Although he never met his benefactor, Durrell J. Hodge, says the man who helped him attend OU has been an inspiration to him. The first member of his family to attend college, Hodge is now a senior in electrical engineering with help from the Donald E. Hall Scholarship. “I would not have been able to attend college without scholarship help,” said Hodge. “Mr. Hall’s generosity has motivated me to be successful. Because of how he has helped me, I will be able to help another student after I graduate.”

O n his way to earning his bachelor’s degree in geological engineering at the University of Oklahoma in 1938, Clark Snider often followed a path that helped fellow students, from loaning a book to explaining a difficult problem. Now, even after his death in August, he continues to give OU students a leg-up through a $1.46 million bequest to the OU Foundation.

Snider’s gift is just one example of how people can continue to make a positive impact after they are gone. Although he had not set foot on campus for 30 years, part of his heart remained with the University he credited for his successful career as an oil and gas man, and he wanted to contribute to OU’s future. Yet one need not be a millionaire to take advantage of estate planning.

“Anyone can be a philanthropist,” said Judi Freyer, director of Planned Giving for OU Development. “People are savvier now about planned gifts. They want their assets directed.”

The case for planned giving is compelling. In addition to supporting a program or college of their choice, donors can cut through the red tape of probate and dramatically decrease the amount lost to estate taxes, while still taking care of loved ones.

People in the 45 percent tax bracket, who have first provided generously to children and grandchildren, may decide that instead of being able to pass only an additional 55 cents from every dollar, after taxes, to a beneficiary, they can give 100 percent to benefit their alma mater.

For someone who is not in that high tax bracket, like Freyer herself, the case for planned giving is just as strong. “I cannot at this time make a large gift to the University,” said the OU alumna, who earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the same university where she has worked since 1969. “But I can be a President’s Associate and make other smaller annual gifts and, through a planned gift, make a substantial gift for the future.

“By meeting with the donor and setting up a fund agreement, we can honor their wishes by tailoring their gift to areas of greatest benefit to the University and greatest satisfaction to them,” she said.

Although wills are the most common form of planned giving, there are other options with immediate benefits to the donor.

With a Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust, a donor transfers cash, securities or other appreciated property into a trust. The trustee makes fixed annual payments to the donor or beneficiaries designated by the donor. The benefits to the donor include an immediate income tax deduction for a portion of the contribution to the annuity trust; no payment of capital gains tax on any appreciated assets donated; and the donor is assured of a stable, predictable source of income for life. The OU Foundation is available to serve as trustee when the remainder of the trust is left to the University of Oklahoma upon the death of the donor.

A Charitable Remainder Unitrust operates nearly the same as the Annuity Trust, but the quarterly income paid to the donor will fluctuate with the rise and fall of the market.

“A trust is less expensive than probate and it’s private,” said Gary Beadles, Foundation Vice President and General Counsel. “Probate will cost $2,500 on a $100,000 estate and takes an executor six to nine months to distribute assets. You can set up a trust for around $1,500, and the trustee has the authority to make the distributions according to your instructions immediately.”

Not only does the trust direct the estate in a timely and cost efficient manner, it also provides benefits for the donor during his or her lifetime. “Someone with $100,000 in CDs is earning around 3.9 percent,” said Beadles. “It won’t be too hard to convince someone to transfer that money to a charitable remainder trust that pays greater dividends..”

Planned giving is not just for people in their twilight years. Younger and younger people are setting up a trust, added Beadles, primarily to make sure their children are taken care of, and a revocable trust can change with the changing needs of the family. One trend for parents is to define allocations by percentage rather than a fixed amount per child. In the case of a parent with four children, each child could receive 20 percent of the estate, with the final 20 percent divided among charitable giving causes directed by the donor.

Often donors will make very specific requests when leaving money to their alma mater, but discretionary funds will take care of needs that neither the donor nor even the University can predict at the time.

When 1947 OU alumna Mary Lou Milner Carver died in April 2005, (see story below) she left a provision in her trust to endow two $250,000 professorships and a $500,000 faculty chair in the School of Art and Art History. But she also left a substantial amount for discretionary funds to be used as needed by the director of the school, now and in perpetuity.

In the end, said Freyer, the choice for making a planned gift is based on more than a tax break. “First and foremost, you are making a significant gift to the University. When I’m no longer around to act, I know there will be a student who needs a scholarship or a program that needs my help. How can I finalize my estate without wanting to be a part of that?”

For more information on planned giving, call Judi Freyer at OU Development, 405/325-3701; Rex Urice, director of planned giving for the Health Sciences Center campuses at 405/271-6484, ext. 47274; or Gary Beadles at 405/321-1174; or visit the Foundation Web site, www.oufoundation.org.