Little River Wetlands Project

 

Planned Giving

Little River Wetlands Project has pledged to protect our areas wetlands. Please consider LRWP as you plan your estate and help ensure the future of our wetlands so that future generations can enjoy the beauty, wildlife and other benefits they offer.

 

Benefits:

• You will be listed in our publications (unless anonymity is preferred) and invited to special nature events.

• You will know that some of your assets will help LRWP continue to take care of the preserves, wildlife, and nature programs that you care about.

• You can choose how your bequest will be used. As part of a special fund or endowment, it can generate the kind of steady income stream so vital for a nonprofit. Or, your gift can be designated for a specific purpose, such as buying land, lasting stewardship of our preserves, or our nature programs.

• Your heirs may pay estate taxes on a lower amount as charity gifts are removed from your estate before any taxes are calculated. In some of the possibilities described below, you may also be able to save on taxes in your lifetime.

 

Beneficiary

LRWP as a beneficiary on death for selected assets

As one of the easiest ways to give, you can list LRWP as beneficiary upon your death on any investment, insurance policy, retirement plan, or bank account. This simple option removes the value of the bequest from your estate before taxes are calculated, possibly reducing your estate tax liability. Other benefits are that you can change the beneficiary later if you wish, and you do not need to change your existing will.

 

LRWP as a beneficiary to your will

One simple choice is to leave LRWP a fixed dollar amount or a percentage of your estate in your will. Other options are to designate the remainder of your estate to LRWP after other distributions have been fulfilled, or to list LRWP as a contingent beneficiary if other beneficiaries are unavailable (for example, if your spouse predeceases you).

 

Charitable Trusts

These financial instruments and others may allow you to invest a particular sum, allocate part of the income (or assets remaining upon your death) to LRWP, and perhaps continue to draw income from the investment in your lifetime. Often there are considerable tax benefits to the use of these instruments.

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Donation of Equities

Commonly traded stocks or bonds can easily be donated to LRWP. You may enjoy a tax advantage by doing so, since you can receive tax credit for a charity contribution based on the equities’ accrued value on the date of the transfer to LRWP but not have to pay taxes on the capital gains. Please call our Executive Director at 260-478-2515 to arrange to donate.

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Note: transfers normally take a few days, so please allow time for this process if you wish your donation to be credited before the end of a calendar year.

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Donation after age 70 ½ from part of a Required Minimum Distribution

If you’re 70 ½ years or older and need to take required minimum distributions from your assets, you may be able to gain significant tax benefits by making larger donations to LRWP from a traditional IRA by December 31. Under rules enacted as part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, you do not have to pay income taxes on amounts given (up to $100,000) when these are transferred directly to LRWP from an IRA trustee or plan administrator.

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If you’re interested in making such a gift, speak to your financial or tax advisor. Donors can designate their funds to be used as needed, for care of an LRWP preserve, for our free nature programs, or for another specific project (if approved by our Executive Director).

Land Donation

If you wish to leave land that is to be maintained in a natural state to LRWP, please verify with us whether your land constitutes a site we will be able to protect and manage. We ask that you also allocate funds to help us maintain your land in perpetuity.