MAXIMIZING TOOLS TO CREATE A FAMILY LEGACY

The Blackburn family has owned and operated Blackburn Manufacturing Company since 1953. The company produces millions of marking flags and other marking products each year. Jim serves as CEO, and daughters Jennifer Blackburn-Nielsen and Krista Blackburn-Schindler are president and marketing director respectively.

Jim and his wife Pat were eager to take advantage of the Charitable IRA Rollover which allows individuals who have reached the age of 70-½ to distribute up to $105,000 from their IRA directly to charitable organizations. For donors age 73 and older, the amount distributed applies toward the annual required minimum distribution. One exception is the charitable distribution cannot be made to a donor-advised fund.

"We've supported a lot of organizations over the years. We were looking for a way to use our tax deferred savings to continue our support, without having to pay a lot of taxes when that money was withdrawn," Jim said.

The solution was to use a traditional IRA and a Charitable IRA Rollover to make a significant annual gift to a designated fund. Working with NCF, the Blackburn Family Designated Fund was established to provide grants to Antelope Memorial Hospital, Neligh-Oakdale Public Schools and Pope John XXIII Central Catholic High School each year.

Jim is optimistic about the future of Neligh. "Economic activity has picked up in the community in the past five to 10 years," Jim said. "I had read about Nebraska Community Foundation for a long time. There are a number of communities in the area that have affiliated funds. Neligh had been talking about starting a fund for quite some time. Now they have, and there appears to be a lot of young, energetic people on the committee."

Jim, Pat, and both daughters have been deeply involved in voluntary community activities for decades. Now the couple has taken the additional step to continue their giving after their lifetimes by establishing an endowed donor-advised fund and naming it and NCF as partial beneficiaries of their IRA. "My family has been very fortunate living and doing business here. So, it's nice to give back to your own hometown," Jim said. "There's no doubt I would absolutely recommend Nebraska Community Foundation to someone who is thinking about arranging a gift in their estate plan. They were certainly helpful."

For information on how you can give back to your hometown, contact Nebraska Community Foundation's Office of Planned Giving, 402.323.7330 or [email protected].