Planned Giving

Planned gift arrangements made through your estate are ways to support DVFriends in the long-term. Your planned gift will help future DVFriends students to reach their academic potential and develop skills that will serve them for life, while also providing you with many benefits. These may include income for life, tax advantages, and/or the ability to make a much larger gift to DVFriends than you may have thought possible.

Our Friends for the Future Society recognizes the vision and generosity of donors who have shown their commitment to the future of DVFriends by including the school in their estate plans. These donors have named the school as a beneficiary of a will, trust, retirement plan, life insurance policy, gift annuity, or other planned gift.

If you have made such provisions for DVFriends, please tell us! We would like to recognize your philanthropy during your lifetime. We will invite you to become a member of the Friends for the Future Society so that your example may inspire others to make the same commitment.

Beneficiary designations and bequests are among the most popular, and the simplest, planned gifts to make. In both cases, there are no gift minimums, no impact on your current income, and gifts can be changed at any time. Plus, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you'll be supporting DVFriends to continue its good work well into the future.

Click on the options below to learn more:

BENEFICIARY DESIGNATIONS

You can designate DVFriends as a full or partial beneficiary of a qualified retirement plan (e.g., IRA, 401(K), Keogh, SEP), life insurance policy, or bank or brokerage account. Beneficiary designations can be changed at any time, and override any directions left for these assets in your will. This makes them powerful gift planning tools.

In addition, they are the simplest planned gifts to arrange: just fill out a Change of Beneficiary form from your plan administrator, and indicate what percentage of the assets you would like DVFriends to receive - no attorneys required.

Retirement assets left to family members will incur tax liability, thus eroding their value. If your estate plan includes gifts both to charities and heirs, protect more of the full value of your assets by leaving retirement assets to charities (like DVFriends), as they will receive the full value, tax free. Then, leave other less-taxed assets to your heirs.

When making a gift of life insurance, you continue to pay any premiums on the policy as required. DVFriends will receive proceeds from the death benefit tax-free, and the proceeds are fully deductible from your estate. Because you can change the beneficiary on a life insurance policy at any time, there is no immediate tax deduction available for this gift.

BEQUESTS

You can leave a bequest to DVFriends in your will. This is a simple gift to arrange, it has no impact on your finances during your lifetime, and it does not preclude you from benefiting other heirs. You can also easily change your bequest whenever you wish. Importantly, assets that pass to DVFriends through your bequest will not be subject to estate tax (if applicable).

You can leave DVFriends any of the following:

A specific bequest of a certain amount of cash, securities, real estate, or personal property
All or a portion of your residual estate (that which is left over after other estate obligations have been satisfied, or other heirs have received their specific bequests)

> This is often the smartest option, as the amount will always be in proportion to your overall estate, and you don’t have to come back later to adjust dollar amounts.

If you already have a will, you can make a bequest to DVFriends by adding a simple codicil (a formal addendum to a will). If you are newly creating your will, inform your attorney of your intention to leave a bequest. Find sample bequest language in our Advisor FAQ, linked at the bottom of this page.

CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITIES

You can make a gift that will pay you income for the rest of your life, give you tax benefits, and allow you to make a significant gift to DVFriends with a Charitable Gift Annuity.

A Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA) is a simple contract between you and DVFriends. You make a gift to DVFriends which is then invested; for the term of the agreement, DVFriends will pay you and/or your spouse a fixed amount; DVFriends receives the remaining assets after the term ends. The terms of the contract establish the rate, amount and timing of all payments. Beneficiaries must be 65 years or older, and payout rates increase with age or a deferred start to payments. You will receive an immediate income tax deduction for a portion of your gift, and a portion of each annuity payment will be tax-free.

Minimum gift amount to fund a CGA: $20,000

If you have a large estate, want significant tax benefits and the ability of annual payments to grow over time, another life income gift - a Charitable Remainder Trust - may be a good option. Minimum funding starts at $100,000. We encourage you to contact your lawyer or financial advisor to discuss.

"We included DVFriends in our estate plan because the school enabled our son to enter college with a sense of accomplishment. If he remained in the public school system, he would have been lost among the 'underachievers'. The estate gift is our way of paying back for the good work done at this school." - Parent of a DV alum

Please contact Anne-Marie McMahon in our Development Office at 610-640-4150, ext. 2152 to discuss any planned gift in more detail. Or, feel free to share our Advisor FAQ with your attorney or financial advisor.

Professional Advisor FAQ and Sample Bequest Language

Bob and Ellen DeMarinis: Why I Give