When McKenzie Behrendt first crossed the viaduct into downtown Ravenna over a decade ago, she felt goosebumps. The charm of the main drag and the life buzzing along the sidewalks and storefronts felt like home.
“This is where people belong,” she recalled thinking at the time. “This is where people are creating community.”
It was a strong first impression and a reassurance that she would find much to love living in Buffalo County. Her husband, Logan, hails from the area.
“I married a farmer,” Behrendt said. “So, I’ll live here forever, and I love that.”
Behrendt eventually became involved with another relative newcomer to the community. The Ravenna Area Vision Fund (RAV), an affiliated fund of Nebraska Community Foundation, launched in 2015 with the goals of increasing charitable giving, making grants that enrich the quality of life for present and future generations, and nurturing a strong sense of community. Ravenna Area Vision Fund oversaw the completion of the community’s new hike and bike trail, which added a 1.55-mile loop on the east end of town. Volunteers helped the community raise $350,000 for the project. RAV has also supported the community library’s makerspace to encourage people to create and collaborated with Buffalo County officials to add additional camping spots and other amenities to a nearby recreation area.
The trail project was Behrendt’s introduction to RAV. Not long after she and Logan had contributed to the effort, a RAV member invited her to a meeting of the volunteer fund advisory committee (FAC). She’s been a member since 2022, and she’s proud to be part of an organization working to make Ravenna an even better place to call home – a place that “strives to thrive, not just survive.”
The volunteer fund advisory committee’s (FAC) most powerful tool for supporting those quality-of-life enhancements is its unrestricted endowment. The beauty of an endowment is that the principal is never touched, and the invested earnings increase over time. In other words, any gift made to the RAV unrestricted endowment will continue to grow and benefit the community year after year. A portion of the investment earnings serve as payout that RAV can grant to programs and projects that benefit the community of Ravenna and the surrounding rural area.
“There’s a lot of potential for Ravenna,” Behrendt said. “We need an unrestricted endowment to make those dreams happen.”
As part of the FAC, Behrendt spends a lot of time talking with her neighbors about the fund’s unrestricted endowment and the urgency to build it now while wealth remains in Buffalo County. In the next 10 years, NCF estimates $2.3 billion will transfer from older generations to their heirs. Some of those heirs may no longer live in the region – and some longtime residents may not have anyone to whom they can pass along their wealth. Either way, that money could leave the county and never return.
Nebraska Community Foundation’s Five to Thrive campaign has been a major influence on how Behrendt talks about the transfer of wealth. Launched in 2021, Five to Thrive encourages Nebraskans to leave just 5% of their estates to local organizations or causes dear to them. In Buffalo County, just 5% of the 10-year transfer amounts to $115 million – which could be a monumental boost to efforts like RAV’s unrestricted endowment.
But Behrendt wasn’t about to ask others to make a gift without doing the same herself. Last year, she listed the RAV Fund’s unrestricted endowment as a beneficiary on a life insurance policy – setting aside 10% of the policy for the community. She sees the gift as an opportunity to create more opportunities. Behrendt herself was inspired by a fellow RAV FAC member who made a similar life insurance policy gift and explained to her how simple it was to do.
“You can always think of reasons why not to give, there will always be those what ifs,” she said. “But when we let go, the beauty in that is trusting that the little bit we give will become more bountiful than we can ever imagine.”
Thinking of her children’s future also motivated Behrendt to leave a gift for the community, because a Ravenna empowered to pursue its dreams is a place where the next generation can thrive.
“If I want opportunities for my children, it doesn’t mean giving everything to them. It means creating community assets that make them value calling Ravenna home.”
Nebraska Community Foundation has extensive (and free) resources to help one familiarize with the many ways to make a charitable planned gift. Visit fivetothrivene.org to learn more about how you can create your own legacy in the place you love. Click on the “Transfer of Wealth Toolkit” for a free guide called “Planning Your Legacy.”
If you would like to speak to an NCF representative, you may contact Todd Mekelburg at tmekelburg@nebcommfound.org, 402.323.7343 or Becky Ries, bries@nebcommfound.org, 308.730.1048.
