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 Stuart Pratt’s Thoughtful Planning Benefits the Community
This article was included in a
1999 newsletter. Mr. Pratt died in 2006.
When Stuart Pratt established the Stuart W. Pratt
Jr. Family Fund at the Delaware Community Foundation in February
1999, his endowment gift was the result of many years of planning.
Born in 1926, Mr. Pratt grew up during the difficult years of the
Depression. He was raised with the value, “You never spend more than
90 percent of what you earn and save at least ten percent.” That
philosophy, along with a tendency to be “parsimonious,” some careful
investments and a favorable stock market, put Stuart Pratt “in a
position where I never thought I’d be.” He has created a financial
plan that enables him to give something back to his community and to
the organizations that are important to him without neglecting his
personal needs and his family.
Mr. Pratt became interested in investing and
financial planning after retiring as a chemical engineer with DuPont
in 1985. His research convinced him that his financial plan should
take full advantage of the tax code both during his lifetime and
after his death. He has been working with a lawyer to implement a
plan that fits his needs and establishes the most favorable balance
among his three possible beneficiaries: his heirs, charitable
organizations and “Uncle Sam.”
The value of permanent endowment funds became
apparent to Mr. Pratt after he was asked to be treasurer of the
Board of Directors of the Mental Health Association in Delaware (MHA).
Mr. Pratt discovered that MHA was operating on a tenuous footing. He
believed that an endowment fund, which would produce income on a
long-term basis, was the obvious answer, but this was a new concept
to some board members. In addition, there would be a problem raising
money for the fund – the board was not accustomed to major
fundraising and the small MHA staff did not include a development
person at the time.
Three years later, everything came together for the
Mental Health Association. That’s when United Way of Delaware and
DCF formed a planned giving partnership to help nonprofit agencies
establish endowment funds (at the DCF) and encourage donors to make
lasting gifts to charity. Stuart Pratt saw this as an opportunity
for the MHA to develop financial stability and he urged fellow board
members to create an endowment fund at the DCF. Putting money away
for the long term was a “tough concept” for some board members to
grasp, according to Mr. Pratt, with current operating dollars always
an issue. But, with help from the DCF, he was able to educate MHA
board members about the benefits of planned giving and endowment
funds. They endorsed the project and subsequently collected the
$8,000 needed to start the fund and receive DCF’s matching gift of
$2,000, a special feature of the United Way/DCF partnership.
With this accomplished for the Mental Health
Association, Stuart Pratt looked to the Delaware Community
Foundation for help with plans for his personal charitable giving.
He had been making donations to the MHA and other charitable
organizations on an annual basis, but also was aware of the tax
advantages he would realize by creating a donor-advised fund at the
DCF.
He met with Mary Hopkins, Director of Gift Planning,
and Rebecca Baeurle, Director of Development, and learned how he
could fulfill his charitable intentions as well as reduce taxes. He
decided to make a gift of appreciated stock to start the Stuart W.
Pratt Jr. Family Fund, a permanent endowment fund that benefits
several local nonprofit organizations, including MHA.
Mr. Pratt has also included the Delaware Community
Foundation as one of the fund’s beneficiaries because “I think the
DCF is in touch with our community’s needs and can make a better
choice about where the money should go.” Upon Mr. Pratt’s death, his
daughters, who live in Michigan and California, will assume the role
of fund advisors. When they relinquish the role, any money remaining
in the fund will become unrestricted endowment. The income from the
Stuart W. Pratt Jr. Family Fund will be used in perpetuity to
address the community’s most pressing needs.
Stuart Pratt is a steadfast advocate of estate
planning. He believes it is important to have a plan to grow one’s
estate as well as to distribute it. His advice to others of his
generation is to “take full advantage of the gifting and charitable
donations tax laws during your lifetime. Make certain you retain
enough assets to provide retirement care. And write your will to
distribute your remaining estate among heirs, charities and taxes as
you choose within the tax law limitations.”
The Delaware Community Foundation applauds Stuart W.
Pratt Jr. for the thought he has put into planning charitable gifts
to the community. Individual citizens, like Mr. Pratt, who
distribute their assets in a way that benefit the community as well
as their heirs, will assure a more promising future for all members
of the community.
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