"We are seeing the largest transfer of wealth in the history of the world," says Keven Dietrich, director of donor relations for the Willmar Area Community Foundation. "And that is happening right here as well."
That's because more than 2,000 farmers in Minnesota's Kandiyohi County will be retiring over the next few years, leaving behind an estimated $7.5 million worth of farm assets, reports the West Central Tribune.
The foundation, a charitable nonprofit that grants money to various community causes, wants to help farmers prepare legacy plans that include the community in which they lived and worked for decades.
"As people with charitable mindsets pass, it will be harder and harder for local nonprofits to make ends meet if people aren't thinking strategically about lasting legacy gifts," says Sara Carlson, executive director of the foundation.
The foundation is working with farmers and their financial teams to come up with a plan, and it's already worked with one farmer who wanted to sell his combine and donate the proceeds to a donor-advised fund.
Another option is to donate land, notes Carlson.
"It is just like a cash gift, actually, and it is something that is real value to our producers that they can use," she says.
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Ganesh Natarajan is the Founder and Chairman of 5FWorld, a new platform for funding and developing start-ups, social enterprises and the skills eco-system in India. In the past two decades, he has built two of India’s high-growth software services companies – Aptech and Zensar – almost from scratch to global success.