Planned Giving for California Preservation's Future

There are a number of options for designating your retirement assets as a gift to CPF. 

• An outright gift through beneficiary designation. You can name CPF as the beneficiary or contingent beneficiary of your retirement assets after your lifetime. When a retirement account is left to a charity, the organization does not pay any income tax whereas your heirs may pay income tax if they inherit your retirement funds. Your retirement plan’s administrator can provide a beneficiary form for you to name the CPF as your sole or partial beneficiary. You can designate CPF as a beneficiary with the following information:
  • California Preservation Foundation, 101 The Embarcadero, Suite 120, San Francisco, CA, 94105. Federal Tax ID: 94-2569465
• Create a charitable remainder trust that begins after a donor’s lifetime. You can name a trust as the ultimate beneficiary of excess or unused retirement assets. After your lifetime, the trust can provide income to heirs for a period of years, after which time the trust monies can fund charitable endeavors. Since it is a charitable trust, there is more money available to generate income for heirs.

Gifts of Life Insurance. Life insurance is often overlooked as an asset that you can use to make gifts to CPF.

• • Add a beneficiary to your policy. It is relatively simple to make a change to the beneficiary/beneficiaries of your insurance policy without changing your will or other aspects of your estate plan. Just ask your insurance company for a form that will allow you to make CPF a beneficiary of your insurance policy. You can designate CPF as a beneficiary with the following information:
    • California Preservation Foundation, 101 The Embarcadero, Suite 120, San Francisco, CA, 94105. Federal Tax ID: 94-2569465
  • Give a paid-up policy. You can transfer ownership of a paid-up life insurance policy to CPF. After the transfer, CPF can elect to either cash in the policy right away or keep the policy and receive the death benefit later. You would receive an immediate income tax deduction for either the cash surrender value or the basis (usually the cost), whichever is less.
  • Designating CPF the owner and beneficiary. You can take out a policy and designate CPF as the owner and beneficiary of the policy. Premium payments can be made by you directly to the insurance company or by CPF, by way of your annual gift to the organization. Whichever way the premiums are paid, you can take an income tax deduction.

Bequests From Your Will. Including CPF in your will or trust is a meaningful way to help us continue to advocate for and preserve significant historic sites in California. There are a few simple ways to give through a Will or Trust:

• • Leave a specific dollar amount or asset to CPF;
  • Designate a percentage of your estate to be given through your will or living trust;
  • Give only the remainder, or residue, or your estate, or that which remains after bequests to loved ones have been made.
  • Bequests call also include gifts of cash; securities; and personal property. 

Below are basic statements that you and your attorney can use:

Bequests of a specific dollar amount and/or specific personal property:

• I hereby give, devise, and bequeath [dollars and/or object] to the California Preservation Foundation, a non-profit organization located at 101 The Embarcadero, Suite 120, San Francisco, CA, 94105, Federal Tax ID: 94-2569465, for CPF general use and purposes.

You can designate CPF as a beneficiary with the following information:

• California Preservation Foundation, 101 The Embarcadero, Suite 120, San Francisco, CA, 94105. Federal Tax ID: 94-2569465

CPF is here to help you fulfill your philanthropic vision. To reach our team, call us at 415- 495 – 0349 or write to CPF@californiapreservation.org.