NOLS Friends Summer 2022

FRIENDS SUPPORTING EXCELLENCE AT NOLS | A PUBLICATION OF THE NOLS ADVANCEMENT OFFICE | AUG 2022

ALUMNI TRIPS: FUN, CHALLENGE & REKINDLED CONNECTIONS

By Rich Brame, NOLS Instructor

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’night, Molly.* I love you.”

“I love you too, dad.”

That’s what we heard in a quiet, darkened bunkroom, somewhere above timberline in the Italian Dolomites. We’d just snuggled into our sleeping sacks, under heavy comforters, after a great, multi-course dinner and a long day hiking on steep trails.

What could be better than sharing in that daughter/father exchange on a NOLS mountain adventure?

NOLS offers trips and global backcountry adventures for all kinds of grads, their guests, and their families. Our excursions vary in length (usually 7-16 days), physical difficulty, and format, and all are designed for adult learners and calendars.

Some trips climb high peaks: from Gannett at the top of Wyoming, to Washington’s Mt. Rainier, to Argentina’s Aconcagua, or Kilimanjaro in Africa, our challenging mountain adventures review basic backcountry living and travel skills and then add pertinent technical curriculum that helps participants and the team succeed. In the tradition of NOLS expeditions, these trips are tough and committing.

Not everyone wants to carry a large backpack, so we also offer water-based trips that let watercraft carry the gear. From sailing, to canoeing, to whitewater rafting and sea kayaking, water adventures explore remote wildlands and challenge our groups to learn and work together while honing skills. Many of our water trips travel to hard-

Alumni trips can be long, short, challenging, and filled with camaraderie and fun—and they’re a great way to share NOLS with friends and family. Rich Brame

to-reach locations like Croatia, the Greek We know that grads like to share a NOLS coast, or the Bahamas. experience with friends and family memWe also offer rock-climbing in basecamp bers—including parents, or younger chilsettings, so days are spent learning climb- dren. Some of our trips cater specifically to ing and rope systems rather than travel families by tapping llamas, horses, or rafts techniques. Rock climbing trips are suitable to carry the heavy stuff. These trips let the for novices, or experts as our experienced team explore iconic wilderness areas like instructors share and build progressive verti- Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains, or Utah’s cal skills. Often, our rock climbing trips head river canyons while participating in a true to the sunny Southwest’s warm granite that expedition experience. gives participants a break from gray winter CONTINUED ON PG. 4 days in the north.

“The recipe for magic at NOLS is actually very simple. Great people + amazing places + learning = NOLS magic. Our Alumni trips follow this same recipe, we just expand the audience. Working Alumni trips all over the world has taught me the value of multi-generational groups. Someone’s prior NOLS experience, age, outdoor background, life path, none of those things matter. The power is in the humans, the space, and the curious minds. Putting those together is the NOLS magic.”

—Travis Welch Alumni Trips Director FRIENDS IS FOR PEOPLE COMMITTED TO HELPING NOLS PROVIDE THE WORLD’S BEST EDUCATION IN WILDERNESS SKILLS AND LEADERSHIP. This newsletter aims to provide useful and interesting information on charitable gift planning and supporters of the school. NOLS is not engaged in rendering legal or tax advisory services.

State laws govern wills, trusts, and many charitable gifts, and these laws vary from state to state. While NOLS welcomes and encourages inquiries about the material in this publication, individuals should consult with their professional advisors when planning their wills or deferred gifts.

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Rich Brame

LIFE-INCOME GIFTS: SUPPORT FOR NOLS THAT PAYS YOU BACK

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Because of this postponement, the payment to you is higher than the payment for a gift annuity that pays immediate income. The current income-tax deduction is also higher.

In addition, part of the principal used to make your gift eventually will be returned to you in the form of income payments, so part of your income will be tax-free.

The deferred gift annuity is especially attractive to donors still in high-income years Benefits of a charitable gift annuity frequently Charitable Gift Annuities who are looking for both tax deductions and include: Of all the gifts that pay you back with a life additional sources of future income.

• Simplicity income, the charitable gift annuity is the simBenefits of a deferred-payment gift annuity: • Guaranteed income for life plest. A gift annuity is a contract that you, the • Simplicity • Payments guaranteed by NOLS donor, sign with NOLS. Unlike a trust, you con• Higher guaranteed, fixed income than a • Current income-tax charitable deduction tribute your gift directly to NOLS. We then current gift annuity • Partly tax-free income agree to pay you or your designated beneficiary • Partly tax-free income • Partial bypass of the penalty capital-gains a fixed income based on a percentage of the • Generous current income-tax charitable tax on the sale of appreciated assets gift. Gift annuities come in all sizes, beginning deduction • Estate tax savings, and with as little as $10,000.

• Reduction of the penalty capital gains tax • A future gift to NOLS. For example, you might contribute $10,000 on the sale of appreciated assets, and to NOLS. If your income is 7 percent of that Deferred Payment Gift Annuity • Eventual gift to NOLS and wilderness gift, you will receive $700 every year for the If future income is your goal, you can choose to education. rest of your life. (Gift annuity payments can delay income payments from your gift annualso be established for two lives—yours and ity. You make a gift directly to NOLS, and we Call NOLS For More Information your spouse’s.) Your payments are guaranteed guarantee you a fixed income based on a per- None of us donates to NOLS simply to save

by NOLS, regardless of how the gift annuity centage of your gift. In this case, however, we taxes. Each of us give for personal reasons: a investments perform. defer income payments until a future date, belief in the NOLS mission, a desire to preNOLS uses gift annuity rates established usually when you expect to retire or incur col- serve wilderness, a commitment to creating by the American Council on Gift Annuities. lege tuition expenses. opportunities for wilderness and leadership id you know that you can donate an asset to NOLS now and continue to receive income from that property? We call it a “life-income gift”—the gift that pays you back. As the name implies, a life-income gift pays you income for life or a term of up to 20 years and lets you realize your philanthropic goals. These gifts pay income and often save taxes—income, capital gains, and estate taxes—for you and your heirs.

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The annuity-income beneficiary’s age is the deciding factor in determining the payment rate. Gift annuities can be funded with cash or marketable securities. Depending on the type of asset used to fund the gift annuity, a portion of your gift-annuity payments could be taxfree. In addition, you will receive a charitable income-tax deduction for a portion of your gift-annuity investment.

INSIDER NEWS

FREE TOOLS FOR ESTATE PLANNING As a benefit to NOLS’ donors, friends, and employees, we partnered earlier this year with FreeWill, a company offering online software that helps people write their will at no cost, while making charitable contributions to their favorite non-profit organizations, if they choose to.

“We’re on a mission to help people plan for the future while doing the most good for the people and causes they care about,” according to the website, www. freewill.com/nols.

Founded in 2019, the company has helped create wills for several hundred thousand people. But FreeWill is not limited to estate planning: an individual can also donate stocks and make Qualified Charitable Distributions to many of their favorite charities, like NOLS, through the site.

The services provided by FreeWill are cost-free because fees are paid by partnering organizations.

“We’ve already received a number of planned gifts through FreeWill,” said NOLS Chief Advancement Officer Heather Wisniewski. “I appreciate that, because of this partnership, we can offer donors and our team members a free way to make plans for their future.”

Heather recommends folks check out the website or contact NOLS Advancement office at 1-800-332-4280 with any questions.

SUMMIT TEAM PROFILE

DANIELLE DIGNAN education, or maybe a compelling interest in the school’s past and future achievements.

Regardless of your reason for donating, most individuals want to stretch their assets to do the most good for the most people.

Charitable gift annuities and other life income gifts are among the financial arrangements that allow donors to mesh philanthropic goals with personal and family financial obligations.

We would welcome the opportunity to talk with you and your advisors about these and other tax-smart ways to achieve your goals.

For more information about making a legacy gift, or to let us know you’ve left NOLS in your will, contact us at development@nols.edu or 800-332-4280. In all cases, a financial advisor can help you determine the right gift for you. ©Winton C. Smith, Jr.

“I decided to make a planned gift to NOLS because it is the most important organization to me.”

That’s Danielle Dignan speaking about the impact NOLS has had on her life and why she’s chosen to include the school in her estate plan.

Danielle, a Summit Team member since 2012, first came to NOLS in 1992 as a student on a Fall Semester in the Rockies. She returned three years later to take a Rocky Mountain Instructor course and, for the next decade, worked as a field instructor at various NOLS campuses, including Rocky Mountain, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest. Most of all, though, Danielle is a passionate sailor. Courtesy of Danielle Dignan this expert sailor worked out of the NOLS now chairman and a founding partner of Baja, Mexico, campus, teaching student courses as well as instructor courses and DM Development, a San Francisco-based real estate development and investment staff training seminars.

Her passion for NOLS and boating was firm focused on high-design urban infill contagious, it seems. After meeting Dani- development. “There is not a single day elle, and with a shared enthusiasm for the that goes by that I don’t draw on my NOLS training.” In fact, “camp sweep,” is her outdoors, her now-husband Dan Zuiches favorite NOLSie term that she says has took a NOLS Sailing Instructor Course in saved her family from many potential lost Mexico. The duo then completed a yearsunglasses and other important items in long, 12,000-mile circumnavigation of the front and backcountry. the Pacific on their 44-foot racer-cruiser Danielle has maintained her connecsailboat. tion to NOLS, serving on the NOLS Advisory “My experiences as a student, and then an instructor, had a profound effect on who I am today,” recalls Danielle, CONTINUED ON PG. 4 NOLS.EDU | 3

MEET CARI KARNS, FUNDRAISING PRO

By Anne McGowan, Advancement Communications Coordinator

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hen Heather Wisniewski returned to NOLS as Advancement Director a little over a year ago, her goal was to build and grow the school’s fundraising efforts. With new systems and new team members in place (with several more to come), Heather’s plan is rapidly moving forward.

Among new members of the team is Cari Karns, a fundraising professional who brings to NOLS more than two decades of philanthropic experience.

“I’m extremely excited to be here!” Cari said exuberantly as she headed into her fourth month as NOLS’ Major Gifts Director.

A self-described extrovert, Cari works with alumni and donors across the Midwest plus the NOLS Advisory Council. She also leads the Major Gifts team.

Cari’s fundraising career stretches back over twenty years, though her familiarity with development goes farther: when she was young, her mother was the Development Director for the Big Sky Girl Scouts in Great Falls, Montana. “I was introduced to philanthropy pretty early!” she said.

After twenty years as a military spouse, Cari has found fundraising to be a career that focuses on her love of building connections and creating community impact while accommodating a constant relocation schedule. She’s worked at more than 10 nonprofits over her career, including organizations in Montana, California, Colorado, Alabama, and New Mexico. Most recently, Cari was the membership and development director for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs.

Cari grew up in Montana doing some camping, hiking, and fishing, but really hit her stride in her 20s when she started backpacking and whitewater rafting with a group of friends.

“That’s when I first heard of NOLS,” Cari said, “and although it wasn’t in the cards to make a course happen then, good karma led me back and here I am!”

Cari hopes to head out on her first NOLS course this fall.

“The best part of any new job is meeting people,” she said, and she most looks forward to face-to-face meetings with alumni and donors.

Cari works remotely from Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she lives with her husband Jeff, teenage boys Liam and Danny, and Maggie the wonder dog, and tries to take advantage of Colorado’s natural resources as often as her work, school, and family schedules allow.

NOLS ALUMNI TRIPS CONTINUED

NOLS alumni trips include a growing international menu of hutto-hut, inn-to-inn, or small hotelto-hotel options. These hiking trips can provide challenging walking segments and end the day at comfortable indoor lodging where meals are provided. This format keeps packs light and often immerses in local culture in places like Ireland, Slovenia, Portugal, Scotland, Bhutan, Thailand, Nepal, Chile, Iceland, and Italy.

The benefits of a NOLS alumni trip are many— reconnecting with NOLS in a small group, exploring new or iconic landscapes, learning new skills or taking on real challenges, traveling with senior NOLS instructors, leaving complicated travel logistics to the pros, and knowing that your fellow adventurers share a common NOLS connection—and that’s why lots of alumni trip participants return again and again.

Consider a NOLS alumni trip as an affordable way to reconnect with NOLS in the outdoors. Bring a friend or loved one as a way to build memories while landing a trout in Wyoming, or over a wee dram of obscure Scottish whisky, or when seeking the top of a peak, or like a father/daughter team in Italy’s far north.

See our evolving menu of alumni trip options here. If you’re keen to design your own adventure, we also offer custom trips for groups and families. Contact our alumni trips team with questions or trip ideas. *Name changed for privacy.

SUMMIT TEAM PROFILE CONTINUED

Council from 2013 to 2016 before joining the NOLS Board of Trustees in 2017.

Danielle also served on the board of the San Francisco Waldorf School and sits on the risk management committee of the Maine Coast Waldorf School.

Danielle and Dan now live on the southern coast of Maine with their two children. They enjoy bringing their kids into the wilderness and putting their NOLS expedition training to good use. Danielle is also passionate about

tennis and surfing, and, most of all, spending as much time outdoors as possible.

She knows her planned gift will help assist others who want to do that and more with a NOLS course.

“Through supporting the school, I hope that I can help even just one other person have the transformational experience that I did.”

NOLS | 284 Lincoln Street, Lander WY 82520 | 800.332.4280 Anne McGowan, Editor. To subscribe, contact: NOLS Development development@nols.edu | 307.335.2273.

The Friends Newsletter is printed on 30%-PCW FSC-certified paper.

Have you named NOLS in your will? Let us know!

Contact us to share your plans or to learn more about NOLS’ Planned Giving options.

See details on our website at www.nols.edu/planned-giving/ or call the NOLS Development office at 800-332-4280.

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