The Ella Nash Society

When Norma Klaus Wible was growing up, her father owned and operated a gas station and repair shop in Willowick, Ohio, where he put in long hours. As a youth in the Depression, he had not gone past eighth grade because he had to work to help support his family.

Norma’s mother immigrated to the United States from Slovenia when she was 6 years old, and learned English quickly so she could become the family’s translator. She finished high school and went on to become a radio operator during World War II. She eventually enjoyed a career as a realtor and travel agent.

“She always insisted I could be anything I wanted to be,” Norma recalls.

In 1973, Norma graduated from Allegheny College, the first in her family to earn a college degree. She followed that with her master’s in education in 1974.

 “When I made the decision to go to Allegheny, my father simply said he and my mother would do what it took to get me there,” Norma says.

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“If I can offer just one person a bit to offset that financial concern, then I’d like to do that in honor of my parents’ generosity.”

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Now, after working as a teacher in the Cleveland area and raising a family with her husband, Jim, a 1971 Allegheny graduate and a member of the College’s Board of Trustees, Norma has been, and is currently, immersed in volunteer work. She was heavily involved in the local Montessori school, has taught Sunday school, coached junior high academic challenge teams, and is active in the Maumee Valley Presbytery.

She also has given back to make sure other first-generation college students have the same opportunity she did at Allegheny. 

Besides other family scholarships endowed at Allegheny, Norma independently established the Joseph and Fran Klaus Scholarship, a fund that provided scholarship support for women who are first-generation students at Allegheny. The scholarship is named in honor of her parents.

“First-generation students don’t have the luxury of knowing what to expect when going off to college and sometimes the money involved plays too large a part,” says Norma. “Sometimes that bottom line makes the decision for the student. If I can offer just one person a bit to offset that financial concern, then I’d like to do that in honor of my parents’ generosity.”

Norma says she is trying to develop the philanthropic spirit among young people. “We need to help children at a young age to be generous,” she says, “and if we must, teach college students the same thing. It helps if they can see the need and empathize with the people who benefit from the cause. While I think it’s great that high school students are encouraged to show volunteer hours on a college application, it may simply be a box checked off that possibly won’t change what they do down the road. I think it’s important to talk with youth, and get them to reflect on those experiences and what resulted from them.” 

Norma and Jim have three adult children, including Judson, a 1999 Allegheny graduate; Jerry; and a daughter, Leslie, who lives in England.

It’s a special moment in Allegheny’s history as Hilary L. Link, Ph.D., and Mary “Missy” Feeley ’78, Ph.D., assumed the College’s top leadership positions as president and chair of the Board of Trustees, respectively, on July 1. While neither considers their femaleness to be their defining trait, it is worthy of note that this is the first time that the Allegheny president is a woman and only the second time that the trustees are led by a woman. With authors from academia to pop science maintaining that women do lead differently than their male counterparts, we look forward to supporting the fresh perspective and purpose they bring to engaging all of us in fulfilling Allegheny’s mission. The future looks bright.

We developed The Ella Nash Society newsletter to focus on the special gifts of time, expertise, personal connections, and assets that shape women’s philanthropy. Our goal is to provide educational information to help Allegheny alumnae and female parents and friends make informed decisions about their own philanthropy. (Hello, male readers. We appreciate your interest!) Why a women-centered newsletter? With unprecedented access to education, fulfilling careers, and financial resources, women have become a powerful force for change and growth in the nonprofit sector —and the way that they give can dramatically differ from men.

Women’s philanthropy initiatives were established in the U.S. about three decades ago. The first program in higher education was started at the University of Wisconsin in 1988 by Sondra Shaw-Hardy and Martha Taylor, who later wrote Women & Philanthropy: Boldly Shaping a Better World (2010). Shaw-Hardy and Taylor were the first academics to study contemporary women and philanthropy. They and others have identified key characteristics of women’s giving:

• Philanthropy is personal. Women generally like to be engaged with the organizations they support, and they value the personal relationships that they develop.
• Women often learn about opportunities for volunteering and financially supporting organizations  through other women. 
• Relationships, trust, and “doing good” are more important motivators to women than are income tax considerations and peer pressure.
• Women like to collaborate and leverage their funds, making gifts collectively with others for greater impact.

Research is also showing that across income levels and generations, women are more likely to give, and to give more, than their male counterparts. 

We have also found this to be true at Allegheny when comparing giving data over a recent five-year period for single male and female donors. We found that:

• There were 1.5 women donors to every one male donor overall
• Double the number of women supported the Annual Fund or documented bequest intentions 
• The ratio of women to men funding charitable gift annuities and trusts was almost 3:1
• And single women’s lifetime giving was double that of single men

A predicted historic transfer of wealth to women from parents and spouses is occurring now, and economists predict that about $59 trillion in assets will pass from Baby Boomers to their children over the next 25 years. Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy estimates that women will inherit 70 percent of this so-called Great Wealth Transfer. Women currently control more than half of the wealth in the U.S. ($14 trillion) and could control two-thirds or more of it by 2030 as a result of the transfer.

You likely have, or will have, opportunities to influence charitable gifts, and it is important that you know how to best use your assets to do good. To learn more, contact Melissa Mencotti at (814) 332-6519, write us at giftplan@allegheny.edu, or visit our website at allegheny.giftplans.org

May 2019 graduate Colten Buzard got his start in digital marketing in 2016 with an internship supported by the George Andress Taaffe Jr. Endowed Fund for Economics. The fund was established in memory of Mr. Taaffe ’68 by his widow, Natalie Davis Taaffe Hoffman ’68, and close friends, John ’59/P’92 and Nancy Watkins Dunham’ 64/P’92.

Colten held a number of summer and school-year jobs and internships in his field—some overlapping—while majoring in economics, minoring in communication arts, playing defense on the Gators football team, and serving with the Andover, Ohio, volunteer fire department. Now employed as a digital marketing consultant and software developer, Colten would like to give back by, as he writes, starting “programs in my hometown to help bright young kids who don’t have many opportunities,” noting that “there were many times where I could have used mentorship and support.” 

We have no doubt that Colten will be a terrific role model, just like George, Natalie, John, and Nancy before him.

Senior Megan Arnold will receive her bachelor’s degree from Allegheny College in May and continue to pursue her dream of becoming an oncologist and cancer researcher.

Megan, a biochemistry major and psychology minor from Burton, Ohio, has enjoyed a stellar undergraduate academic career, punctuated by valuable cutting-edge research experiences during her four years, all made possible by generous alumni and other benefactors.

After her first year at Allegheny, Megan immersed herself in a two-month summer research experience studying the physiology of muscle contraction with Allegheny alumnus Anthony Hessel ’12 at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Megan’s trip and expenses were funded by the Christine Scott Nelson ’73 Faculty Support Fund and the William S. Demchak ’84 and Debbie Demchak Student Internship Fund.

“It was intimidating coming to work in a lab like this, but once I got there I realized that my time at Allegheny had undoubtedly prepared me for this exciting challenge,” Megan says. “I was honored when one of my mentors complimented me on my work ethic and my willingness to take on new challenges.

“I knew this was a mindset I developed from the rigor of my coursework during my first year. It was rewarding to see the outcome of the work ethic and dedication I developed at Allegheny as a result of the endless support from my mentors and professors. They made me feel that no goal was unreachable, and they constantly encouraged me to hold myself to a higher standard.”

As a first-year student, and again in her sophomore year, Megan earned a PNC Bank Scholarship that helped defray her tuition costs at Allegheny. This current academic year, Megan received the John D. Wheeler Scholarship (John ‘61 and Margaret Wheeler), which follows a summer at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, studying a potential treatment for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Says Megan: “I wanted to be in a place where I could tell someone, ‘I have big dreams for myself,’ and hear them say, ‘That’s the way it’s supposed to be, and here’s how you can achieve them.’ I can say with complete conviction that Allegheny is this place. It is everything I could have ever wished for in a college and more.”

Megan continues to excel at Allegheny. She is the head resident advisor at Ravine-Narvik Hall, serves as a Sustained Dialogue moderator, volunteers at the Grounds for Change coffeehouse, mentors students in first-year seminars and chemistry and molecular biology courses, and plays on the Ultimate Frisbee team. In 2018, Megan received Allegheny’s Helping Hand Award, given to the student who exemplifies the ideals by which Brian Grogan ’99 lived his life: leadership, commitment, spirituality, respect for others, and personal sacrifice. She will graduate Phi Beta Kappa.

After graduation, Megan hopes to continue her education and eventually conduct research at the National Cancer Institute.

“My experience at Allegheny has been deeply impacted by the philanthropic acts of many different alumni and organizations,” Megan says. “Without their generosity and commitment to education, I wouldn’t have been able to attend Allegheny, which means I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I am looking ahead to continuing to pay it forward throughout my life by using the knowledge I have gained here in service of other people, and one day donating to support future Allegheny students.”

Grounds for Change (GFC) is Allegheny’s volunteer and student-run coffeehouse. Located in the Campus Center, GFC provides a space for socializing, studying, intellectual discussion and debate, and community and campus events. Under the leadership of a 15-member board, GFC supports environmentally sustainable practices including purchasing organic, fair trade, and locally grown and produced products. We hope that future alumnae leaders are “percolating” among the GFC volunteers!

One of the easiest and most powerful ways to make gifts to your favorite charities is to name them as beneficiaries of your IRA, 401(k), 403(b), or other qualified plans. Retirement savings often represent our greatest financial assets, and gifts from them at our deaths may have significantly greater impact than those we can afford to make during life. Typically it costs nothing and takes but a few moments to name Allegheny College and/or other organizations as beneficiaries.

The first step is to submit a beneficiary designation form to your plan administrator. Most forms are available at fund websites. You will be able to name one or more beneficiaries, both human and organization. Donors typically assign percentage values for their beneficiaries rather than specific dollar amounts as final fund values cannot be known in advance. You will need the full legal name, address, and federal tax ID of the charity/ies that you wish to support.

(Allegheny College, 520 N. Main Street,
Meadville, PA 16335, 25-0965212)

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Beneficiary designations supercede wills, so to ensure that the people and organizations you wish benefit from your hard work, be sure to review them periodically.

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It’s important to note that there are spousal protections related to some retirement accounts and they vary by type and state. No federal rules govern IRA beneficiary designations, but in marital property states, spousal consent is generally required to include entities other than a spouse.

Workplace retirement accounts such as 401(k)s and 403(b)s are governed by federal law mandating that spouses are automatically entitled to receive 50% of fund owners’ accounts, regardless of what their beneficiary forms indicate. A properly executed spousal waiver will, however, allow a plan owner to designate more than 50% of her account for charity or other beneficiaries.

It is absolutely essential that you inform your executor/trusted persons and the charitable organizations that you are supporting about your plans because IRA fund administrators have no obligation to inform charities of their beneficiary status before or after your death. 

Part of the fun in making a gift like this is determining what you want to accomplish with it. Representatives at Allegheny and other nonprofits will be delighted to speak with you about your goals to ensure that your wishes are carried out.

At Allegheny, you will become a member of the William Bentley Legacy Society. Members are recognized in the College’s annual Report of Gifts and other publications (unless anonymity is preferred) and are invited to participate in special events. If you are celebrating a class reunion, your beneficiary designation will be included in your class reunion gift; if you are 62 or older, your gift will count toward major fundraising campaigns.

A warm heart is not the only benefit of charitable gifts of retirement assets. There are also practical reasons to give. Most IRAs (Roths excluded) and workplace retirement accounts are subject to both federal income taxes and estate taxes. Children and other non-spousal heirs pay income tax on their distributions, so you may wish to give them other assets through your will that will not be taxed, leaving retirement assets to charity. These gifts are also subtracted from donors’ estates, thus reducing the amount owed. Estate taxes currently affect only those whose assets are greater than $11.4 million (or $22.8 million for married couples), due to exclusions, but exclusions and rates change frequently. It’s impossible to predict what the situation will be at our deaths. Advance planning is a good idea and beneficiary designations do not require the use of an attorney.

We have a variety of educational resources to help with making gifts from retirement assets. Visit allegheny.giftplans.org for more information, including free e-brochures, or call us at (814) 332-6519 or toll-free at (866) 332-3853. We also may be reached at giftplan@allegheny.edu. Prospective donors are urged to consult their personal tax and financial advisors concerning the specific consequences of making gifts to Allegheny.