Planned Giving

There are many different ways you can make a planned gift in support of the California Science Center Foundation. Some of these options can also provide financial benefit to you and your family during your lifetime. Gifts of all sizes are important to sustain the growth and development of the Science Center. Your planning today helps ensure future support of science learning and education!

Planned giving can be as simple as making a bequest through your will or designating the California Science Center Foundation as a beneficiary of a retirement plan or life insurance policy. You can give through a charitable trust or make a life estate gift with your personal residence.

Those who make a planned gift to support the California Science Center’s mission become members of the Legacy for Science Learning Society. These special friends are recognized for inspiring science learning in future generations.

For more information, please contact Sharon Padua, Assistant Campaign Director, at (213) 744-2288 or spadua@cscmail.org.

Bequest
Regardless of the size of your estate, a charitable gift in your will is simple to prepare. You may designate the California Science Center Foundation as the recipient of a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, personal or real property and indicating that the gift be distributed to: “the California Science Center Foundation, a California nonprofit corporation, to be used for its general charitable purposes.”

Retirement Plan
Your retirement plan may be among the most rapidly growing assets in your estate. Most grow tax-free; the minimum withdrawals are modest and provide both retirement income and liquidity. However for children or other individual heirs of a retirement plan, it is not nearly as desirable as other assets and frequently is subject to a very large income tax and estate tax assessment. Potentially up to 70% of the value in your retirement plan could be lost in taxes.

Taxable assets, like your retirement plan, are an excellent choice for transfer to charities. When transferred to the California Science Center Foundation through your estate plan, we will receive your retirement plan without payment of income tax and your loved ones may receive tax benefits.

Life Insurance Policy
If you own a life insurance policy that is paid up, you can designate the California Science Center Foundation as the owner of the policy, and receive an immediate tax benefit. A small tax-deductible investment is able to provide significant benefits for the future of the Science Center.

Charitable Trust
You can establish a tax-exempt charitable trust and transfer highly appreciated assets or cash into it. The trust can sell the assets at full market value and then reinvest 100% of the sale proceeds to provide you with more lifetime income and tax-free growth. The amount of income that you will receive from the trust will depend on (1) your needs; (2) the value of the property contributed to the trust; and (3) your age and life expectancy.

In addition to receiving the capital gains tax savings and lifetime income benefits from the charitable trust, the IRS also provides a current charitable income tax deduction. You can take an immediate charitable income tax deduction and remove a highly appreciated asset from your estate, saving income and estate taxes. At death, the principal of the trust assets will go to the California Science Center Foundation.

Life Estate
Substantial tax benefits can be realized when you make a gift of your residence to the California Science Center Foundation in the form of a life estate gift. In a life estate gift arrangement, you live in your home for your lifetime, and upon your death the California Science Center Foundation takes possession of the property. Farms and vacation homes also qualify. Creating a life estate gift involves a simple transaction of creating a new deed. You can make a future major gift to the Science Center Foundation and receive a charitable deduction now.

Legacy for Science Learning Society
The Legacy for Science Learning Society recognizes individuals who have made provisions for the California Science Center Foundation in their will or other estate plans. By including a gift to the Science Center in your will, living trust, or other estate plans, you can help ensure that the Science Center will inspire science learning in youth and families for generations to come.

Society members will enjoy an annual luncheon and other special event opportunities.

You can become a member by providing written confirmation that simply states your intention to include the California Science Center Foundation in your estate plans. For more information on planned giving or the Legacy for Science Learning Society, please contact Sharon Padua, Assistant Campaign Director, at (213) 744-2288 or spadua@cscmail.org.