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Legacy Giving

Keeping The Promise Of Tomorrow

If you were to pass a person homeless on the street or meet a neighbour desperate for food, you would probably want to help. It is this instinct to extend the hand of friendship to our neighbours in need that has inspired friends of House of Friendship since 1939. Through good times and bad, we have been there, and with your legacy, we can continue to be here years from now.

There are a variety of ways that you can make a special legacy gift through House of Friendship to assist low-income people in perpetuity and also maximize your tax savings. Consider including House of Friendship in your will. If you have yet to make a will, we recommend speaking with professional financial and legal advisors. If you already have a will, you can speak with your advisors about adding a codicil (a brief instruction that is added to your will to reflect your wishes). By leaving a legacy you will keep the promise of tomorrow, and all of the hope that goes with it.

Other common ways to leave a legacy include trust deposits, shares and mutual funds, life insurance and gift annuities. Consult your personal professional advisors about what works best for you. However you choose to leave a legacy, make it a remarkable one!

In 1995 House of Friendship established the Friendship Fund to provide financial stability for our community ministry. It is an endowment fund where the capital is not spent, but the interest income is used to support our chaplaincy and community outreach programs in perpetuity. The Friendship Fund is managed for House of Friendship by the Mennonite Foundation of Canada (MFC). Founded in 1973, MFC provides gift planning, fund management and stewardship education services to Christian charities across Canada.

Our General Capital fund is another long-standing fund that is used to purchase and maintain our properties. Income from this fund helps us to develop and maintain the properties needed to deliver our programs.

Unless otherwise specified by the donor, special one-time planned gifts are placed by our Board of Directors into either the General Capital Fund or the Friendship Fund and are not used for annual operating purposes.

House of Friendship is a member of Leave A Legacy in Waterloo Region, an initiative of the Waterloo-Wellington Round Table of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP). The purpose of Leave a Legacy™ is to promote interest in charitable giving to not-for-profit organizations and agencies through bequests or other planned gifts.

For more information about planned giving opportunities to House of Friendship please contact our Development Director, Christine Rier, at (519) 742-8327 or e-mail fundraising@houseoffriendship.org.