Grateful Mizzou Alumna’s Planning Will Enable Faculty Research, Today and Tomorrow

Here bygynneth the Book of the tales of Susan Bentzinger...“here” being MU’s English department, back in the mid-1970s. After graduating with her PhD in Medieval English Literature, along with, in her words, “a quiverful of other English degrees,” Dr. Bentzinger found her success in the world of marketing.

She remained in touch with those who had guided her, though, and returned often to campus, offering her support as a member of the English Department Leaders Board.

“What that experience made abundantly clear to me was that there are all kinds of specific needs—undergrad, graduate, faculty—where dedicated support can make a significant difference,” said Susan.

A small luncheon with sondry folke of the department offered a wide range of perspectives, along with suggestions from each of the key groups.

“It went better than I could have imagined,” said Susan. “Those conversations provided me with an abundance of ideas.”

And so, her journey had begun. With ful devout corage (and some help from MU’s Office of Gift Planning), she set about creating an endowment with two goals. The first would be to provide financial support for faculty members performing literary research alongside their student assistants. Just as important was the second goal, though: ensuring the endowment would grow over time.

“Even though the fund is distributing a gift each year, the corpus of the endowment will just keep getting bigger,” said Susan. “If the planets align, eventually we’ll be able to give out two awards a year, maybe even three!”

As an added bonus, by making a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from her IRA as the initial gift, she was able to reduce her taxable income. With a win-win like that, gladly wolde [s]he lerne, and gladly teche.

(Translation? She’s glad she learned about charitable tax benefits. And she’d happily tell you about them too.)

“There are quite a few acronyms, I’ll admit, and some frightfully official paperwork,” she says. “But once you sit down to do it—it’s worth it. And I had all the help I needed.”

Ready for your own lesson in qualified charitable distributions? Contact The Office of Gift Planning at 1-800-970-9977 or 573-882-0272 or giftplanning@missouri.edu.