(239) 687-5300
What inspires you to give to an organization? What causes or issues are you passionate about?
And how do you want to be remembered?
For many of us, this is a very personal decision and reflects our unique and individual goals in life. Giving brings us great joy and satisfaction in making a difference in what we truly believe in. Maya Angelou found that giving “liberates the soul of the giver.” Simply put, giving makes us feels good for doing something we passionately believe in.
Your support and your prayers are necessary now, more than ever, to help us to train the next generation of lawyers who will take a stand for restoring the moral and legal foundations of our great nation.
This is important work, and your gift is vital. I urge you to remember Ave Maria Law in your will, contribute to the scholarship fund, or to provide a scholarship to a veteran by becoming a Veterans Memorial Law Library Founder or Wall of Honor benefactor.
May God bless you abundantly for your support of Ave Maria School of Law, and for your generosity. Thank you for your faith in us and our mission and for making a difference in the lives of our students and the potential impact they can make on our country.
Thank you for your gift to help us to educate the next generation of lawyers that will take a stand for restoring the moral and legal foundations of our great nation. May God continue to bless you abundantly for your generosity.
Ave Maria Law Mourns the Loss of Monsignor McGrath
Dean John M. Czarnetzky announces the Monsignor Frank McGrath Memorial Fund to support the long-term building of the Catholic mission at Ave Maria School of Law.
How Can I Leave the World a Better Place?
Become a Friend of Ave Maria Law.
All of us have probably asked ourselves this question at one time or another. As a practicing estate attorney for over 30 years, I found that most people do not give this question the kind of thorough analysis it deserves. After all, you have worked your entire life to accumulate assets — and for what purpose? Most of my clients initially went no further in the analysis than thinking about their immediate family. Family no doubt deserves very serious consideration, and especially when children are young, perhaps nothing else should have a higher priority. However, as children grow older and become self-sufficient, and in some cases even better off than their parents, a deeper and more faithful analysis should occur. I have always been an advocate of charitable giving, especially by encouraging people to think more about charitable giving through an end of life gift. Charitable gifts not only provide a much needed source for funds for societal needs that may not otherwise be met, but they make those who contribute actually feel better about themselves.
Consider this short list of what you can accomplish by making a charitable gift upon your death:
Leaving a Legacy
I think there is a desire on all our parts, perhaps a God given desire, for all of us to leave the a world better place than we found it, to support a cause we believe is important, and to inspire others. An estate gift is an easy way to leave that legacy without making gifts from funds that are relied on for normal living expenses, or from savings for unknown future needs.
Needs of Our Family
I believe everyone needs to do a heartfelt examination of the real needs of their heirs. Do your children really need 100% of your estate when you die? Would their needs be well provided for by receiving 80% or 75% or even 50% of your estate value? In a two million dollar estate, for example, if two children were left 80% to split, or $800,000 a piece, would they suffer in some material way by receiving $800,000 rather than by receiving 100%, or 1 million each? Almost certainly the answer would be no. But what benefit would a charity like Ave Maria School of Law gain from an estate gift of the remaining $400,000? The impact you provide would be immense and inspiring!
Private Versus Government Support
Estate gifts to charity help relieve the need for the government to become involved in supporting and controlling more charitable organizations that could and should be supported exclusively by private charitable dollars. You have made the decision to support several charities with gifts during your lifetime. Why should that devotion to help others stop at the time of your death, the time when you will be able to make the greatest and most impactful charitable gift?
Private Versus Government Support
Yes! It is written in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” If this exhortation applies during our lifetimes, it surely must apply at our deaths when most families will pass on the largest gift of their lifetime, their estate, to family members, charities or otherwise.
So, with at least four good reasons to consider making a charitable estate gift, let’s address the other issues that often keep people from making a charitable estate gift: time and cost. There are several ways you can leave a charitable estate gift while investing very little time or money.
Here are four of the most common ways to leave a legacy gift inexpensively
Name a Charity as a Life Insurance Policy Beneficiary
Insurance policies are often acquired when people are young. As we grow older and more financially independent, the purpose for which they were acquired may no longer exist. Does your current stated beneficiary really need all of your insurance proceeds? One simple change of beneficiary form can leave all or a percentage of your death benefit to one or more charities.
EXAMPLE: 50% to Ave Maria School of Law; 50% to your children
TIME REQUIRED: 10 minutes
COST: Zero
IRA/Retirement Account Beneficiary
IRA proceeds can be a costly benefit to pass on to heirs. Again, one simple form can change part or all of the proceeds to include one or more charities. This can be an income tax savings benefit to your heirs since the death benefits of an IRA payable to an heir are often subject to income tax. EXAMPLE: 50% to 2 different charities TIME REQUIRED: 10 minutes COST: Zero On a related note: IRA’s are an excellent charitable lifetime gift vehicle for people over 701/2 who don’t rely on all the money from their IRA for ordinary living expenses. Distributions up to $100,000 per year can be made directly from the IRA Administrator to a charity. These gifts can be used to satisfy your annual required minimum distributions requirements but are not taxable to you.
Payable or Transfer on Death Accounts - POD's & TOD's
If you set up a bank account as “payable on death,” the account will pass to the beneficiary whom you name upon your death. The assets in the account do not have to pass through probate court. As long as you are alive, the person you name to inherit the money in a payable-on-death (POD) account has no rights to it. You can spend the money, name a different beneficiary, or close the account. The Florida law covering payable on death accounts covers all deposit accounts with a payable on death designation, including checking, money-market and certificates of deposit. POD accounts are distinct from those that transfer-ondeath (TOD), a designation used for stock certificates and investment accounts, but the results are the same with the account assets being payable to the designated beneficiaries with no cost or probate court involvement.
TIME REQUIRED: 10 minutes
COST: Zero
Wills or Revocable Living Trusts
Did you know that less than half of all adult Americans have a valid Last Will and Testament? Individuals can now easily find forms online to create a will or a revocable living trust. However, I do not recommend this way of saving money. The cost of hiring an attorney for estate consultation is minimal compared to the costs that can be incurred as a result inadequate self-drafting. If you have not yet made a will or created a trust, think about the opportunity to make a charitable gift by very easily including a provision for a gift to charity.
Example: 10% to Ave Maria School of Law
OR
$50,000 to Ave Maria School of Law
If you already have a will or trust: you can create a simple Codicil to your will or a short Amendment to your trust to add charitable beneficiaries without having to re-do your entire will or trust. This can be done very easily and inexpensively through your attorney by using percentages, or by designating specific dollar amounts or by gifting a particular asset.
Profiles in Ethical Leadership Series
Tom Monaghan
February 3, 2021
FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
AVE MARIA SCHOOL OF LAW
Frank Corvino
March 11, 2021
PRESIDENT OF CORVINO & CORVINO, A NAPLES, FL BASED MANAGEMENT CONSULTING COMPANY SPECIALIZING ALL ASPECTS OF LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC CONSULTING.
Michael Duke
January 13, 2021
Stephen Auth
November 12, 2020
RETIRED PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, WALMART STORES, INC.
CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, FEDERATED GLOBAL EQUITIES & AUTHOR OF THE MISSIONARY OF WALL STREET: FROM MANAGING MONEY TO SAVING SOULS ON THE STREETS OF NEW YORK
Meet the Team
Email: afrawley@avemarialaw.edu
Amita is a mission-focused advancement professional with over fourteen years of development experience, including positions held at Johns Hopkins University, Indiana University, Georgetown University, and most recently John Carroll University where she was named an Ignatian Educator of Distinction by the Midwest Jesuit Province.
Amita has demonstrated success in developing meaningful donor relationships and securing major, planned, and annual gifts.
Amita graduated cum laude from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies and History and spent a year studying abroad in Rome. While in Rome, Amita was blessed to have a private audience with Pope Saint John Paul II, and meet Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Upon graduation, she completed a year of volunteer service as part of a joint program between Americorps and The Congressional Hunger Center in D.C. which included public policy work at Catholic Charities USA.
Amita is an active parishioner at her home parish, Church of the Gesu, and is a long-standing volunteer at Zelie’s Home, a home of hospitality for pregnant women. Amita is based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Email: gmoorefield@avemarialaw.edu
Phone: (239) 687-5405
Email: mrycyna@avemarialaw.edu
Phone: (239) 687-5405
Mary F. Rycyna, M.A.
Mary is a seasoned development professional who brings over 30 years of philanthropy to Ave Maria School of Law. She has proven leadership and success in principal gift fundraising, campaign planning, volunteer recruitment, and successful execution of internal and external partnerships and collaborations. Her previous experience in Catholic higher education includes senior development and management roles at John Carroll University and Seton Hall University. Mary’s expertise extends beyond higher education and she has worked with several premier non-profit organizations in the northeast region including Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey, (VNACJ) and Paper Mill Playhouse.
Mary’s development career includes 20 years’ major gift experience. She has extensive campaign experience in both Catholic higher education and healthcare organizations, with a proven track record of securing seven and six-figure gifts from leadership donors and regional foundations including a challenge grant from the nationally renowned Kresge Foundation for VNACJ’s A New Home for Home Care capital campaign. She was part of the team that successfully raised funds for John Carroll’s Forever Carroll and Promise and Prominence campaigns and personally closed a leadership campaign gift of $2.5 million. She has worked collaboratively with the board and faculty in launching successful campaign committees and advisory boards. Her most recent accomplishments at John Carroll prior to her arrival at Ave Maria School of Law include raising over $2.5 million in honor of Tim Russert’s legacy and the Class of 1972’s 50th Reunion, including a leadership commitment of $1 million, a $200,000 gift from Comcast Corporation, a $40,000 stipend annually over five years toward the JCU/NBC Meet the Press Fellowship, in-kind gifts of the Russert papers and Mr. Russert’s office desk. Mary also provided substantial support and worked with JCU Board member and filmmaker Linda Meglin ’74 on the documentary Tim Russert- The John Carroll Years, which premiered during the 50th Reunion in June 2022.
Mary earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English (cum laude) from Providence College and Master of Arts degree in Public and Corporate Communication from Seton Hall University.
email: danthus@avemarialaw.edu
phone: (239) 687-5403
Donna Anthus has worked in the field of Advancement in Higher Education for over 20 years. She also has over 20 years’ experience as a Business Systems Analyst, Trainer and Manager in both corporate and academic venues. She received her Bachelor of Arts in education from Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y.
Email: rskeete@avemarialaw.edu
Phone: (239) 687-5406
Rhonda Skeete joined Ave Maria School of Law as a Faculty Assistant in October 2016. She was promoted to Office of Development Database Assistant II in July 2018. She’s had over 20 years of experience in process management working with InfiLaw, Inc. in Naples, FL, Boston University, the Massachusetts State Inspector’s General Office and Stockcross Discount Brokerage in Boston, Massachusetts. Ms. Skeete has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Studies from the University of Massachusetts in Boston.
Email: jburke@avemarialaw.edu
Phone: (239) 687-5341
Jacqueline has had various roles in event management, corporate donor relations, grant writing, communications, and marketing.
She began her career in the non-profit sector at the American Heart Association in Florida, followed by a position in Chicago for six years as part of the development team at a city charter school.
Her interest in higher education and science came together in 2016 when she worked at Northwestern University’s neuroscience department.
Jacqueline joined Ave Maria School of Law in 2019 and currently manages their fundraising events. She received her BBA in marketing from Florida International University.