Planned Giving (also called gift planning or legacy giving) is the practice of designating a major gift to a charitable organization in life or as part of an Estate Plan. The gift could include cash, real estate, life insurance, equity, or personal property.

• Planned Giving represents the opportunity to leave a major gift that may not have been possible in your lifetime due to financial constraints. Such a gift can have a huge impact on the future of public lands across the West.
• Charitable Gifts are often exempt from Estate Tax, meaning more of the gift would go directly to the organization.
• Donors can avoid capital gains taxes when they transfer assets as part of a Planned Gift, again maximizing the contribution to charity.

A bequest – a gift that is given after the donor’s lifetime, usually through a will, trust, or estate plan.

You are never too young to plan your legacy for this planet!

Benefits of creating a will:

• Provides for family and loved ones
• Saves your loved ones the stress and cost of intestate probate proceedings.
• Distributes hard-earned assets according to your wishes
• Creates a legacy for the health of our planet that doesn’t cost anything today

Everyone can make a bequest. Giving through your will or estate plan allows you to make a generous gift that you might not be able to give during your lifetime. You do not need to be wealthy; it does not cost a thing, and you can change your mind at any time just by changing your will.

If you already have a will, giving a legacy gift is easy. You can prepare a short document known as a “codicil” to your will, to be signed and dated in the presence of two witnesses who will not benefit from the change, and attach it to your will.

Download sample language for a codicil for a will or for a bequest

Download an Estate Gift Commitment Form

Yes, you can leave CLF as a beneficiary of your retirement plan or part of an IRA. This type of gift is also easy to make and can maximize benefits to you and our work. To make this gift, simply notify your plan’s administrator of your wish to change the beneficiary. A change of beneficiary form will be required. CLF can be a full or partial beneficiary of your plan.

A Special Opportunity for Those 70½ Years Old and Older: You can give any amount (up to a maximum of $108,000 in 2025) per year from your IRA directly to a qualified charity such as CLF without having to pay income taxes on the money. This popular gift option is called a qualified charitable distribution, or QCD for short. 

Yes. You can name CLF as the primary, partial, or alternate beneficiary of your life insurance policy by filling out a change of beneficiary form with your insurance company. Furthermore, if you no longer need the policy proceeds in your estate, you can transfer ownership of the policy to CLF.

The Conservation Lands Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Our EIN/Tax ID number is 20-8924520.

Mailing Address:

835 E 2nd Ave Suite 314
Durango, CO, 81301

Phone: 970-247-0807

Mission: The mission of the Conservation Lands Foundation is to protect, restore and expand the National Conservation Lands through education, advocacy and partnerships.

Please note: Information provided here is meant as general information only. Conservation Lands Foundation (CLF) strongly advises you to seek legal and financial counsel when planning a legacy gift, particularly regarding the following options.

• Gifts that provide income to you and/or your beneficiary: Charitable gift annuities are contracts between a donor and a nonprofit in which the donor gives a significant amount of money or assets in exchange for the nonprofit’s promise to pay the donor a fixed amount for life, or some other period of time. Once the pay period ends, the nonprofit keeps any remaining funds.

  • You and/or your beneficiary receive fixed annual payments for life at an attractive rate based on the age of the beneficiaries. Current rates can be found on the website of the American Council on Gift Annuities: https://www.acga-web.org/current-gift-annuity-rates

  • You can begin receiving payments immediately (if you are 50 or older) or defer payments for a year or more (most people choose to start receiving income around retirement age).

  • You are eligible for an immediate tax deduction. If you donate appreciated assets, you may save on capital gains taxes as well.

  • The remainder passes to CLF after your lifetime.

• Trusts operate on the basic principle that recipients get a certain amount of money from the trust until the donor dies or a specified term ends. There are two main categories of trusts: Charitable Remainder Trusts and Charitable Lead Trusts.

  • a) Charitable Remainder Trusts pay a specified annual amount to the recipient for life, or a specified term. At the end of the term, the remaining funds go to the nonprofit.

  • b) Charitable Lead Trusts are similar, but the annual payments go to the nonprofit (rather than the donor), and the principal goes to the donor or their beneficiaries at the end of the term.

• Making a gift of real estate to CLF: Such a generous gift helps us continue our work for years to come, and a gift of real estate also helps you. When you give us property you have held longer than one year, you qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction and eliminates capital gains tax. And you no longer have to deal with that property's maintenance costs, property taxes or insurance. Please consult with your tax advisor and contact CLF for more information.

California residents may inquire with their estate planners or tax advisors about creating a revocable living trust. When you set up a living trust to transfer your property to your loved ones after your death, you can potentially save them a lot of time, hassle, and money. Property left through a will (rather than a living trust) might be tied up for months or even years in probate court, and could involve court costs and lawyers' fees. By contrast, property left through a trust can be distributed to your beneficiaries almost immediately, and often without the need for an attorney.

As the pandemic has made the state’s lengthy probate process even longer, legacy donors caring for their loved ones may be better off keeping their property out of probate altogether. And they can do this by creating a revocable living trust instead of a traditional will.

A revocable living trust is a legal mechanism that allows the trust's creator, or "grantor," to transfer almost any type of asset into the trust, which is then managed on behalf of the designated beneficiary.