Planned Giving

Bequests can be made in the form of a specific dollar amount or property. Alternatively, your whole estate or a certain percentage or residue of your estate can be left to Animal Friends.

Your planned gift also entitles your estate to an unlimited federal estate tax charitable deduction.

For your convenience, we have provided some suggested language that you could use in your will or estate. Please feel free to adapt this language with your attorney to fit your individual situation.

Specific Gift Language

I give and devise to Animal Friends, Inc., (Tax ID # 25-0951565) located in Pittsburgh, PA, the sum of $___________ (or asset) to be used for its general support (or for the support of a specific program).

Residual Gift Language (a residual gift comes to us after all other estate expenses and bequests are paid).

I give and devise to Animal Friends, Inc., (Tax ID # 25-0951565) located in Pittsburgh, PA, all (or ____ percentage) of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, both real and personal, to be used for its general support (or for the support of a specific fund or program).

A gift by beneficiary designation is one of the easiest ways to give. Simply name Animal Friends as a beneficiary to receive assets such as retirement plans, life insurance policies or any other beneficiary assets. You simply fill out a beneficiary designation form separate from your will and designate Animal Friends, Inc. as a full or partial beneficiary.

It’s not only an easy way to give, it’s also flexible – you aren’t locked into the choices you make today. You can review and adjust beneficiary designations anytime you want.

You can name Animal Friends beneficiary of the following assets:

• Retirement Plans including IRAs and 401k’s
• Life Insurance
• Annuities
• Bank Accounts, Certificates of Deposit or Brokerage Accounts

Your financial or legal advisor can provide guidance on which assets will or will not trigger taxable income when paid to a beneficiary.

Do you want to benefit from the tax savings that result from supporting Animal Friends, but don’t want to give up assets that you’d like your family to receive? You can have it both ways with a charitable trust.

There are two types of charitable trusts you can choose from:

Charitable Remainder Trusts

A charitable remainder trust is established by transferring money or assets into a trust under which a trustee is directed to make income distributions to non-charitable beneficiaries for a period of time. At the end of the term, the remainder of the trust assets are then passed outright to Animal Friends.

Charitable Lead Trusts

A charitable lead trust is essentially the reverse of a charitable remainder trust. You can establish a trust that pays the income to Animal Friends for a term (you can choose any number of years), then the property either reverts to you, as the donor, or passes to another specified non-charitable beneficiary.

We encourage you to work with a qualified attorney or financial advisor to provide guidance with setting up a trust.

Another easy and flexible way you can support Animal Friends is by designating Animal Friends as a beneficiary of your retirement accounts or other financial accounts including brokerage accounts and CDs as well as money market, savings and checking accounts.

Many people don’t know that their retirement and other financial accounts can be a simple and practical way to not only help Animal Friends but even themselves at tax time. Through a beneficiary designation form, you can add Animal Friends as a beneficiary of 10, 20 or even 100 percent. You can also name Animal Friends as a secondary beneficiary in case someone you have named is unable to claim his or her portion.

If you are 70 ½ years old or older, you can give up to $100,000 from your IRA directly to a qualified charity like Animal Friends without having to pay income taxes on the money you donate.

This law no longer has an expiration date so you are free to make annual gifts to our organization allowing you to see the difference your donation is making today. If you have not yet taken your required minimum distribution for the year, your IRA charitable rollover gift can satisfy all or part of that requirement.

To name Animal Friends on your beneficiary designation form, please use the following information:

Animal Friends, Inc.
562 Camp Horne Road,
Pittsburgh, PA 15237

Tax ID#: 25 – 0951565
501 (c)(3) Organization

A gift of life insurance is a simple way to make a meaningful contribution to Animal Friends. There are two ways you can do this:

You may name Animal Friends as a full, partial or contingent beneficiary of any policy. (Remember many of us have employer-sponsored life insurance purchased at no cost to you.)

The second option is to donate outright a life insurance policy that is no longer needed. Animal Friends could then decide to hold or surrender the policy to receive the current cash value.

You may even choose to purchase a new life insurance policy and name Animal Friends as owner and beneficiary. This way you may receive an income tax deduction when future premiums are paid and you can create a gift capable of doing much greater good in the future.

Ask your insurance provider for more details or consult your legal or financial advisor to help you decide which option is best for you.

Making a gift of stocks or mutual funds to Animal Friends gives you the opportunity to support our work while realizing important benefits for yourself.

When you donate appreciated securities or mutual funds to Animal Friends in support of our mission, you can potentially eliminate federal capital gains taxes on the transfer. You are also entitled to a federal income tax charitable deduction based on the fair market value of the securities at the time of the transfer.

You may also donate jewelry, real estate or other valuables. Please keep in mind, however, that some of these gifts require more planning and have specific restrictions. We encourage you to speak with your financial planner before donating these items.

Thank you for your interest in planned giving opportunities with Animal Friends. Planned gifts are critical to the long-term health of our organization and are a meaningful way to invest in our bright future. If you have already designated Animal Friends as a beneficiary in your estate (or are considering it), please contact Melissa Ernst, Director of Development at 412.847.7095 or MErnst@ThinkingOutsideTheCage.org.