Planned Giving

Include specific language in your will or trust naming a new or existing fund at the Foundation as the beneficiary of a testamentary gift. You can specify a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, or the remainder of your estate. Your estate receives a charitable deduction equal to the value of your gift.

Beneficiary Designation: By designating the Foundation as the sole or partial beneficiary of assets remaining in a retirement plan, after death your proceeds would be directed to a Foundation endowment with charitable purposes.  This strategy can be far more advantageous than having those assets included in a taxable estate or leaving them to heirs.

IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution: Under current legislation, holders of traditional and Roth IRAs who are at least 70-1/2 years old can make direct charitable transfers annually of up to $100,000 per taxpayer. As a qualified public charity, we can help you execute the transfer to either an existing or a new fund.

Note: under current law, IRA Charitable Rollovers cannot be directed to Donor-Advised Funds, Charitable Remainder Trusts, or supporting organizations.  Learn more

A charitable remainder trust (CRT) allows you (or someone who you select) to receive income, knowing that whatever remains will benefit your charitable interests. Cash, stock, property, or other assets are placed into a trust that distributes to the “income beneficiary” an annual income for life or for the duration of the trust. As a donor, you would receive an immediate tax deduction for the present value of the gift. After death or at the end of a specified trust term (up to 20 years), the remainder of the trust transfers to a fund that has been named at the Foundation or to a specific charitable organization.  The minimum gift to establish a CRT with the Foundation serving as Trustee is $100,000.

A charitable lead trust (CLT) enables you to make significant charitable gifts now while transferring substantial assets to beneficiaries later.  This is how it works: a trust is set up from which the Foundation receives annual payments for your life or for a specified number of years (up to 35 years).  These payments may be distributed to any fund you specify.  When the trust terminates, the trust principal is returned to you or distributed to your children or to others you may designate.  The trust assets pass to the recipients at reduced tax cost, sometimes even tax-free.  The minimum gift to establish a CLT at the Foundation is $1 million.

There are two easy and beneficial ways that you can use life insurance to fund your giving. If you have a paid-up (or cash value) life insurance policy that is no longer needed for its intended purpose (e.g., your children are grown, your spouse has predeceased you, or tax laws have changed), you can give the policy to the Foundation. The policy will be cashed in, and the proceeds can be used immediately to create any type of fund. Life insurance can also be part of your estate planning by naming the Foundation as a partial and/or contingent beneficiary of an insurance policy's death benefit. If one or more of the primary beneficiaries predecease you, their share can go directly into a fund established at the Foundation.

You can turn property values into community good while receiving financial and tax benefits by making a charitable gift of real estate. A retained life estate allows you to continue to live in and fully enjoy your home (or vacation property) as long as you like, while giving future ownership to the Foundation.

The gift of the “remainder interest” is a charitable contribution in the year in which the gift arrangement is made, which may result in a substantial charitable income tax deduction. When the life tenancy terminates, the Foundation becomes the property's owner. The proceeds of the property's sale can be transferred to a charitable fund established at the Foundation to support your charitable interests.