Legacy and Planned Gifts

Further your financial goals and protect wildlife into the future with thoughtful gift planning. WildCare offers some of the most popular giving options with a variety of benefits.

When you designate WildCare as a beneficiary of your estate plan, you become a member of the WildCare Tomorrow Fund. This group of visionary supporters provides the foundation upon which WildCare will protect wildlife for generations to come. Make your legacy for wildlife.

Have you already made a plan that includes WildCare? If so, please let us know so we can thank you and welcome you to the WildCare Tomorrow Fund.

Contact us

We can help you find the right plan for you, in confidence and without obligation:

Nicole Trautsch, Director of Development
nicole@discoverwildcare.org
415-453-1000 x310

Giving through your will

Join the many wildlife guardian supporters who have chosen to leave a gift to WildCare in their wills or trusts so they can safeguard our wild neighbors and our shared environment for future generations.

How it works:

By including a bequest provision in your will or revocable trust, you can leave a specific amount, a percentage of your estate, or specific assets such as stocks, real estate, or property to WildCare, either as a primary or contingent beneficiary.

With a bequest,

  • you retain control of your assets during your lifetime
  • you can also choose to restrict the use of your bequest to a specific program or to allow the use for general purposes, permitting WildCare to use the funds for top programmatic priorities, and
  • you can change your mind or modify your gift at any time, not matter the circumstance.

Remember that your gift is tax deductible, and usually exempt from state inheritance taxes, which means your gift will go further for wildlife!

Create Your Will with FreeWill!

Ready to get started? We’ve partnered with FreeWill to give you an intuitive, online tool to write a legally valid will in under 25 minutes — for free! You can create a legacy with WildCare and be a powerful advocate for nature, without paying anything today. Get started here.

Already have a will or trust? No problem. You can amend an existing one with a simple document.

Once you’ve included WildCare in your will or trust, please notify us at nicole@discoverwildcare.org. We will be sure to carry out your requests, and include you in WildCare Tomorrow Fund acknowledgments and special events.

Click here to share your plans with WildCare!

Legal language

If you wish to name WildCare in your estate plan, we should be named as:

WildCare, a nonprofit corporation, organized and existing under the laws of California, with principal business address of 76 Albert Park Lane, San Rafael, California 94901.

Our tax identification number (EIN) is: 51-0172331. Date of incorporation is: 7/14/1975

Giving through your life insurance policy

Naming WildCare as a primary beneficiary of your life insurance is a great way to give back to WildCare. An additional option is to name WildCare as a contingent beneficiary should your other beneficiaries not survive you. Upon your passing, the funds pass to WildCare free of federal estate tax and are applied to a program you have designated.

Donating a portion of your IRA, 401(k) or other qualified retirement plan

You can designate all or a portion of your IRA, 401(k) or other qualified retirement plan to WildCare, benefiting not only our programs but your heirs, too. After your lifetime, the residue of your plan passes to WildCare tax-free and to any other named heirs.

We recommend contacting your financial advisor to determine what plan or withdrawals from your retirement account work best for you.

In general the process is:

  • You contact whoever manages your IRA and 401(k) for a beneficiary designation form and for next steps. The beneficiary form ensures your assets will not be included in your taxable estate.
  • You inform your account manager that you want to designate WildCare, a qualified nonprofit organization, as a beneficiary of the account. WildCare’s EIN is:

Once you’ve made changes to include WildCare as an insurance or retirement plan beneficiary, please notify us. We will be sure to carry out your requests, and include you in WildCare Tomorrow Fund acknowledgments and special events.

Share your plan!

Let us know your plans by using this form or by emailing Nicole Trautsch, Director of Development at nicole@discoverwildcare.org or calling her at 415-453-1000 x310. Thank you!

Giving through charitable gift annuities

If you’d like to support WildCare while providing a steady income for you or another beneficiary for life, a charitable gift annuity may be right for you.

When you irrevocably donate $10,000 or more in cash, securities or other property to WildCare, you or a beneficiary will receive fixed annual payments for life at a rate based on your age or the age of the beneficiary. Payments begin when you or the beneficiary are 50 or older, with a year deferment option available.  The principal then passes to WildCare after the lifetime of the income beneficiaries.

We recommend contacting a financial advisor for annuity rates and details on income tax benefits.

Giving through a charitable remainder trust

This option is another way to generate income for today while securing a legacy for tomorrow. With a charitable remainder trust, you can receive income each year (either fixed or variable) from assets you place in the trust. After your lifetime, the balance in the trust goes to WildCare, sustaining our mission. Contact your financial advisor for more information.

Once you’ve made changes to include WildCare as a beneficiary, please notify us. We will be sure to carry out your requests, and include you in WildCare Tomorrow Fund acknowledgments and special events.

Share your plan!

Let us know your plan by using this form or by emailing Nicole Trautsch, Director of Development at nicole@discoverwildcare.org or calling her at 415-453-1000 x310. Thank you!