Anonymous Donor Establishes Justice Fund Unlike Any Other
More than 100 Justice Funds have been established through contributions to the North Carolina Bar Foundation Endowment. Lawyers from all across the state and all walks of life have been honored over the course of five decades.
But never before has a Justice Fund been established anonymously, until now. The donor’s reason for doing so is because they want other members to consider making similar donations of their own. Many members, like this donor, hail from small and steady practices which may not necessarily fit the profile of the typical Justice Fund contributor or honoree.
Especially members of a certain age.
“It came out of the blue,” the donor offered. “Like many lawyers who have contributed faithfully toward their retirement – contributing the maximum amount each year that could be deducted for tax purposes – I had some idea what that would mean, although I had never given much thought to exactly how much money that would be.
“And then my financial advisor called me and told me how much I would have to take out to reach the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) after I turned 72, and it was quite a bit annually. Not over the top, but it was more than I ever would have imagined.”
While continuing to support their church and community, the donor turned to the Foundation because the North Carolina Bar Association has contributed so much to their successful, fulfilling legal career.
“I have been a member of the bar association every single year of my career in North Carolina,” the donor stated. “For a long time, I have been part of the Lawyer Referral Service and participated in sections, committees and other bar activities. My firm and other firms our size over the years have obtained liability insurance through Lawyers Mutual, which is an offshoot of the bar association. And I attended CLE programs after that became mandatory.
“I always participate in 4ALL as have other lawyers in my firm. Those are some of the core things, and there are other programs over the years that the bar association has started and generated that have been important to me.”
The anonymous donor is also a huge proponent of BarCARES, which is a “confidential, short-term intervention program provided cost-free to members of participating judicial district bars, voluntary bar associations and law schools.” BarCARES, as its website further denotes, “is made possible by BarCARES of North Carolina, Inc., the North Carolina Bar Association, the North Carolina Bar Foundation, Lawyers Insurance Agency, as well as participating judicial district bars, voluntary bar associations, law schools and the NCBA Paralegal Division.”
“It is a wonderful thing,” the donor elaborated. “As my mother used to say, I was born on a sunny day, so I have never had to deal with mental health issues. But I know many lawyers who do but were too prideful to admit it. We have this confidential program, and as lawyers, we deal disproportionately with mental health issues, so this is an important program. We don’t know how many lawyers have been helped because the program is confidential, but I do know that many lawyers have taken advantage of this.”
The donor had never considered underwriting an NCBF Endowment Justice Fund, which is established with a minimum commitment of $50,000.
“In my wildest dreams I never thought I could afford to underwrite a Justice Fund,” the donor exclaimed. “It used to be that you had to reach $50,000, but now, with a planned gift conversation and commitment with the NCBF development team, at the $20,000 level, it can be recognized. I can do that! And in January it starts all over again, and I will have to get rid of $10,000 at the end of the year. It gave me something to think more seriously about.”
This is where it would be really helpful to know the donor’s name because anyone who knows this individual knows that once they start thinking about something, action is soon to follow. And so it was that the first anonymous Justice Fund of the NCBF Endowment came into being.
But why make it anonymous?
“So many of the people recognized with Justice Funds have been large firm lawyers in whose names the contributions have been received from loyal lawyers within the firm, or they are highly successful litigators, or some variation thereof,” the donor stated. “I wondered how many people who look like me have a Justice Fund. So many members of the North Carolina Bar Association are members of firms with five lawyers or less, which means we have a lot of small firm members without law partners to contribute large amounts of money.
“As I continued to think about it, I wondered, if it is done anonymously, these factors that make my profile so much like the majority of our members might encourage other members in smaller firms to consider establishing their own Justice Funds.
“So many of our members are in smaller firms, and a lot of them are close to hitting that 72-year marker that requires them to take out a certain amount of dollars. Now you have this sum of money that you have to spend or give away, it makes sense to think about that provision, and that says ‘Wow!’ to me.
“I have been encouraged to use my name, and someday I may, but right now I want to do this and hopefully catch the eye of people who look like me, because I am just like them.
“I am them.”
What Is A Justice Fund?
“A Justice Fund,” states the NCBF website, “is a named Endowment Fund established with a minimum of $50,000 in commitments intended to bolster the Foundation’s unrestricted endowment, which makes annual awards to programmatic purposes in line with the Foundation’s mission, vision and values, subject to the approval of the NCBF Executive and Volunteer Leadership. A Justice Fund is established with a gift from a single contributor or with significant gifts made by a group of colleagues, friends or family members in recognition and celebration of the honoree.
“A Justice Fund honoree is recognized once the Foundation has received at least 50% of the Fund’s minimum commitment in cash gifts; the balance of the fund may be established through pledges paying out over no more than five years.”
Learn more here.
What Is Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)?
“You cannot keep retirement funds in your account indefinitely,” according to the IRS website. “You generally have to start taking withdrawals from your IRA, SIMPLE IRA, SEP IRA, or retirement plan account when you reach age 70½. However, changes were made by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act which was part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, P.L. 116-94, signed by the President on December 20, 2019. Due to changes made by the SECURE Act, if your 70th birthday is July 1, 2019, or later, you do not have to take withdrawals until you reach age 72. Roth IRAs do not require withdrawals until after the death of the owner.”
Learn more here.
What is the SECURE Act?
Norfleet Pruden, a past president of the NCBA and NCBF who retired a few years ago from K&L Gates in Charlotte, provided excellent insight on the SECURE Act shortly before it went into effect in 2020.
“As you have hopefully heard,” Pruden wrote, “the SECURE Act enacted in late December 2019 raised the minimum age from 70.5 (technically April 1 of the year following the year a person attains the age of 70.5) to 72 years effective January 1, 2020, for required minimum distributions from IRA’s and other applicable accounts. You can now wait until age 72 years for the first RMD unless you were already required to take RMDs in 2019.
Learn more here.
Anyone who has a question regarding any aspect of charitable giving within the North Carolina Bar Foundation is urged to contact Louise Harris, via phone (919.677.0992) or email: [email protected].
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.