A deep and steadfast commitment

I have been at the Charitable Foundation for nearly two decades, and I am still impressed, every single day, by the quiet, deep and steadfast commitment to community – and the incredible generosity – of the families and businesses we work with.

When Maynard Sundman established a scholarship at the Charitable Foundation in memory of his wife Fannie in 1994, he never imagined today’s skyrocketing cost of education. But he did know that helping students from Littleton go to college was a fitting tribute to his wife, who understood the value of education, especially in rural and under-served areas. Maynard and Fannie had founded Littleton Stamp Company in 1945 in a second-story office in Littleton’s Opera Block. Their son, David Sundman, grew up in the family business and took over the reins of the Littleton Stamp and Coin Company in 1985. Now employee-owned and known as the Littleton Coin Company, it serves collectors across the nation and has grown into one of the largest employers in the Littleton area.

David continued not just the family business, but the family’s charitable legacy. His donor-advised fund, created at the Foundation last year, will provide grant funding to organizations and causes he cares about in the North Country and beyond.

Now, he is also carrying on his family’s legacy of helping local students – and doing so using a giving tool that is often overlooked: an IRA charitable rollover.

As David neared age 70, he decided to use the required minimum distribution (RMD) from his retirement plan to support good work in the community. I let him know that IRS regulations do not allow such gifts to be directed to donor-advised funds, but that they can be directed to other types of funds – including scholarships – or made directly to nonprofits. People can make gifts of up to $100,000 from their retirement accounts each year without incurring a tax penalty, and that gift counts toward the RMD. It is an ideal way for donors over age 70-½, who find they don’t need that income, to make a “charitable rollover gift” to the causes they care most about. And gifting the required distribution directly (rather than taking the distribution and then giving cash later) means that more money is available to give.

Maynard had planted the seed long ago that David might want to add to the family scholarship someday, so David decided to make his gift to the Fannie Sundman Memorial Scholarship Fund. It was a simple solution. Countless future students will continue their education with the assistance of the Sundman family’s generosity.

The Fannie Sundman Memorial Scholarship Fund has awarded more than $400,000 to 56 Littleton students since 1994. David’s generosity, and the effective way he has chosen to give, means the fund named for his mother will continue to help Littleton students forever.

The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation helps generous individuals, families and businesses maximize the power of their giving, connects donors with high-impact nonprofits and programs, and leads and invests on important initiatives for the state. To learn more, contact Laura Rauscher, director of development and philanthropy services, at 1-800-464-6641 ext. 274 or Ynhen.Enhfpure@aups.bet.