The Bond of Generosity: Training the Next Generation to Make an Impact

When Kim Sennes began sponsoring with Children International in 1997, it was a way for her and her youngest daughter to bond. She signed all her letters to her sponsored children from Kim and Katie.

With all her children grown and moved out of the house, Kim continues with sponsorship all these years later. Her first sponsored children were from the Philippines, and she has continued sponsoring Filipino children, currently helping Romeo and Arsemia in Manila. Kim says she has loved the updates and learned so much about the culture of the Philippines.

A few years ago, her financial advisor suggested she begin a donor advised fund to submit donations on her behalf to Children International, her local parish, and all nonprofits to which she contributes. A donor advised fund is a charitable giving vehicle administered by a public charity created to manage charitable donations on behalf of organizations, families, or individuals. Kim sees it as her strategy to maximize her charitable donations with ease.

It makes more sense, she says, to put a lump sum into her donor advised fund and instruct her financial advisor to distribute the funds. She does not have to then itemize donations on her tax return. Each year, Dianna Stelter, CI’s Gift Planning Program Manager, provides Kim with a list of all she contributes to within CI — sponsorship, child-specific gifts in honor of birthdays, Christmas, and the Family Gift Fund as well as programs such as Into Employment — and a total amount to share with her financial advisor. Kim appreciates how easy this process is, saying that she has never run into any problems.

The Gift Planning Department works with those who give through IRAs and donor advised funds as well as those preparing a future gift to Children International through their will, trust, as a beneficiary of an account, or another method. For Gift Planning questions, please feel free to reach out to DDianna Stelter at 816-943-3834 or dstelter@children.org.