Planned Giving Case Statement
A Network for Grateful Living

A Network for Grateful Living (ANG*L) provides education and support for the practice of grateful living as a global ethic, based on the teachings of Br. David Steindl-Rast and colleagues.  We support people and organizations who are interested in learning more about how grateful living can increase well-being, inspire generosity, and restore Earth’s social and ecological fabric through reverence for nature, peacemaking, intergenerational respect, and interfaith dialogue.  

History and Outreach

Historically, ANG*L has been primarily a virtual service organization and has been extraordinarily successful in providing support services via its interactive website:  Gratefulness.org. Our online services reach more than 23,000 people daily.  More than 30,900 people subscribe to the monthly ANG*L Newsletter, and well over twelve million virtual candles have been lit from 243 countries and territories.  The website offers, free of charge, twelve teaching modules or “topics” which illustrate how gratefulness can impact our lives and how it permeates and informs all experience. Each “topic” contains an introduction, “practice sessions,” links to special “features” which invite people to experience gratefulness in various ways, and links to resources on other websites.

You can read about our history and structure on this page.

In addition to these comprehensive online grateful-living resources, which remain our highest priority, ANG*L offers the following services:

• Designing and leading workshops and retreats that increase people's awareness of gratefulness as a tool for personal healing and compassion towards others while learning a lifelong practice.

• Coordinating ANG*L events which feature Br. David Steindl-Rast and other highly regarded presenters, and providing logistical support for Br. David’s worldwide travels to teach.

• Partnering with other organizations and institutions that want to explore how gratefulness can transform and energize their own work and mission.

• Supporting local groups studying the practice of grateful living.

• Promoting public awareness of gratefulness as a power for change in areas such as ecology, religious tolerance, and intergenerational respect via radio and TV interviews, newspapers and magazines.

• Assisting Brother David with publications, maintenance of his audio and video archives, and his personal and professional correspondence.

• Assuring ANG*L’s fiscal sustainability via fundraising campaigns, a major donor program, an endowment program, and grant funding for aide in jump-starting certain initiatives.

• Managing, supporting and mentoring more than 30 volunteers who regularly contribute their time and energy to ANG*L’s work.

Based in Ithaca, NY – with satellite offices in Marin County, CA and near Zurich, Switzerland – ANG*L is currently in its eleventh year of operation.  All staff work out of home offices, keeping our overhead extremely low.  This allows donor gifts to go directly to services. 

Future Initiatives

These future initiatives, a partial list, can come to fruition through your generosity:

• Development of a webinar series, “Pathways to Gratefulness,” exploring the significant impact that the practice of grateful living has in multifaceted arenas such as the arts, science, business, and health.
• Creation of a signature multimedia “The World of ANG*L” presentation which would succinctly tell the story of what ANG*L does and the value of grateful living. The presentation would be designed for educational, public relations and fundraising purposes.
• A comprehensive evaluation of the website to make sure we are as effective as possible in our outreach.
• Further exploration of the relationship between ecological sustainability and the practice of grateful living.
• Development of an on-going “Gratefulness in Business” project which explores the prospects and potential benefits of incorporating the practice of grateful living into the business arena.
• Development of an on-going “Youth and Gratefulness” program for introducing grateful-living principles to young people in grades K-12.

Endowment

Endowment Fund Purpose and Goals: The purpose of our endowment is to provide a stable funding source that will be under the discretion of A Network for Grateful Living (ANG*L).

Fund Management: ANG*L’s endowment fund is held by the Community Foundation of Tompkins County and is professionally managed with advice from the Fundraising Committee of ANG*L’s Board of Directors.

Endowment Funds:  Unrestricted gifts to the endowment are added to the endowment fund.  Growth from this fund is generally rolled back into the fund, but a limited portion of the annual growth can be used to support the operations and special projects of ANG*L. 

Making a Gift:  Gifts to our endowment qualify for charitable deductions under both the Federal Income Tax and the Federal Estate and Gift Tax laws.  Gifts can be made one of two ways:

1)  directly to "A Network for Grateful Living" at this address:

A Network for Grateful Living
P.O. Box 6748
Ithaca, NY 14851-6748
USA

2)  or to the Community Foundation’s “A Network for Grateful Living Fund,” at this address:

Community Foundation of Tompkins County
309 North Aurora Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
USA

Both are 501(c)3 charitable organizations.

Gift Acceptance Policies:  ANG*L, via the Community Foundation of Tompkins County, prefers gifts of cash, checks, marketable securities, retirement funds, and life insurance policies.  Gifts of other assets will be in accordance with these guidelines.  

For additional information or to arrange a confidential gift planning consultation, without obligation, contact us online or call Margaret Wakeley at (607) 256-1010.

Our Core Promise

To provide resources to enhance and spread the practice of grateful living as a global ethic that can make a significant difference at this transitional juncture in the world’s history; and to uphold high ethical standards, especially in overseeing our finances, reporting data on membership and community outreach, being good stewards of the donor dollar, and representing ourselves to the public.

Updated Nov. 15, 2011