Fuller Legacy Newsletter: Summer 2019

Brent Assink Executive Director

Issue 1 BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE TOGETHER

Financial and Gift Planning News for Fuller Alumni and Friends

In this issue of Fuller’s Gift Planning Newsletter, we have compiled several resources to inspire you in your giving and help you achieve your estate planning and charitable giving goals.

You can be inspired by the story of how Cliff and Joyce Penner, Fuller Legacy Circle members, are fulfilling their dream to establish a fund to develop emotionally healthy leaders at Fuller Seminary. You can read about alumna Sheila Muchemi’s journey to become an emotionally healthy therapist and her call to share what she has learned at Fuller in her home country of Kenya and throughout the continent of Africa.

You can also read an article that will help you ensure that your estate plans are updated and reflect your current wishes. To learn more about estate planning or making a future gift to Fuller, please contact us by phone at (626) 792-3232, by email at giftplanning@thefullerfoundation.org, or visit us online at Fuller.edu/GiftPlanning.

Pictured Above: Fuller Seminary trustees, faculty, staff, alumni, and students.

INVESTING IN FULLER’S FUTURE LEADERS MEET FULLER ALUMNA:

Fuller has played an important role in the personal and professional lives of Fuller Legacy Circle members Cliff Penner (PhD in Clinical Psychology ’71) and Joyce Penner. Cliff and Joyce have used what they both learned during their years at Fuller to lead seminars and training workshops throughout the US and Canada and twelve other countries, authored multiple books, and appeared on TV and radio talk shows.

“We know that what Fuller is doing is changing people’s lives. We love giving to Fuller because Fuller is making a difference in the world.”

Because of Fuller’s significance in their lives and the lives of so many, giving to Fuller has been a part of their lives since they graduated. For many years they discussed ways to make a legacy gift to invest in Fuller’s future. They decided to include a bequest to Fuller in their will. Fuller friends and family also joined together to raise funds to endow the Clifford L. Penner Presidential Chair and to establish the Clifford and Joyce Penner Fund for the Development of Emotionally Healthy Leaders in honor of their deep commitment to Fuller’s mission.

To learn more about Cliff and Joyce’s story, visit us online at Fuller.edu/LegacyStories.

Sheila Muchemi

Fuller alumna Sheila Muchemi (PhD in Clinical Psychology ’18) shares how her journey to becoming a therapist included embracing her own therapy so she could help clients whose lives have been disrupted by mental illness.

She shares, “I come from Kenya, where we have a rich spirituality. But sometimes that spirituality has kept us from understanding mental illness. Even after I came to Fuller, I didn’t think I needed therapy for myself. But God was nudging me. Eventually, I was convinced to try it myself, not necessarily because of a mental condition, but for my own self-growth. I was surprised at how much I loved the experience and what a sacred and growth space therapy became. I met God in ways that changed me, and as I saw myself anew, aspects of my self-identity were healed.”

She says, “Fuller’s School of Psychology’s integration of theology and psychology has been a place of disruption and formation for me, and my call now is to take that message back to Kenya—and Africa.”

MEET TODD DERRICK

Senior Director, Estate and Charitable Gift

Planning Services

Todd joined The Fuller Foundation in 1998, and for over twenty years he has helped Fuller supporters become more effective stewards of the resources God has entrusted to them. His diverse background and experience in real estate, tax planning, and investment management enables him to help Fuller’s supporters pursue their long-term financial and charitable giving goals through comprehensive and individualized estate planning.

Todd believes that determining how to give is just as important as deciding what to give. He is committed to educating and empowering individuals and families to make wise decisions that best fit their current needs and long-term giving goals.

Todd graduated from the University of Southern California with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Business from Westmont College. He has always had a passion for helping people, and that extends far beyond estate planning and charitable gift planning. At Westmont College, Todd served in a campus ministry during his time as an undergraduate student. Today, Todd supports and volunteers his time with Young Life. Todd is also an avid golfer; on the weekends you can either catch Todd on the golf course or spending time with his wife, Heidi, and their three children.

To learn more about how estate planning can help you achieve your financial and giving goals, please contact Todd at (626) 792-3232 or tderrick@thefullerfoundation.org. You can also visit us online at Fuller.edu/EstatePlanning.

In a nutshell, estate planning is really what you want done with what you own. The good news is that you can provide for the people and causes important to you by taking simple steps now. Creating your plan for the future can be easy and even enjoyable.

While an attorney should always draft your will, we can help demystify the process and prepare you for meeting your attorney with these simple steps:

Itemize Your Assets

Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. On the left side, write something you own. On the right side, write the name or names of the person(s) you wish to receive that item or asset.

Organize Your Estate

Make the process of organizing your estate and plans even easier by downloading our free wills guide. This fill-in-the-blank guide walks you through the process of gathering information about what you own, your family, and your goals.

Write Down Questions

Consider practical questions, such as, “If I give my house to my adult son and my adult daughter, what will they do with it?” If you come up with a question that you can’t seem to find a solution for, make a note to ask your attorney.

Review Your Plans for Family

You can give some assets to family right away and others over time. Ask us how you can provide an income stream or a lump sum to a loved one and achieve your personal and inheritance goals.

Consider Charity

Remember to include any charities that are important to you in your plan. If you have given during life, then consider providing for these organizations through your estate. Ask us about plans like charitable remainder trusts and gift annuities that can help your family and our mission.

Visit

Your Attorney

Bring the information you have gathered and questions to your attorney. Your attorney can draft a will or trust that will achieve your goals. You complete the plan through a simple signing process.

Update Your Plan

Update your estate plan as your life changes. Marriages, births, and deaths are all events that may make you want to revise your plans.

To learn more about creating your estate plan and making a legacy gift to Fuller, please contact Todd Derrick, Senior Director of Estate and Charitable Gift Planning Services, at (626) 792-3232 or tderrick@ thefullerfoundation.org. You can also visit us online at Fuller.edu/ EstatePlanning.

Copyright © 2015 Crescendo Interactive, Inc. Used by permission. This information is not intended as tax, legal, or financial advice. Gift results may vary. Consult your personal financial advisor for information specific to your situation.

GRACE AND CHARLES FULLER LEGACY CIRCLE

We invite you to join generous supporters in the Grace and Charles Fuller Legacy Circle by including Fuller in your will, trust, or estate plan. When you join the Legacy Circle, you will receive special invitations to Fuller events and estate and gift planning guidance.

The Grace and Charles Fuller Legacy Circle honors and recognizes generous alumni and friends who care about Fuller’s mission and plan to make a future gift to Fuller through a will, trust, retirement plan, life insurance policy, or other gift.

The Fuller Legacy Circle is named in honor of Fuller’s founder, Charles E. Fuller, and his wife, Grace. It is a community of alumni and friends who are committed to supporting Fuller’s ongoing mission.

—Anne and John Wheeler-Waddell

If you have already included Fuller in your will, trust, life insurance policy, retirement plan, or other future gift, you are eligible to join the Grace and Charles Fuller Legacy Circle. Joining the Legacy Circle allows us to express our ongoing gratitude for your future gift, and we believe the Legacy Circle’s community of supporters inspires generosity in others.

Please contact us by phone at (626) 792-3232 or by email at legacycircle@thefullerfoundation.org to let us know Fuller is in your will or estate plans. We can also help you with questions about making a legacy gift to Fuller. You can visit us online at Fuller.edu/LegacyCircle.

Anne Wheeler-Waddell (Doctor of Ministry ’06) and John Wheeler-Waddell (Doctor of Ministry ’07), Fuller Legacy Circle Members

“Fuller equipped us in mind and heart to engage with what God is doing throughout the world. With appreciation for what we have received, we are grateful to be able to financially support Fuller’s ongoing kingdom engagement for generations to come.”

“Your legacy gifts to Fuller are so important because they help to ensure that future students receive funding for their Fuller education and can serve in ministries where they are called. Fuller alumni are serving in 130 nations because of generous supporters just like you.”

Erin Dufault-Hunter Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics

“I am deeply grateful to sponsors who give so that we might not only pursue this important work, but so that we can also train the next group of psychologists who will go out and help restore individuals, families, couples, and even communities.”

Brad D. Strawn Professor of the Integration of Psychology and Theology

“Your legacy gifts allow my colleagues and I to conduct research that helps individuals and families who are impacted by disabilities. When you invest in Fuller, you ensure that we can continue our work in the future to help to improve the lives of many.”

Warren S. Brown Professor of Psychology

“A commitment to holistic healing has been central to my life and profession. I am so thankful for supporters who invest in Fuller’s mental health clinic to help individuals and families find healing and wholeness.”

Ted Cosse Dean of the School of Psychology – Mark Labberton President of Fuller Theological Seminary

“Thank you for caring so deeply about changed lives. Surely this is the bottom line of the gospel, and it is the bottom line of what we seek to do with our partnership. You help us impact everywhere with the formative resources and scholarship that makes a difference on the ground.”