Planned Giving

Join the Legacy Society

The Legacy Society is made up of individuals who have supported Napa Valley College with a planned gift through life insurance, IRA or bank account beneficiaries, trusts, charitable gift annuities, real estate donations, bequests by wills and other instruments.

By joining the Legacy Society you will be creating a legacy to live beyond your lifetime.  Your gift will indeed make a difference…to the college, our programs and services, and most of all to our students.

Napa Valley College is key to our community’s culture and economy. NVC educates our teachers, policemen, nurses, physical therapists, winemakers and many others essential to the function of our economy. Our students are working hard to improve their opportunities and future. Many of them stay here and contribute directly to the life of our beautiful valley.

The Foundation supports these students and the programs they require for success. We provide scholarships directly to students to allow them to finish their course of study.

The Foundation supports the College in its commitment to academic excellence and student success. Examples of support in addition to scholarships we have given include instructional material support, library support, student services support, and campus improvements.

FIVE EASY WAYS TO NAME NAPA VALLEY COLLEGE FOUNDATION AS A BENEFICIARY

  1. Designate the Foundation as the beneficiary of your IRA/401k. Call your IRA custodian and ask for a change of beneficiary form.
  2. Designate the Foundation as the beneficiary of your "forgotten" life Insurance policy. Call your life insurance agent and ask for a change of beneficiary form.
  3. Designate the Foundation as the beneficiary of your gift annuity.
  4. Change your bank or brokerage account to a transfer on death.  Call your bank and ask for their form.
  5. Change your securities account to distribute the remainder to the Foundation upon your death.  Call your broker and ask for their form.

If your estate is taxable, a gift will offset part of your tax obligation.  Please contact your estate planning and/or tax professional.

 THINGS YOU CAN DO TODAY

  1. Contact your financial planner, estate planner, or attorney to name Napa Valley College Foundation as a recipient.  The suggested bequest language for Napa Valley College is: "I, [name], of [city, state, ZIP], give, devise and bequeath to Napa Valley College Foundation [written amount or percentage of the estate or description of property] for its unrestricted use and purpose/restricted use and purpose.”
  2. Complete the Legacy Society membership form and send it to Napa Valley College Foundation.
  3. At your discretion, notify the Foundation of the type of gift you have  left to the college.
  4. Join other Legacy Society members and donors at Foundation sponsored events.
  5. Promote the Legacy Society to your friends and family.
  6. Contact NVC Foundation staff for an appointment to set up a Charitable Gift Annuity. 

Planned Giving Options

The simplest way to give to the NVCF is by will.  If your will does not yet contain such a gift, a very simple amendment to it (called a “codicil”) can be executed with a minimum of effort and legal fees.  The Foundation can recommend language to include.  Amounts given by will are not taxable in the estate.  By joining many fellow donors, you can become a member of the Legacy Society.   We would appreciate knowing if you plan to make such a gift.  It’s not necessary to tell us the amount of your bequest, but knowing you plan such a gift would be rewarding to you and to us.

This gift allows the donor to keep the benefit of owning an asset while transferring the portion remaining after his or his heirs’ death(s) and receiving the tax benefits of the future gift while enjoying income rights from the asset.  For example, donor owns an account with a brokerage worth $500,000, mostly in bonds and dividend stocks from which she receives $35,000 yearly in income for her daily living expenses.  She has other assets and knows she will not need the principal from the investment, but only needs the income.  She also has other income from stocks and pension funds.  She sets up a CRT with her attorney which transfers to NVCF the remainder from the $500,000 in place at her death, after using the funds for her lifetime for the same income purpose for which she already uses them.  She gets, immediately on transfer to the CRT, an income tax deduction for the present value of the future gift.  She can use the deduction to offset other current income.  Therefore, she comes out ahead financially by making the CRT.  She is doing well by doing good.  If the property is appreciated stocks or real estate, the additional tax advantage is that no capital gains tax is due when she sells the asset.  Also, the amount of the transferred property is shielded from payment of estate tax on her death.

A CRT donor is free to designate a reasonable percentage of the annual return from the asset, with 5% as the minimum.  In the above example, she would take at least $25,000 annually in income from the CRT.  If she specified an 8% annual payout, she would actually receive $40,000/year during her life.  She can also specify a fixed amount per year, like an annuity, to be generated from trust income and assets. 

Many donors own appreciated real estate on which the earnings are fairly small.  They don’t wish to sell the asset and incur the resulting capital gains.  By deeding it to the CRT, the trustee can sell the asset without capital gain tax, put the money in a more productive investment and provide the donor with a higher lifetime income, all while reaping the immediate income tax benefits from the value of the future gift.

A CRT to NVC through its Foundation provides the satisfaction of giving to a very worthwhile college while enjoying considerable tax benefits and the peace of mind of knowing that you will be paid a specified amount or formula amount for the duration of your life.  These benefits may also extend to the lives of spouses or certain heirs.

When you think about it, most of us have these investments to provide income.  The CRT accomplishes this very well and adds a lot of tax benefits.

A CGA can be a win-win for the College through its Foundation and the right donor.  The CGA is like the CRT above, but has the added feature of having the payments for life guaranteed by the institution issuing it.  NVCF uses the League of California Community Colleges program through US Bank to write CGAs.  The donor transfers the asset to NVCF and receives a binding written contract guaranteeing payment of a specified amount per month for life.  The amount of the payment is determined by the age and gender of the donor and the investment/interest rate environment at the time of the transfer.  For instance, a transfer in January 2013 of a 65-year old would yield a lifetime annual payment at the rate of 4.7%; at 70 it’s 5.1%; at 75 it’s 5.8%; at 80 it’s 6.8%; and at 85 the lifetime payout is at a 7.8% annual rate.   You must be at least 65 years old to enter into a CGA contract, and the payment can be for your spouse’s life as well as yours, but would be slightly reduced in percentage because of the two lives.  In 2013, this rate of return is nearly five times higher than interest offered on a certificate of deposit (CD) or Treasury bill.  Guaranteed payment rates will vary over time, so a potential donor needs to contact the Foundation at 707-256-7170 for current rates and projections for her specific circumstances.

Your IRA or retirement plan has been accumulating on a tax-deferred basis for many years.  If you bequeath one of these assets to your children, they will pay income tax on the lump sum or income from the plan.  If you give the plan proceeds to the Foundation, no taxes are due.  You can then give your heirs something else (like real estate) which will be much easier on their taxes. 

A donor who designates NVCF as the beneficiary of an existing life insurance policy or who takes out a new policy naming Napa Valley College Foundation as beneficiary will get substantial tax benefits. 
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