Leave a Legacy of Water Resilience
One of the best ways to leave a legacy of far-reaching change is through a charitable bequest. When you leave a legacy gift to the Pacific Institute, you are creating a healthier, more resilient, and equitable world for future generations. You and your loved ones will also receive tax benefits.
Once you have included the Pacific Institute in your estate planning, we invite you to send us a copy of the relevant section of your will or trust documents that specific your bequest to the Pacific Institute. This is important because it helps us in our planning and enables us to keep you updated on our impact. Your information is kept in strict confidence.
When you become a member of the Pacific Institute’s legacy family, you are making a powerful commitment to ensuring water resilience for people and nature in your community and around the world.
Bequests
Bequests are a common and simple way to leave a legacy gift. You can leave a bequest to the Pacific Institute in any of these ways:
- Specific Bequest – Designate the amount of money or specific asset (property, securities, etc.) you wish to donate.
- Percentage Bequest – Designate the percentage of your estate you want distributed to the Pacific Institute.
- Residuary Bequest – Instruct that any remaining part of your estate be distributed to the Pacific Institute after distributions are made to family, friends, etc.
- Contingent Bequest – Instruct that the Pacific Institute receive assets in the event that a beneficiary in your will is no longer living.
Sample bequest language:
“I give and bequeath to Pacific Institute, Federal Tax ID #94-3050434, the sum of $___ (or ___ percent of my estate, or ___% of the rest and remainder of my estate) for its general philanthropic purposes.”
Please use the following information when contacting your asset manager:
Address: 344 20th Street, Oakland, CA 94612
Federal Tax ID #94-3050434
Don’t have a will yet?
It takes less than 20 minutes to write or update your legal will, for free, at: freewill.com.
Gifts of Life Insurance
Another simple way to leave a legacy of safe water is to name Pacific Institute as a beneficiary of any individual or group life insurance policy. You will get an estate tax deduction for insurance proceeds that go to Pacific Institute upon your death.
Charitable Lead Trusts
With a charitable lead trust, you transfer cash or appreciated property to a trust, which makes payments to Pacific Institute for a period of time after which the assets of the trust are transferred to your beneficiaries. These trusts are particularly useful for managing capital gains and gift taxes for assets that have appreciated in value.
Retirement Plans and Other Investments
An IRA, 401(K), 403(b) or another qualified retirement plan has tax benefits for accumulating assets, but at death they may be subject to income and estate taxes. Without planning, over 60% of the value of your tax-deferred accounts may go to taxes. Gifting these accounts makes use of the full value of the assets. To leave your IRA or other retirement plan to the Pacific Institute (either as primary or contingent beneficiary), contact your retirement plan company to request a change in beneficiary designation form.
Contact Us
Please let us know if you have included us in your will, life insurance, or estate plans so that we may thank you for your generous commitment to the Pacific Institute.
Questions? For more information, please contact Nicole Wickenhauser, Director of Development at: 510-251-1600 ext. 110 or nwickenhauser@pacinst.org.
The information on our planned giving page is for informational purposes only. As with any decision involving your financial or estate plans, we strongly advise you to seek the advice of your financial advisor for your estate planning.