That’s what Betty and Herbert Seidel did.

Giving back to the community has always been a part of Herbert and Betty Seidel’s lives. Mrs. Seidel can’t remember a time when she has not been “Jewishly” active. Her mother founded a Hadassah chapter in Long Island; her father was a bible scholar. “I’ve been involved with Israel since I was five years old,” explained Mrs. Seidel, who remembers going door to door with her mother to raise funds for Palestine all the way back in the 1930s. As a teenager, she was active in Young Judaea.

Mr. Seidel’s charitable deeds span more than five decades. “I want others to have the same opportunities I had,” said Mr. Seidel.

Mr. Seidel’s parents and five family members left Postov, Poland before the Nazis arrived; all the relatives that remained perished in the Holocaust. His father came to the US with the equivalent of a quarter in his pocket. He worked seven days a week to start a painting business. Mr. Seidel said he will never forget this nation’s support during that time. It provided Mr. Seidel with a tuition-free college education. He earned his undergraduate degree at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. After his World War II Air Corps service, he earned his Master’s degree under the GI Bill.

Mr. Seidel’s parents were active Jews, but he was not. Yet, he stuck by his parents’ commitment to repairing the world by supporting secular causes. Mr. Seidel came back into the Jewish fold when he married Betty. Today, they are both leaders in the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey. Mr. Seidel had established an IRA during his tenure as co-founder and president of Reisen-Seidel Hardwood Co., a nationally recognized processor, distributor and exporter of fine hardwoods. The couple named the federation as the beneficiary, allowing Mrs. Seidel to create a Lion of Judah Endowment, a gift she had wanted to make for a long time.

Leaving the IRA to the federation was an easy way for the Seidels to both make a donation and to avoid the IRA’s heavy after-death estate and income taxes. The gift also enabled them to perpetuate their joint tradition of tzedakah.

As it was for Alan and Sheila Budnick.

Sheila and Alan Budnick owned Berkline Corp., which produced reclining chairs and living room suites. The couple operated the company's distribution warehouse in the Springfield, Massachusetts’s area, where they also lived. The Budnicks were involved in the local Jewish community for more than 50 years. They remained steadfast supporters even after retiring to Florida.

When the Heritage Academy Day School – their son’s alma mater – outgrew its building, the Budnicks chaired the committee that raised funds for a new campus; they also participated in the Jewish Federation of Greater Springfield’s leadership program and contributed to its annual campaign. Mr. Budnick was a founder, trustee and investment committee chair of the federation’s Jewish Endowment Foundation.

After Mr. Budnick died in 2001, Mrs. Budnick established both a PACE gift and an unrestricted fund through her IRA. Mrs. Budnick gave up no current assets with this tax-free charitable gift, which will support the Springfield Jewish community far into the future.

Leaving your IRA to the federation is a smart estate-planning move that supports the Jewish community’s needs. As a charity, the federation gets 100 cents on the dollar. In giving all or a portion of these retirement assets to the federation, after-death estate taxes disappear. And, heirs who might have received your IRA don’t get hit with high income tax rates on the proceeds received from the IRA.

That’s why Bob Kokol left his IRA to federation.

Mr. Kokol named the T.O.P. – that’s Tampa, Orlando and Pinellas – Foundation as his IRA’s beneficiary. This gift reflects the sort of civic-mindedness he inherited from his father, who both volunteered at and gave generously to a number of Jewish and secular philanthropies.

When he moved from New York to Florida, the younger Mr. Kokol wanted a community connection. He found that in the Tampa Jewish Federation, which he values because of its focus on the global needs of the Jewish people. Mr. Kokol said that his father’s community involvement inspired him to become both president-elect of the Tampa Jewish Federation and chairman of the T.O.P. board of directors.

As a financial advisor, Mr. Kokol recognizes that an IRA is often the most highly taxed asset in an estate. So it was easy naming T.O.P his IRA’s beneficiary, which he did by simply changing the IRA’s beneficiary form. His gift will go to T.O.P. tax free and will support children’s art education in Jewish pre-schools, which his wife, a teacher, firmly supports.