There’s a way that people can give that allows their philanthropy to continue even after they’re gone.
It’s called planned giving or legacy giving, and it can allow a person to make an even bigger impact after death.
“Planned giving is when an individual makes a plan to leave a charitable gift to a nonprofit or a charitable organization,” said Caitlin Golike, director of Donor Services and manager of the Legacy Society at the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.
She works with folks to set up funds that keep giving in perpetuity.
Every planned gift is unique to the donor, according to Golike. There’s a variety of ways to give and a variety of causes to support. Some people leave gifts to specific organizations while others leave planned gifts to support areas of interest.
“They may not have a nonprofit that they’ve very close to, but they want to support animals or education or conservation," said Golike.
For a Springfield couple, it’s both.
Bob and Barbara Kipfer are retired from the medical field. Bob is a retired physician, and Barbara is a retired nurse and nurse educator. But their passion now is conservation and education.
In 1995, the Kipfers purchased 90 acres along Bull Creek in Christian County, and, over the years, they expanded their property to encompass around 400 acres. The land has a rich history. Bob said the valley and its steep sides were once home to a community called Bull Mills, and it had a post office.
"The first road out of Springfield was authorized in 1833, and that road still exists — one mile of it — on our land. The only place it still exists," he said, "and that connected what would become Springfield, but at that time was just a county seat, all the way down to the White River around what's now Forsyth."
And Henry Rowe Schoolcraft – who Bob has long has had an interest in and who he has done reenactments of – is believed to have come through the valley when he lost his way on January 6, 1819. He had set out from Potosi with Levi Pettibone. Kipfer said he worked with a cartographer friend who confirmed that Schoolcraft could very well have come through the property.
Schoolcraft, who traveled through the then largely wild area, took detailed notes while looking for lead deposits and published the book, “Journal of a Tour into the Interior of Missouri and Arkansaw,” helping people today have a better understanding of what the land once looked like.
The property also saw activity during the Civil War, Bob said.
And it’s home to a variety of habitats as well as animal and plant species. Barb said, because of that, they’ve been working with professors at Missouri State University on studies for years.
"And, with that connection, we've really met some wonderful people. We've made some great contacts and get to talk to young people," she said, "which, at our age, is a real treat."
MSU faculty and students are currently studying the hyporheic zone on Bull Creek – that’s the water that travels under a gravel bar, Bob said.
"When you're on a gravel bar, if you are 12 inches above the water, and you dig 12 inches through gravel, there is life down there that's different than it is in the stream — the insect larvae and so forth," he said, "and, so, they're studying that. Bird song research — Jay McEntee (assistant professor of Biology at MSU), Deb Finn's (associate professor of Biology at MSU) doing the water, and all of those grad students come down and actually like to hang out with an 82-year-old guy, which you don't get to do very often, that part is really cool."
And he and Barb said there are a lot of other possibilities for research and learning.
That’s why the Kipfers decided, after talking with several organizations about the land’s future, that their property should go to Missouri State University.
And it won’t just be available for research.
“We talked with the MSU dean of education, and she envisions it also being used to teach teachers about teaching about nature and bringing out students so they can make observations,” she said.
The Kipfers have also set up an endowment with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks for upkeep of the land and for any building projects that need to be done – such as ensuring the property is accessible to all.
Brent Dunn, executive director of the Missouri State University Foundation worked with the Kipfers to be sure their wishes will be met – and to be sure the gift was the right fit for MSU.
“Everything checked off. They maintain the property, they live there, and we can – the beauty of this is we can still use the property now," he said, "and they are so generous and so willing to work with the university, and so those activities – they can actually see the results of their gift now and then knowing that when they pass that this is still going to continue.”
The Kipfers’ children, grandchildren and other family members will maintain a house on the property and will be able to continue to enjoy the land.
Golike said planned gifts can range from large – like the Kipfers – to small.
“Sometimes there’s a misconception that you have to be a millionaire to do this," she said. "That is not the case, and planned gifts left the Community Foundation of the Ozarks run the spectrum of small to large, so anyone can do this.”
While Golike said they are the charitable component experts when it comes to planned gifts, they always advise working with financial planners and attorneys as well.
The Kipfers said, having a plan in place for their beloved property once they can no longer manage it, gives them peace of mind.
“We feel very comfortable that the future is – which we will not be seeing – but the future, as much as we can control it the future, it’s pretty set,” Bob said.
Funding for the Making a Difference series is provided by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.
