The U.S. Air Force brought Jim and Susan Tracy to Nebraska in 1993, and they immediately dove into serving the Omaha metropolitan community — Jim through his work as a physician and Susan through volunteer work at the schools her three sons attended.
They were founding members of Saint Matthew the Evangelist parish in Bellevue and have been worshiping and volunteering there for nearly 30 years.
“At the beginning, it was all school-based volunteering — I have always been interested in education,” Susan said. “I’ve also found great joy in volunteering in my church community and other community organizations.”
They began supporting their church financially with weekly contributions. When they became fundholders at the Omaha Community Foundation, they learned they could give regularly through their OCF fund, instead of writing weekly checks.
“We were doing a program … where our church took it from our bank account every month, but OCF made it even simpler than that,” Susan said. “It’s been great. Our church gets a steady stream of income, and I don’t have to worry about writing a check every week or when I am on vacation.”
Giving back and supporting their community has long been important to the couple.
“We had very limited resources when Jim was going to medical school, and we did not come from families that could help us out through that,” Susan said. “We were frugal and saved, but even then we felt we needed to give and stay involved. We would pledge a few dollars a month to our church and hoped that we could stick to that expense.
“We have now been blessed so much that it is important to give back. We felt that it was important to be an example to our children of giving back to the community”
Over the years, the couple has become more and more involved in the community, supporting organizations like Nebraska Shakespeare, Joslyn Castle, Omaha Symphony, and Opera Omaha.
But it took them a while to realize the Omaha Community Foundation could help them with their giving.
“I thought the Foundation was for multi-million dollar fundholders and large family foundations. It wasn’t until I met a former executive director who explained to me that the Omaha Community Foundation was for everyone,” Jim said.
Opening a Donor Advised Fund at the Omaha Community Foundation allowed the Tracys to simplify and organize their giving. Instead of entering their donations into a spreadsheet, they use the Community Foundation’s tools and resources to track each donation. They also appreciate the tax advantages of gifting money to the Foundation in a single donation and then distributing it throughout the year to the organizations they support.
In the beginning, Jim said he had a lot of questions and found the OCF staff to be incredibly responsive, helpful, and knowledgeable, making the process of giving easy.
Now, when Jim wants to donate to his church or other organization, he simply calls his Donor Services Advisor at the Community Foundation. The OCF team processes his stock transfers to the Donor Advised Fund and his grants to his church, removing all the stress of managing the transactions himself.
As Jim and Susan think about the next stage of their life, they are leaning into other services at the Community Foundation. They will pass their Donor Advised Fund to their children to manage after they are gone and are working with the OCF team to establish a giving plan for the kids. Jim and Susan appreciate the flexibility the Donor Advised Fund provides so their children can give to areas that mean the most to the community in years to come.
“Still, our sons seem to want us to be as specific as possible” about giving plans, Susan said. “so we are working that into our estate planning.”
Jim said he wants people to know that the Omaha Community Foundation is an efficient and effective way for any giving person to donate to the causes they care about. The variety of fund options available at the Community Foundation makes giving possible for any charitable person, he said.
“You don’t have to be Warren Buffet to open an account,” he said.