Joining the Legacy Society is easy. All you need to do is contact us and we can guide you through the process.

If you wish, we can work with you and your attorney to suggest language for your will or trust documents. We can even refer you to estate planning experts who are members of our Professional Advisor Network. And we regularly hold seminars on estate planning to help you identify the estate planning vehicles that best suit your needs.

The assets you pledge in your bequest to the Foundation can take several forms. You can pledge cash, securities, life insurance proceeds, and even assets such as real estate that you own. One of the easiest ways to help build our endowment and join the Legacy Society is simply to designate the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy(ies), retirement plan(s), etc. Forms are available from your insurance company or plan administrator.

Once your legal documents are in place, we only ask that you contact the Foundation to let us know you will remember us in your estate. When you do this, you join a visionary group of individuals that our entire community holds dear. You will then be an esteemed member of San Diego Human Dignity Foundation’s Legacy Society.

Focusing Your Legacy

Most Legacy Society members prefer to leave unrestricted gifts to the Foundation, and this is our preference. But some people want to leave a portion of their estate to support certain charitable causes. At San Diego Human Dignity Foundation, our business is to receive, administer and provide ongoing stewardship of estate gifts for charitable purposes. We ensure our donor's intentions are honored and fulfilled, forever!

Gifts from your estate may be made to San Diego Human Dignity Foundation via many different giving vehicles, shown below. We encourage you to consult a professional advisor in selecting the giving vehicle that is best for you:

• Will or living trust

• Qualified retirement plan

• Life insurance policy

• Charitable gift annuity

• Pooled income fund

• Charitable remainder trust

• Charitable lead trust

If you are considering the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation to be the beneficiary of your estate giving and the steward of those funds for the future, the following things should be considered:

• What organizations or causes do you want to support?
• Do you prefer gifts to remain unrestricted, so that our Board of Directors can direct giving toward the most pressing community needs?
• Are the funds to be used to support a specific cause, e.g., to support services for LGBT seniors or to support non-discrimination education in our schools?Are the funds to go to specific organizations?
• What assets do you want to give?
  • We are equipped to accept gifts of cash, stock and real estate through a will or living trust, as well as gifts via life insurance and qualified retirement plans. Additionally, we offer a great deal of flexibility as the charitable beneficiary of a charitable trust or pooled income fund. Since we are a 501(c)(3) public charity, assets that come to San Diego Human Dignity Foundation are removed from your estate for tax purposes. This decision should be made in consultation with a professional advisor.

• Do you want to create your own fund as a repository of your gift?
  • While the Foundation prefers that legacy gifts remain unrestricted, you may choose to initiate a fund to act as a repository of your gift as long as this gift meets minimum size requirements for legacy funds. You can use your family name or the name of a loved one. Many donors think of creative names that represent the causes they want to support. You can also choose to remain anonymous; we can arrange for the level of recognition you desire.
  • If you do decide to start a fund, you need to decide whether or not to endow this fund. In an endowment, the principal is invested and only a portion of the income is paid out. The remaining income is returned to principal to protect the value of the endowment over time. This option provides support for your chosen organizations and causes forever. In a non-endowed fund, the entire balance may be granted. (Most people choose an endowment for their estate gifts.)

A Word about Gifts of Real Estate

Gifts of real estate are of course welcome by the Foundation. However, since the Foundation is not set up to hold real estate assets, such gifts can result in lengthy, complex and costly transactions which in turn reduce the size of the ultimate gift to the Foundation. In addition, there are often complex tax and other legal issues for you and for the Foundation. Please contact the Foundation’s Executive Director before making a gift or bequest of real estate.