Read a Q&A with Curtis Cox, senior director of gift planning at the NDSU Foundation.
What inspired you to work in gift planning and philanthropy?
I spent 15 years in the banking business and wanted to do something more meaningful. Working with passionate alumni and friends of NDSU at the Foundation checks that box!
Tell me about your connection to NDSU.
My first connection to NDSU was Bison football. When I was working at the University of Montana Foundation, I remember watching the great “Smoke Bowl” game where NDSU came in as the defending national champions and Montana beat the Bison — it was a great game! The Griz were riding high that year until they met the Bison again in the playoffs and the Bison throttled them in the Fargodome. Now that I work to support the Bison, that puts a big smile on my face.
What gets you excited about NDSU?
I love to tell people about the quality of education that students, in all disciplines, receive at NDSU. As a Virginia Tech graduate, I have seen many alumni go on to do great things. However, I will put NDSU up against Virginia Tech or any other university any day of the week — NDSU’s engineering program in particular. I have met too many talented Bison engineers to think differently.
What do you think is the biggest misconception about making a planned gift?
Many donors feel gift planning is limited to wills and living trusts; it is so much more than that. Gift planning creates opportunities for donors to have generational impact and leave lasting legacies through charities and organizations they are passionate about. Gift planning also provides donors with avenues to receive an income for life as well as help donors avoid capital gains on highly appreciated assets (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or farmland to name a few). Finally, there is a projected $84 trillion transfer of wealth coming in the next 20 to 30 years — much of this transfer will be from Baby Boomers to Gen X. Gift planning provides avenues for parents to pass along assets to their children in a more tax-efficient manner.
What’s a surprising fact about you that people might not know?
I would rather flyfish for trout rather than eat. I am serious.
Interested in learning more about planned gifts? Contact Curtis by email curtis.cox@ndsufoundation.com or call 701.231.4274.
