Legacy for Life

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Each of us will leave a legacy, something nurses working in hospice or palliative care may realize more than most others. When considering your own legacy, planned gifts to the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Foundation (HPNF) can allow you to continue your dedication to hospice and palliative nursing care for generations to come.

Estate planning is the process of caring for yourself and your assets while you are living, and planning for the orderly transfer of assets to other persons and organizations—both during your life and afterward. Also called planned or legacy gifts, the estate planning process provides a sense of relief and peace of mind. You’ll know that you have done your best to plan and provide for yourself and for loved ones, as well as for the causes, like HPNF, you’ve cared about during your lifetime.

Making a planned gift to HPNF will support and grow a vital network of hospice and palliative care nurses, generate a heightened awareness of our specialty of care, and further advance the quality of life for the patients and families. In fact, legacy giving is a positive way to leave a lasting impact, although it also has significant tax implications that can lower income taxes during your life as well as estate taxes at your death.

Common planned gift contribution can be made through traditional means, including the following:

  • Wills
  • Trusts
  • Retirement and Individual Retirement Account funds
  • Life insurance policies

There are tax implications that can maximize the gifts you leave for all your beneficiaries. For example, assets from an Individual Retirement Account or 401(k) plan are subject to income tax when bequeathed to an individual but are tax-exempt when left to a 501(c)(3) charity like HPNF. Engaging legal and financial professionals who have the credentials and experience in estate planning is the best way to understand which options are best for you and your family.

Distinguished contributors in the HPNF Florence Wald Champion program demonstrate their passionate commitment to quality, end-of-life care by pledging to contribute $10,000 to HPNF over the course of a maximum of five years. Established in honor of Florence S. Wald, MN, MS, FAAN, the Champions are leaders promoting high quality of life for persons experiencing serious illness through excellence in hospice and palliative nursing.

The support from these philanthropic leaders ensures that funds are available to nurses and other health care professionals for education and research in the advancement of the rapidly growing and increasingly important hospice and palliative nursing specialty while honoring the “mother of hospice and palliative care.”

Past HPNA and HPNF President Linda Gorman, MN, RN, PMHCNS-BC, CHPN®, FPCN, is a Florence Wald Champion and also provides contributions through the Gorman Family Fund at the Chicago Community Foundation. She says her generosity to HPNF reflects her appreciation for the support, networking, and opportunities her involvement with HPNA provided her during her remarkable career.

Gifts of all types provide vital support and enable HPNF to continue to cultivate and champion the future of hospice and palliative nursing care. A testament to our mission, contributions from our members are particularly important and represent another way to provide service, give back to your profession, and leave a legacy for future nurses. If you would like further information, contact HPNF at info@hpnf.org.