned giving tool.
There are many other options that you can employ to support the Lighthouse, including Charitable Remainder Trusts or by naming the Lighthouse as the beneficiary of a retirement fund or a life insurance policy. For more information, contact Development Director Kirk Laughlin at 206-436-2253 or consult your financial advisor.
You may feel the same way as our generous anonymous donor. In his words: “I want my work and my efforts to continue past my lifetime. I’m glad that I was able to make a gift to help people succeed.”
You can also see a summary of planned giving tools by visiting www.seattlelighthouse.org/ways-to-give.
