You can make this bold vision a reality and help us to complete all 550 miles.
By including the Ridge Trail in your will or trust—a commitment that costs you nothing today—you are leaving a legacy and visionary natural resource of benefit to the entire Bay Area.
Contact Gift Planning
We'll be glad to provide additional information to you by mail or email, or talk with you personally about fit options and specific legacy gifts. You can contact us by:
Email: giving@ridgetrail.org
Call: (415) 561-2595 ext. 208
Legacy Member Stories
Legacy Giving Options
Gifts that cost nothing now
Making a gift in your will or living trust to support the Ridge Trail is easy to arrange and costs you nothing to make now. Get started with a free, online resource that allows you to write your legally valid will in less than 25 minutes.
Working with an attorney? Here is sample language:
“I give to the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council (Tax I.D. # 94-3148503), located in San Francisco, California, [ __ % of my estate, or description of specific asset, or $__ dollars] for its general use [or the following specific purpose: ____].”
Another popular and easy way to support the Ridge Trail with a legacy gift is by naming the Trail Council as a beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k), life insurance, donor advised fund, brokerage or bank account.
Ask your plan administrator to send you a beneficiary designation form for the asset you wish to gift and name the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council (Tax ID 94-3148503) as a full, partial or contingent beneficiary.
Gifts that pay you income
Gift annuities provide fixed payments at an attractive rate to one or two people for life- while allowing them to support the Ridge Tail with a significant future gift. Gift annuities also provide an immediate income tax deduction that donors who itemize can use to save on taxes.
Gift annuities contracts can be created quickly with a minimum gift of cash or stock of $20,000. You must be 55 or older. Rates are based on the age and number annuitants.
Here’s an example: Telia Richards, age 75, funds a $25,000 charitable gift annuity naming the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council as the remainder beneficiary. Her annuity rate is 6.6%, giving her an annual guaranteed fixed payment of $1,650 for life. $1,097 of her payment is tax-free for twelve years. Telia also receives an income tax deduction of $11,839 that may help her save on taxes – and has the satisfaction of knowing her annuity will help to complete and maintain the Ridge Trail for the benefit of future generations of Bay Area hikers, bikers, and equestrians.
Charitable trusts can provide you and/or other beneficiaries with income for life or a term of years. You’ll receive an immediate tax deduction for a portion of your contribution to your trust – and you won’t pay capital gains tax when appreciated assets, like stock or real estate, used to fund your trust are sold. Charitable trusts can allow you to receive financial benefits now while making significant future gifts to good causes you care about – like the Ridge Trail.
With a charitable trust, you can:
- Bypass capital gains tax on the sale of appreciated stock or real estate
- Convert assets into lifetime income
- Receive an immediate income tax deduction
- Provide significant future support to charity
Gifts that reduce taxes
Naming the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council as a beneficiary of your IRA or 401(k) can be an easy way to make a legacy gift to the Ridge Trail and reduce taxes to your loved ones.
If you leave your retirement plan to heirs, they will have to pay income tax on distributions. The Trail Council does not pay this tax, so 100% of your gift can be used to help complete the Ridge Trail.
To make a gift of retirement plan assets, simply ask your plan administrator for a beneficiary designation form and name the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council (Tax ID 94-3148503) as a full, partial or contingent beneficiary.
Making an immediate gift of real estate eliminates the costs, responsibilities and liabilities of ownership. If you have owned the property for more than a year, you’ll receive a tax deduction for the full fair market value of the property – that may provide significant tax savings. You won’t owe capital gains tax on the property and your future taxable estate will be reduced.
If you fund a charitable trust with real estate, you won’t owe capital gains tax when the property is sold by the trust – and you’ll receive an immediate tax deduction that may provide significant, additional tax savings.
A life estate agreement allows you to donate your personal residence or farm to the Ridge Trail Council now, while continuing to live on the property for a term of years or your lifetime. You’ll receive an immediate tax deduction for a portion of the property’s value and the satisfaction of making a significant future gift supporting the Ridge Trail.
