Community and Sports are an essential outlet in the human experience.
Since 1897, Riverside has brought together like-minded individuals with the common goal of providing a venue for comradery and enjoyment of sport in the Saint John region. Our tradition has always combined a passion for history and sportsmanship and a deep commitment to building a community that values and appreciates traditional values and community.
As a Riverside member and supporter, you demonstrate the importance of sport and club in your life and that you value our independent and member-owned club. If you’re a long-time Riverside listener – and perhaps a past donor as well – we invite you to consider leaving a gift in your will to the Riverside Country Club. Your bequest will ensure that your values will carry on; the generations who follow you will have the opportunity to experience and enjoy a thriving club. Thank you for making Riverside part of your life’s legacy.
As we mature, we begin to ponder the purpose of our lives and the legacy we will leave behind when we’re gone. When we think of the footprint we’ll leave on this earth, many of us think of the people we love that we’ve left to carry on. Perhaps our children and grandchildren. Perhaps others upon whom we’ve had a deep influence. Some of us choose to extend our legacy of love beyond our immediate known circle. Some choose to include in their legacies people they don’t know – and will never meet. Yet, we make gifts to enrich their lives also. If the idea of such a gift resonates with you, we encourage you to consider a legacy gift to the Club.
You may not know this, but there are more than one million Canadians alive today who have chosen to leave bequests to their favourite causes and charities. The legacy gifts that make the news are often the mega-gifts from the super-rich. But, in reality, everyday people are choosing to include important causes in their wills each and every day.
Whether it’s a small percentage of your estate or the residual (leftovers) of your estate, your legacy gift will help ensure a bright future for golf in New Brunswick.
If the idea of a legacy gift to the Riverside Country Club appeals to you, we encourage you to learn more - review our Legacy Q&A below.
Please talk to those people you rely on to provide you with sound financial planning advice. Your financial planner, accountant or lawyer can probably advise you on how to make an impactful gift that has tax advantages built into it. There are also many available online resources available to you.
To ask more questions, have a conversation or share your own plans, please be in touch:
Jason Porter, General Manager
Email: jason.porter@riversidecountryclub.ca
Phone: 506-647-1504
Everyone has their own giving experience, but for many people, a legacy gift transforms them from ‘donors’ to ‘philanthropists’. Most Canadians give a few hundred dollars a year to organizations and charities, while some have the ability to give much larger gifts to their favourite organizations.
Legacy gifts usually come from a donor’s assets (like a house or cottage) instead of income, so it might be a much bigger donation – and thus, have much more impact. Donors often tell us that they find the experience of making a bequest to be a major life event – one that brings them great joy and deep satisfaction.
Charitable bequests come from all sorts of people. However, there are certain characteristics that we find are more common among those who make gifts in their wills to Riverside. They tend to be 60 years of age or older (though we have some younger donors who’ve established legacy gifts, too). If they have children, those children are often grown up and financially independent. Our legacy donors often own their own homes and have paid off their mortgages.
There is no rule of thumb here. Some people leave a small percentage of their estates, while others – often with little or no family – may leave their entire estate. It appears that many legacy donors leave about 10% of their estates to a chosen cause causes. The average gift in a Canadian will today is around $25,000. It’s estimated that Canadians who are alive today have made bequests that will someday amount to more than $100 billion to support their most beloved organizations and causes.
We would never suggest to anyone that they shouldn’t provide for family first! However, we know from experience that many people are able to use their wills to provide for family and to make the world a better place. For example, someone might have three children and four grandchildren. She might divide her estate into eight equal portions. She decides to leave one portion to each child and grandchild – and to split the remaining portion between two or three causes that she cares deeply about.
This is a common concern among people who want to make a donation but haven’t done so yet. There are two options that may appeal to people with this concern. You may leave what’s called ‘the residual of your estate’ to your favourite cause. In effect, the organization receives whatever’s left in your estate after your fixed obligations have been met. Other people choose to leave a percentage of their estate. This way, the ultimate size of the gift will grow or shrink along with the estate’s value over time.
Yes, you are.
Most bequest donors choose to make a legacy gift and let the organization's leadership decide how the money will be best used when the time comes. Some donors, however, have clear and definite ideas about how they would like their gift to be put to best use. If you have a specific use for your bequest in mind, we URGE you to speak with us prior to formalizing your donation. We want to ensure that your goals and ours are aligned and that we’ll be able to follow your directions and avoid any disappointment.
The simple fact is that in today’s philanthropic world, charitable bequests can amount to a lot of income and ensure future sustainability for the organizations that receive them. Perhaps most important, the cost of raising this money is only a couple of pennies on the dollar raised. That means that almost all of the donated money goes to the organization’s mission! A gift in your will can ensure that the generations who follow you will be exposed to and appreciate a classic golf and club experience.
