Bequest
What are Bequests and Estate Plan Gifts?
A bequest is a gift from your estate that can be a transfer of cash, securities or other property made through your estate plans. You can make a bequest to Food From the Heart by including language in your will or living trust that bequeaths a portion of your estate to us, or by designating Food From The Heart as a beneficiary of your retirement account or life insurance policy.
Why Make A Bequest?
Remembering Food From The Heart with a bequest can help sustain and strengthen our organization in years to come. Some of the advantages of making a bequest include:
- You are able to control how your wealth is used. You have the satisfaction of knowing that your wishes will be honored.
- Costs nothing now, yet gives you the satisfaction of knowing you have provided for Food From The Heart in the future
- You retain control of and use of your assets during your lifetime
- You may modify your bequest if your circumstances change.
- Gifts to Food from the Heart from your estate are exempt from federal estate taxes
- If you let us know of your plans, we will be able to thank you now and recognize you publicly to the extent you wish.
How to Make a Bequest
A bequest to Food From The Heart can be made for a specific amount, for a percentage of your estate or for all or a portion is what is left after you have made bequests to your family. To make a gift to Food From The Heart from your estate, you must sign a new will or living trust instrument, add a codicil to your present will, or make an amendment to your present trust instrument.
Alternatively, you can designate Food From The Heart as a beneficiary of a retirement plan or life insurance policy. To do so, contact the retirement plan administrator or life insurance company and complete the appropriate beneficiary designation form. You can designate a specific purpose for such a gift with a separate letter prepared with assistance from the Office of Planned Giving.
To assist you in preparing your bequest, we have provided sample bequest language in the form of a PDF document you may download and give to your attorney.
Planning Your Bequest
When planning for a bequest, you will need to consider how you would like your gift to be used to benefit Food From The Heart. Some helpful explanations follow:
- An unrestricted bequest allows Food From The Heart to determine how to use the funds based on its most pressing needs. Unrestricted bequests are extremely valuable because we can use them to flexibly meet our future needs.
- A restricted bequest directs assets to a specific purpose, such as food procurement or kitchen equipment. A restricted bequest may be for an expendable or endowed fund. Because each restricted bequest is unique, Food From The Heart encourages donors considering this type of gift to speak with our staff about the appropriate language.
- Expendable funds are used in their entirety, generally within a relatively short time frame. Some larger expendable gifts are used over longer periods.
- Endowed funds provide income every year in perpetuity to carry out the designated purpose of the fund. Note that endowed funds have minimum required amounts. Please speak with our staff if you are considering a bequest to establish an endowed fund.
Endowments: A Lasting Legacy
Endowed funds may be established by bequest for many purposes. Some possibilities include:
- Overall program support
- Facilities and equipment upgrades
- A new refrigerated van for the Harvest Program
A fund created by your bequest can carry your name of the name of a family member or other person you wish to honor. Named funds are a way to share what is meaningful to you with our community well into the future.
If you have included Food From The Heart in your estate plans, please let us know. We would like to thank you for your generosity, make sure the purpose of your gift is understood by our community, and recognize you publicly, if you wish.
Please Contact Us.
We’re happy to help you explore options for designating a bequest to Food From The Heart. Please see our sample language.
Please call us at (805) 334-5292 with questions. Those considering a planned gift should consult their own legal and tax advisors. Our staff is happy to speak with advisors as well.
Food From The Heart’s federal tax I.D. number is 56-2334859.