Concordia Magazine

Supporting Concordia Now and in the Future

By Emily Clemenson

Meet Bradley Edin ’79. He’s just your average Cobber from a smaller-than-average North Dakota town, with a bigger-than-average hope for the future of Concordia College.

“The older I get, the clearer it is how important the kind of education that schools like Concordia provide is to the health of our communities, neighborhoods and world,” Edin says.

Giving comes in many forms and makes up around 20 percent of Concordia’s annual budget. As giving and its endowment increase, the college becomes more stable financially. Some common types of giving include one-time gifts, annual gifts (which may fund scholarships) and planned giving.

Edin, a farmer and pastor, sees value in the different types of giving, and he has pledged to give annually and has made a gift to Concordia in his estate plans.

With his annual gift, Edin is endowing two scholarships named after family members. One was started by his aunt and is named after Edin’s maternal grandparents. The other was started last spring and is named after Edin’s parents.

“The names on these scholarships make connections to our heritage,” says Eric Johnson, a gift planner for Concordia. “And there are students right now that are benefiting from Bradley’s scholarships.”

All gifts, regardless of the size, help the college in some way, Johnson says. And some, specifically annual gifts and planned giving, help the college prepare and predict what the budget might look like five, 10 and 50 years down the road.

“Scholarship gifts are gifts of today that make a Concordia College experience and education more affordable for students,” Johnson says. “Estate gifts are really investments in our future and help ensure the vitality and future of Concordia for years to come.”

Edin chose to include Concordia in his estate plan to guarantee that, regardless of what might happen in the future, Concordia will be financially supported.

“My specific motivation in making my estate plan was to be sure that whether I live another year or another 30 years, that a significant part of my assets go to foster the work of Concordia,” Edin says.

“It does give me great satisfaction and great joy to have a hand in supporting the work of the school,” he says.

Photo: Submitted

By including Concordia College in your estate plans, you become a member of Concordia's Founder's Society. To learn more, visit ConcordiaCollege.edu/giving or contact the Concordia Advancement Office at (800) 699-9896.

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