Roundup: “Wills for West Marin”

Tuesday Aug 27, 2024
From the less messy desk of Amanda Eichstaedt…

Wills for West Marin

In February of 2024, the West Marin Fund convened several Executive Directors from area nonprofit organizations for a day of connection, great food, interesting exercises and a focus on collaboration.

These events are a great way to stay connected, figure out synergies between organizations, and commiserate/celebrate the elements of running a nonprofit organization. 

After the gathering, along the lines of collaboration, Mesa Refuge Executive Director Kamala Tully, along with her board president Kim Klein, had an idea. Kim is retired from a long career in fundraising and she and Kamala were interested in working collaboratively with ALL the nonprofits in West Marin to help set up some planned giving programs that would benefit all.

Signed, sealed, and delivered.   photo: Pexels

The process started in March of 2024, and you may have seen the insert in the Point Reyes Light recently (and you will see another) about this project. August is almost over, but we launched the “Wills for West Marin” project during “Make a Will Month” – August.

Mesa Refuge applied for and got a grant from the West Marin Fund to cover printing and other expenses, and a group of us volunteered to roll up our sleeves and help get this project rolling. We worked with Kim Klein throughout the process and Kim will be conducing several of the public workshops that are scheduled for this fall. The West Marin Fund also agreed to have a “Wills for West Marin” page that has lots of good info on it (and will be updated as more is available).

I just have to say that this has been a fun project to work on. The core group that did the heavy lifting was so competent and had the best “can do” attitude EVER! I recruited KWMR Development Director, Alyssa Tanner to assist and she ended up doing the design work for the project. The ideas and plans came from spirited discussions, and we also laughed a lot.

The gist of this whole project is that everyone should have a will. And we don’t care how you allocate your stuff. It’s your right to do whatever the heck you want with it. We know that many folks don’t have wills and that, while it might not be a problem for you when you leave this plane, could cause headache on top of heartache for your loved ones.

We also know that folks don’t realize how easy it is to leave something, even if it’s not much, to organizations that resonate with your values, have given you much pleasure throughout your life on earth, or are just super important to you. Just think about how much your $25 donation means to nonprofits (trust me, it means a lot), and this might be your opportunity to give more.

If you work for, or serve on the Board of Directors for a nonprofit organization. There is a training on September 12th. This is not for the general public, but since so many people work for, or serve on boards for nonprofits likely read this newsletter, I’m including the LINK for registration to that training. This training is available via Zoom or IN PERSON at the Dance Palace. 

If you are not on staff or serve on a board of a nonprofit, but care deeply about our many nonprofits, and you want to learn more about how to create, or modify a will or trust in order to give back, there is a series of public workshops which you can learn about and register for, HERE.

Plus, there will be snacks at the workshops, and at the training. Snacks are always good. Please register so we have an adequate amount of snacks for attendees!

It’s common knowledge that Americans (in particular) are not hip on talking about death. I get it. But we are all going to do it at some point, as difficult as that is to ponder. 

Got questions? I’m happy to try to answer them. If I can’t, I’ll help you find someone who can give the the information that you seek. The brain trust involved with this project is off the charts.

A big thank you to the West Marin Fund, Mesa Refuge, Kim Klein, and the working group. And to you, for reading this whole thing!

Amanda Eichstaedt
Station Manager and Executive Director 

No AI was used in writing this column.