Support Your Passions and Secure Your Future

Bob, Clay, and Ric with their dad, Ike, growing up on the family farm.

The Rolader family shares a deep connection to their family farm in middle Georgia. As they considered their plans to fund the farm's maintenance, they discovered a solution that would also benefit nonprofit organizations they believed in. The idea was initiated by Ike Rolader, the father of Clay '72, Bob '79, and Ric '83.

What else was important to the family? The organizations they were close to in Atlanta.

A charitable remainder trust (CRT) was a way to support both passions. A CRT is typically funded with highly appreciated assets, which may offer the donor tax savings. Those assets are invested and a percentage of the earnings provides income for the donor during his or her lifetime. The remainder is then passed on to support charitable organizations, which, for the Roladers, included Westminster. "There was a twin purpose," explains Clay. "One was charitable and one was the family's desire to maintain the farm...it's been how we have funded the farm and the trust assets continue to grow."

Clay is not only a Westminster graduate, but also a former faculty member who taught Upper School English and coached soccer. He sees his experience as coming full circle. "I got to teach in the rooms where I was a student, and have my former teacher, Frank Finsthwait, as a colleague." Something that Clay immediately noticed as a teacher was the students' interest in giving back. "I was really struck by the sense of service that these young people are exposed to and you see it playing out-they want to work with companies that are socially responsible and playing by the rules."

As a member of Westminster's Board of Trustees, Clay appreciates being able to bring his experience as a teacher to the conversation. It also has given him confidence in future generations of Westminster leaders to make the decision as to where to use their family's gift. "It's unrestricted, so it will achieve whatever the folks down the road think the School needs. We trust them to make the right decisions."

A charitable trust like the Roladers' provides families meaningful and tailored ways to ensure the Westminster experience for generations to come. "Planned giving creates the opportunity to achieve both personal and philanthropic goals, whatever your interests might be," says Lauren Flores, Associate Vice President for Institutional Advancement. "We are so grateful for friends like the Roladers who believe in Westminster and its future."

To learn more about ways you can support the people and places that are important to you, like the Rolader family is, contact Lauren Flores at [email protected] or 404-609-6438.