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Impact Your Community Today and Tomorrow

Through planned giving such as a bequest in your will or naming The Dallas Foundation as a full or partial beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement account, you can leave a lasting legacy in your community while achieving tax advantages for you and your loved ones.

An estate gift to The Dallas Foundation may be used for a wide variety of fund types and purposes. Our team of advisors can help you understand the array of options and create a customized plan for your unique situation.

There are a number of ways to name the Foundation as a beneficiary of your estate:

Bequest through a will or trust

Beneficiary of a retirement account

Beneficiary of a life insurance plan

Private foundation termination

Charitable Remainder Trusts and other vehicles

The reality is, you’re not going to live forever, but you can give forever through planned giving.

Ruben and Alina Esquivel

Here are some questions to consider:

If so, your solution is a gift to the Community Impact Fund of the Foundation, which serves as our general endowment and supports a variety of causes for the betterment of our community.

If so, an estate gift that creates a “field-of-interest fund” at the Foundation will meet your goals. Your fund can be an endowment, meaning it lasts forever, or it can be structured to be spent down over a period of time. And it can be customized to support the issues that you care most about.

We can create a “designated fund” in your name that makes annual grants to named organizations, either in perpetuity or for a period of time. Many donors choose this plan because it allows for annual gifts made during their lifetime to continue after death.

A donor advised fund creates a charitable legacy that allows family or friends to recommend grants to charity. Your estate can fund an existing DAF with the Foundation, or it can create a new DAF with advisors and successor advisors that you choose.

No problem. Your estate gift can be used to fund more than one of the options listed above. For example: A portion of the gift is used to create a field-of-interest fund, in the name of the donor, that makes annual grants to organizations battling homelessness in Dallas. The Foundation will identify the most effective organizations each year to receive those grants. Part of the gift can be used to create a designated fund, in the name of the donor, that makes an annual grant to the donor’s college alma mater. Those grants will be made until the fund is exhausted. The remainder will be added to the donor’s existing DAF at the Foundation, and her three adult children will act as advisors to the fund with the ability to recommend grants to their favorite charities.

Next Steps

Once you determine what you want your estate gift to accomplish, you will name The Dallas Foundation in your estate documents. For assistance with legacy gifts, please contact Kim Montez, senior director of gift planning and donor services.

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