June and John Fettig created charitable gift annuities to help sustain trusted public media programming for future generations.
For June and John Fettig, generosity is about making thoughtful choices – serving together as family teachers at Boys Town, June answering calls on the organization’s crisis hotline and John working with Special Olympics Nebraska – all led by a desire to do what they can, when they can.
Giving started with a charitable gift annuity to the same YMCA camp supported by John’s parents in Kentucky.
“We did it once before,” June said. “A long time ago…to honor John’s parents.”
John’s career in nonprofit fundraising and consulting gave him a deep understanding of charitable tools.
“A charitable gift annuity is a way of taking a small piece of our retirement savings and deciding what to do with it,” he said. The couple made gifts to Nebraska Public Media from their IRA accounts and now receive fixed payments for life, with the remaining funds supporting the network. (Read more on page 23.)
“It’s the most conservative way to be generous,” John explained.
That understanding became especially important last year, when Nebraska Public Media lost $4 million in federal funding.
“That was a trigger, frankly,” he said.
The Fettigs responded by creating new charitable gift annuities with Nebraska Public Media – building on their earlier experience, but with renewed purpose.
“It’s a way of doing more,” John said, “when you’re not in a position to do as much as you’d like.”
Their support is rooted in trust and strengthened by relationships built over time. Through his nonprofit work, John came to know Director of Major and Planned Giving Becca Jewell, reinforcing his confidence in the network.
“I had insight. It’s a good organization, good people, trustworthy,” John said.
That trust has grown over decades of listening and watching. From early days with NPR to streaming MASTERPIECE, public media has been a steady presence in their lives.
“We have always appreciated the PBS News Hour and we started watching years ago when it was the McNeil/Lehrer Report,” June said.
Together, John and June say their choice reflects a belief that public media is worth sustaining.
“We think it is a fundamentally essential service.”