Just for the sake of argument, let’s assume you’re mortal. When mortality’s magical moment arrives, that special time when you never have to return e-mails again, what’s going to happen to your cash?

Usually, this question devolves into a heated debate over estate taxes, with the line clearly drawn between two thoughtful, reasonable groups: those who have a lot of money and those who don’t.

Another group is doing more to wedge its way into the conversation. It consists of people who want you to share some wealth with the community before you start walking toward the light.

“There’s a lot of talk nationally about business leaders who give annually but don’t leave anything to the community in their estate plans,” said Angie Dethlefs-Trettin, director of the Iowa Council of Foundations. About 80 percent of them donate to annual charity drives, she says, but just 7 percent pencil a charity into their will.

So when eight Des Moines families pledged $20 million to the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation last week, payable no matter what, that was like a dream come true.

However, it’s not just the elite who have the philanthropy industry’s attention. There’s a widespread transfer of wealth under way that has everyone excited – or at least everyone who’s not in the next-batch-to-die category. According to a study by the Community Vitality Center at Iowa State University, Iowans transfer about $5 billion annually from one generation to the next, with lots and lots of Baby Boomer funerals yet to be booked. In Polk County alone, the transfer averaged $490 million per year from 1998 to 2002.

The average estate size in Iowa during that span was $275,000. It ranged from $156,486 in Monroe County to $397,393 in Poweshiek County. More evidence that something mysterious and wonderful is going on in Poweshiek County.

The Iowa Council of Foundations and other organizations, such as Leave a Legacy Iowa, sure would like to tap into that pipeline.

The ICF and the Community Vitality Center have created presentations to get the message to service groups, church groups or an entire community. The one tailored for Marshall County points out that if just 5 percent of its annual estate activity were to be turned into gifts, it would total $3.5 million. And a fire truck costs $250,000, a mile of bike trail costs $100,000 …

It’s working. “In the past couple of years, Iowa has gone from 13 community foundations to approximately 115,” Dethlefs-Trettin said.