The Legacy of Benjamin Savage

In 1880, Benjamin Savage came to Seton Hall College, and, for 50 years, he tended the farmland upon which the University was built and the cows that gave milk for Seton Hall priests and students. The Benjamin Savage Society’s name reflects the extraordinary gift of this down-to-earth man who, in 1933, left his estate and life insurance to the College. From his humble living and kindly nature came Seton Hall’s first planned gift, an insurance policy and the residue of his entire estate that together would be valued in excess of $150,000 today.

Joseph P. Guasconi, J.D., director of gift planning, is infusing new energy into this area of charitable giving that began with Savage. University Regent Richard E. Mahmarian, M.B.A. ’68 chairs the revitalized effort to inspire gift making in the same spirit Savage embodied.

To those who seek to change lives well into the future, Guasconi suggests being specific about their objective: “That’s good for them, and good for us,” he notes. The late William Milligan ’50, for example, sought to support deserving students at Seton Hall, and did so through a recent bequest of more than $580,000 to endow a scholarship in his name. As Guasconi meets with people trying to determine how best to express their gratitude to Seton Hall through their generosity, he offers them choices and tax-effective financial tools, which include charitable gift annuities, lead trusts and other creative arrangements.

“Thoughtful gifts from individuals like Benjamin Savage and Al Nazzaro (see article at left) can impact generations of deserving students,” he notes. To learn more about charitable gift planning, visit www.shu.edu/gift_planning.

—Donna Shoemaker