“Give from your wealth, not just your wallet.” That’s the advice of Tim Kenny, development director for Venice-based Agape Flights. Using two turboprop aircraft and volunteer pilots, the 43-year-old nonprofit provides weekly delivery of critical supplies to Caribbean-based missionaries. Agape receives 100 percent of its support from donations.
“Most of our lives, as generous people, we invest in the organizations we care about through donations from our income,” Kenny said. “We earn a certain amount of money–and we give some of that income to the causes and organizations that matter to us.”
But with inflation taking a bigger bite out of paychecks, charitable giving is taking a hit. Giving USA estimates Americans gave 1.7 percent of their income to charity in 2022, the lowest level since 1995.
NONPROFITS IN NEED OF SUPPORT
“Meanwhile, your favorite nonprofit is also dealing with inflation in just about every category,” Kenny said. The pattern is not sustainable, he added, especially for smaller organizations.
Agape Flights and many other nonprofits are increasing their focus on what they call “smart giving”–encouraging donors to give not just from monthly income, but from assets built over a lifetime. For some people, that might mean creating a will that includes their favorite nonprofit as a beneficiary. For others, it could mean directing an IRS-required minimum IRA distribution to charity–an option that can have significant tax advantages for some retirees. Either way, the technology behind the process is intuitive and easy to use.
Kenny spent 13 years with a major international ministry organization, where attorneys and experts on staff help donors navigate these potentially complex giving channels. The smaller charities that comprise most U.S. nonprofits don’t have those resources, he said, and they’re looking for creative ways to facilitate smart giving.
CULTIVATING CREATIVE GIVING
That’s where FreeWill comes in. Agape Flights has partnered with the tech company to help donors create a legally-binding will online for free. The company also helps facilitate transactions like retirement account Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) and stock gifts. Forbes.com explained, “FreeWill works a little like this: an individual signs up online, creates a will and arranges a donation (if desired), all within minutes from home… The cost of creating a will is absorbed by the charities partnered with the brand, who pay a set amount in turn for receiving funding through the tool.”
With a new hangar on the drawing board and the need for its services increasing, Agape Flights is counting on its online smart giving tools to help donors be creative in their generosity.
“God has always used His people to meet our needs,” Kenny said of the faith-based Agape Flights. “I think these tools will just be another way He helps make that happen.”
Agape Flights is focusing on “smart giving”–encouraging donors to give not just from monthly income, but from assets built over a lifetime.
