Ways to Give

Make giving easy. Simple and convenient, giving monthly saves time and money. Your monthly support is a guarantee of regular and predictable funds that build funding, allowing LSS to respond immediately to emerging ministry opportunities and special initiatives.

How to get started

• To have your monthly gift deducted directly from your bank account, fill out the EFT Authorization Form and submit it to the Foundation for processing.
• For recurring credit card gifts, click the "Donate Online" button below.

Celebrate a special day with a gift to LSS in honor or memory of those you love. Follow the steps below to make a special gift in someone’s honor and contact us with any questions or concerns.

Steps to take

1. Click the "Donate Online" button below and choose your gift designation.
2. Click either the “honor” or “memory” button and input fields will appear.
3. Provide the name and contact information of the donation recipient and continue the donation process. We will notify the honored person or family when the donation is finalized.
   

   Donate Online

Gifts of appreciated securities (stocks, bonds, mutual funds) are a great way for you to give to LSS and may provide significant tax benefits to you as a donor.  The process is easy, efficient and cost effective.

Instructions for making a gift of securities

To initiate a securities transfer, please contact Tammi Franzen at (414) 246-2311 or donorservices@lsswis.org for delivery instructions to the Foundation.

To ensure proper and timely acknowledgement of your gift for income tax purposes, please notify Donor Services in advance of any securities transfers. This will enable her to help you through the process and prepare the broker for the delivery of your gift.

Charitable gift planning can be as simple as making a bequest in your will or revocable living trust. But there are other possibilities. Charitable life income agreements allow you to achieve several personal financial goals at the same time, including making a contribution to LSS. When should you consider planned giving strategies which may include some type of life income agreement?

• If you have a charitable dream – a desire to give
• If you own highly appreciated assets – worth significantly more now than when you bought them, thus subject to capital gains taxes
• If you would like to reduce the amount of income tax you pay
• If you need additional income
• If you want or need to diversify your asset holdings
• If you have a child or other dependent who needs additional income

Wills and Bequests

Legacy Giving

Remembering the ministries of LSS in your will or estate plan gives an inheritance or a transfer of the blessings that God gives during a lifetime, and provides an opportunity for you to have a significant impact on ministry in the future. 

Three easy ways to leave a legacy gift:

• Through your Will or Trust – Direct a certain dollar amount or percentage to the ministries of LSS
• Through your IRA – Direct a certain dollar amount or percentage to the ministry on the Beneficiary Designation form
• Through your Life Insurance – Direct a certain dollar amount or percentage to the ministry on the Beneficiary Designation form

Three important considerations when writing your will:

• Specify the amount or percentage – “ten thousand dollars ($10,000)” or fifteen percent (15%)”
• Give the full name and address – “The LSS Foundation, 647 W. Virginia St., Suite 200, Milwaukee, WI 53204”
• Undesignated bequests strengthen the whole ministry of the church but you may also designate your bequest to a specific need or program area – “undesignated for the mission and ministry of the LSS Foundation” or “designated for Homme Children’s Home.”

Charitable Life Income Agreements

How do Charitable Life Income Agreements Work?

• You place cash or appreciated assets into a life income agreement
• You may receive payouts for life (or the lives of you and another person). You receive a charitable income tax deduction
• You reduce tax on capital gains
• One or more charitable ministries of your choice receives the remainder after death

Charitable life income agreements are often called “win-win” gifts because both parties win. The donor wins because of the tax benefits and potential increase in spendable income; the charity wins because the donor is enabled to make a legacy (deferred) gift which might have been otherwise impossible.

The Foundation is a member of Lutheran Planned Giving of Wisconsin(LPGW) – a partnership of ELCA Ministries Serving Wisconsin. LPGW offers a full portfolio of charitable life income agreements including charitiable gift annuities; charitable remainder unitrusts; charitable remainder annuity trusts; pooled income funds; charitable lead trusts; and charitable life estates.

For information on how to make a legacy or planned gift in support of ministry through LSS, we encourage you to contact:

The Rev. Larry Westfield, Regional Gift Planner
Lutheran Planned Giving of Wisconsin
larry.westfield@elca.org
(262) 224-9574