Trinity College was renamed Duke University following a gift for endowment from James Buchanan Duke in 1924.  What most people do not know is that the bulk of the endowment was paid through a bequest.  Planned gifts have set the trajectory for Duke’s future growth and success.  Gifts from donors like you propel us further […]

For 30 years, Valerie Broadie J.D. ’79, P ’10 has used the skills she acquired at Duke to do two things: Be a successful non-profit fundraiser and give back to the community. Broadie is a life member of the Duke Law Board of Visitors and also a 2014 Alumni Award winner.  Although her volunteer activities […]

As the year draws to a close, consider establishing  charitable gift annuity (CGA) at Duke. Given the many benefits it may provide, it’s easy to see why a CGA continues to be our most popular deferred giving option.  To better illustrate how a CGA could work for you, Jeremy Arkin, director of Gift Planning shares […]

Ray Tysor ’21 is remembered as a people person and a natural leader.  He was an Eagle Scout who continued to support the Boy Scouts as an adult.  He was a devoted member of his Methodist church, inspiring the congregation through his tithes and his teaching.  He was a lifelong fan of Duke, a place […]

Guest blogger Elizabeth Leverage Hilles’89, Director of Trusts, Estates, and Gift Planning at the University of Virginia’s Law School Foundation and gift planning chair for her 25th Reunion, shares five common estate planning “myths” that can create unintended problems and consequences for you and your family. Myth #1:  Appointing an executor is easy; so is […]

Their love story began at a football game with a scream. The setting was Wallace Wade Stadium on a sunny Saturday, September 19, 1970.  Duke was playing Maryland. Jan Tore Hall, a bespectacled rising sophomore, sat next to Ruthann Huling, a sports-loving freshman with golden blonde hair who was spending her first weekend on campus.  […]

A forensic neuropsychologist with three decades of experience, Fisher has spent his career exploring the link between cognition, behavior, and brain damage and, most recently, the underlying reasons why people commit seemingly inexplicable crimes.  His latest book, “Upside Down,” examines what drove a mild-mannered professor to murder his wife. Fisher’s combined interests in understanding the […]

We truly appreciate every prospective donor’s desire to make a gift to Duke University, and hate to turn down any generous offer of support.  However, through years of experience, we have learned that while charitable gifts of appreciated real estate often work well for both the donor and the receiving organization, gifts of timeshare units […]

Here’s the biggest lesson Terry T. Tucker M.B.A. ’98, J.D. ’04 took away from Duke: Live life to the fullest—and live it in the most meaningful way possible. “For a long time, I had this gnawing feeling that there was something bigger and more impactful I could be doing in my life, that I could […]

Americans give more money to charity each year than the rest of the world combined.  We are a nation of philanthropists, and helping others is woven into our cultural fabric. While we love to see the impact of our gifts in the here and now, no one knows what the future may hold in terms […]