26 Oct 3 Tips for Planning Your Legacy Gift

Posted on Oct 26 by

Hear what John A. Sobrato, Board Chair Emeritus of  Sobrato Philanthropies, says about planned giving and how to establish a legacy.

When you include Ronald McDonald House Charities Bay Area in your estate plan, you can keep families close for generations to come.

In an interview with RMHC Bay Area Board Member Bob McIntire, John A. Sobrato shared how his family’s individual giving inspired the establishment of the Sobrato Family Foundation. The Foundation allowed them to combine their giving potential to create a multi-generational planned giving strategy that would have a long-term impact on the Silicon Valley community — including advancing RMHC Bay Area’s ability to house, feed, and support thousands of children and families facing medical crisis each year.

Join John A. and Sue Sobrato and be there for sick kids and their families by making a planned gift today. Here are a few reasons why.

3 Tips for Planning Your Legacy Gift

1. Make it a Family Affair

To ensure that his family’s philanthropy transcends generations, John A. encourages his children and grandchildren to get involved and give back early on in their lives. They participate in nonprofit site visits to learn about local causes and see how philanthropy creates access to basic necessities, lifesaving care, and opportunity for those in need. He shares that he and Susan also require their children and grandchildren to give away half of the funds they inherent to charitable causes.

“We set up a trust for our grandchildren. When they get a disbursement, they can use it for whatever they need. However, they must give half of it to a charity of their choice,” he said.

How will you encourage multi-generational giving? You can get started on your legacy of giving to Ronald McDonald House Charities Bay Area today.

You can learn more on our planned giving website or by contacting Jay McCullough, vice president of philanthropy at jay.mccullough@rmhcbayarea.org.

2. Visualize the Future of Your Giving

John A. shares that defining your personal and family values is an essential first step to creating a legacy. Then, identify organizations that embody and advance those values. In his interview with Bob McIntire, John A. shared, “I believe our foundation is certainly going to outlast my lifetime and my children’s lifetime.”

Taking the time now to plan what your giving looks like years, decades, and generations down the line will help your legacy become a reality. Planned giving helps to ensure the future of organizations like Ronald McDonald House Charities Bay Area, which raises more than $6 million annually to house, feed, and support families with sick children.

Here are a few ways to start your philanthropic legacy at RMHC Bay Area:

You can learn more on our planned giving website or by contacting Jay McCullough, vice president of philanthropy at jay.mccullough@rmhcbayarea.org.

3. Find a Simple First Step

A simple way to kick off your philanthropy is to familiarize yourself with your local organizations like RMHC Bay Area and find one you’re interested in engaging with year after year. These could be charities in your neighborhood, county, or region. Focusing your philanthropy locally allows you to create deep ties and connections with local community leaders already making an impact.

For example, the Sobrato Family Foundation has adopted a place-based giving approach in Silicon Valley, where he and his family have lived, worked, and learned. The region will feel their impact for generations to come.

RMHC Bay Area is working to create a community that extends beyond the walls of our Ronald McDonald Houses to create an entire neighborhood of support to help children and families facing medical crisis. Join our neighborhood of support and learn how legacy gifts impact families with sick children.

You can learn more on our planned giving website or by contacting Jay McCullough, vice president of philanthropy at jay.mccullough@rmhcbayarea.org.

More About John A. Sobrato’s Family Legacy of Giving

You can join John A. and Susan Sobrato in leaving a legacy of support at Ronald McDonald House Charities Bay Area. Your planned giving can help ensure that families with sick children have access to housing, meals, and support nearby the care they need well into the future.

For nearly 60 years, John A. and his wife Susan have shared their business success with Silicon Valley, raising their children and grandchildren to engage deeply in community concerns. In 2012, John A. and Sue Sobrato, along with their son John M. Sobrato, became the first multi-generational signatories of the Giving Pledge initiative started by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates. This plea means that the Sobrato family has committed to donating a majority of their wealth during their lifetimes. The hope is that their legacy of giving will encourage others to commit their financial resources to nonprofit institutions.

The impact of The Sobrato Family Foundation on families with sick kids extends beyond the sum of its grant funds to RMHC Bay Area. Over the last decade, the Foundation has provided $1.5 million to support essential operating and capacity-building programs. When COVID-19 hit, the foundation responded with not one but two rounds of relief grants, amplifying the power of its distinctive focus on unrestricted funding for essential human services. They rallied. We acted. Families were served.

Start your own legacy of giving to make a long-term impact on your community from John A. Sobrato.

Donors Like You Make an Impact

23,832 overnight stays

nearby and inside the hospital

$11,081,880 worth of supportive housing services

for families with sick children

2,000 hours

of psychosocial support

3,175 snack packs

delivered to families at the hospital

95,897 free meals

offsetting $1.4 million in meal expenses

92,626 pounds of food

distributed thanks to our Second Harvest food bank partnership

4,000 toys and care items

donated for Comfort & Joy with an estimated value of $88,000

90 students enrolled

in hybrid Ronald McDonald House School (Carter Family Classroom)

Families We Serve