Gift planning enables you to support Willamette while providing financial benefits for you and your family. Planned gifts to the University can take the following forms:

Planned gifts often save taxes in multiple ways. For example, gifts of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, art, or other property often eliminate capital gains tax and provide a current income tax charitable deduction. Bequests in wills or living trusts often save gift and estate taxes.

For a number of donors, gift planning serves to generate a dependable source of lifetime income. The University offers charitable gift annuities in return for gifts of $5,000 or more. Gift annuities pay a fixed rate of return - often much higher than bank interest rates - for life. Charitable remainder trusts can provide more flexibility than gift annuities, for example, enabling you to opt for lifetime income streams that can grow over time. Also, charitable remainder trusts can be tailored to supplement your retirement funds by delaying substantial income payments until a set future date. Charitable remainder trusts and gift annuities can be funded with cash or property.

For donors who have sufficient income, a "lead" trust - which pays income to Willamette for life or a fixed term of years, and then pays the principal to children or other beneficiaries - can be an excellent way to transfer assets to children or others at a future date. In many cases, through a lead trust you can transfer the assets free of estate and gift taxes.

Please click on the links at the left or above for more details about selected topics or to meet the gift planning staff. Or contact the Office of Gift Planning at (503) 370-6022 or (866) 204-8102 for more information. We would be happy to discuss (in confidence) with you or your professional advisors the many ways to make gifts that benefit both you and the University.