Make-A-Will Month: How Legacy Gifts Can Help Kids Believe in Themselves for Generations
Legacy gifts for youth empowerment nonprofit work may sound like a topic for someday, but Make-A-Will Month makes it practical right now. A will is not only a legal document. It is a way to name the people, values, and causes you want to protect beyond your lifetime.
For Believe in Me supporters, legacy giving is about more than a future transaction. It is a long view of youth opportunity. A planned gift can help children’s charities keep showing up for marginalized kids year after year, even as community needs change.
Believe in Me funds children’s charities that provide marginalized kids with “a safe place to call home, a family that loves them, a feeling of community, and opportunities to learn, build self-esteem, and have fun.” A legacy gift helps that promise reach further than one campaign, one school year, or one donor’s lifetime.
Why Make-A-Will Month Matters
August is National Make-A-Will Month, a yearly reminder to create or update estate plans. FreeWill’s 2026 Make-A-Will Month guide explains that a will can protect loved ones, reduce confusion, name guardians, and create a lasting legacy for causes a person cares about.
That last point is easy to overlook. Many people assume charitable estate gifts are only for wealthy families or complicated estates. In reality, a legacy gift can be a percentage, a specific dollar amount, or a beneficiary designation. The most important part is clarity: your loved ones understand your wishes, and the causes that shaped your life can continue receiving support.
This article is educational, not legal or tax advice. Donors should consult qualified professionals when making estate decisions. Still, every supporter can begin with values: Who did I love? What did I stand for? What kind of community do I want children to inherit?
Legacy Gifts Are Not Only for Large Donors
One of the most helpful planned giving myths to retire is the idea that only major donors leave bequests. The National Council of Nonprofits legacy giving guide notes that legacy giving is not just for large nonprofits, not just for the wealthy, and not only about complex gifts. It describes simple options such as a bequest in a will, naming a nonprofit as a beneficiary of an insurance policy or retirement plan, or naming a nonprofit as a donor-advised fund beneficiary.
That matters for youth empowerment because ordinary generosity, planned clearly, can become extraordinary over time. A donor may not be able to fund a full program today, but a future gift can help sustain flexible support for kids who need safety, belonging, education, enrichment, and self-confidence.
Legacy giving is not about replacing annual gifts. It is about adding a long-term layer to a donor’s care for the mission.
What a Legacy Gift Can Make Possible
A legacy gift can support the conditions young people need before they can thrive. It may help a partner provide food, clothing, stable housing support, tutoring, mentoring, enrichment, camp experiences, scholarships, or community-based learning. It can also help Believe in Me respond to emerging needs without asking children or families to wait for a narrow grant cycle.
The power of planned giving is time. Youth work is rarely solved by a single moment. A child may need a safe place first, then a trusting adult, then school support, then a chance to build confidence through art, sports, STEM, or leadership. Legacy gifts help organizations stay present across those stages.
They also communicate something profound to the next generation: you are worth planning for. When donors include youth empowerment in their estate plans, they are saying that kids they may never meet still belong in the circle of care.
How Donors Can Think About the Gift
Start with purpose before mechanics. Some donors want a gift to support the broad mission so future leaders can use it where it is most needed. Others prefer a scholarship, education support, enrichment, or a specific youth empowerment priority. Either approach can be meaningful when it is communicated clearly.
Donors can also think in percentages. A small percentage of an estate can protect family priorities while still creating a future charitable gift. For retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and donor-advised funds, beneficiary designations may be simpler than changing a will, though each donor’s situation is different.
Good stewardship matters here. The Association of Fundraising Professionals’ donor stewardship guidance emphasizes relationship, acknowledgment, and trust. Legacy donors should feel informed and respected, not pressured. Planned giving is a conversation about meaning, not a sales script.
What to Ask Before Naming a Nonprofit
Before including any nonprofit in an estate plan, donors can ask a few practical questions. Is the mission clear? Does the organization explain how gifts are used? Are financials and leadership information available? Does the nonprofit steward donors with gratitude and transparency? Does the organization’s work align with the future you want to help create?
For Believe in Me, the mission is centered on marginalized youth and the Five Pillars of Caring: safety, love and belonging, community support, education, and enrichment. A planned gift can help trusted community partners continue serving children and young adults through those pillars.
Make-A-Will Month is a good time to review existing documents, talk with loved ones, and ask professional advisors how to reflect charitable wishes. It is also a good time to tell a nonprofit if you have included them, if you are comfortable doing so. That helps the organization plan and say thank you.
The Bottom Line
A will is more than paperwork. It is a statement of care. For donors who believe every kid deserves the self-confidence they need to succeed, legacy giving can turn a lifetime of values into future opportunity.
This Make-A-Will Month, the next step does not have to be complicated. Review your plans. Talk with your family and advisors. Consider whether a percentage, bequest, or beneficiary designation could help kids believe in themselves for generations. Then choose a path that protects your loved ones and reflects the community you want to leave behind.
A legacy gift is a future charitable gift made through an estate plan, will, retirement account, insurance policy, donor-advised fund, or other planned giving tool. It allows donors to support a mission beyond their lifetime.
No. Many legacy gifts are simple bequests or beneficiary designations. Donors can leave a percentage or amount that fits their family, values, and financial situation.
Make-A-Will Month encourages people to protect loved ones and clarify their wishes. For youth empowerment supporters, it is also a reminder that planned gifts can sustain safety, belonging, education, enrichment, and self-confidence for future generations.
Some donors choose a specific purpose, while others leave flexible gifts for the greatest future need. Because community needs change, it is wise to talk with the nonprofit and your advisor before creating restrictions.
No. Believe in Me can discuss mission priorities and stewardship, but donors should consult qualified legal, tax, or financial advisors before making estate planning decisions.
About the Author
Julie Wukelic, MBA, is the Chief Change Maker at Believe in Me Foundation for Kids. She helps align strategy, technology, and community partnerships so trusted nonprofits can expand opportunities for marginalized youth to learn, belong, build confidence, and have fun.