The Legacy Guild recognizes friends of the University who have either funded or structured a planned gift to benefit Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Since its founding in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University has benefited from the foresight and generosity of individuals who have invested in the future by naming the University as a beneficiary in their wills. Planned gifts help underwrite the future of the University and support educational excellence for our students, while preserving and strengthening the University.
Most plans that qualify for membership can be funded with either a lifetime gift or a testamentary gift made through your will. If you have a question about a gift plan you believe might qualify, please contact us.
Delia G. Perez, CFRE
Director of Planned Giving
800.980.0064
[email protected]
Leave a Legacy
Why should you join the Legacy Guild?
Many deferred gifts arrive at Fairleigh Dickinson University unannounced, without advance knowledge about someone’s intentions until the bequest is actually received. Such gifts are welcome but we deeply regret the missed opportunity to thank and recognize generous individuals who made the gift during their lifetime.
Legacy Guild members also help encourage other friends of the University to make similar plans. When the University is aware that friends intend to contribute deferred gift support, we can work with them to ensure their interests and intentions are clearly understood and can be followed accurately. The value and detail of each deferred gift plan is strictly confidential.
Who can join the Legacy Guild?
Anyone who has an estate gift planned for Fairleigh Dickinson University, or who has established a life income trust, retained life estate, or other charitable trust plan for the University, is eligible for membership in the Legacy Guild. Gift plans that qualify for membership eligibility include:
Gifts by will
Bequests for the University can take many forms. Simple bequests can be for a stated portion of your estate, for the residue of your estate remaining after other bequests have been fulfilled, for a specific dollar amount, or for a specific set of assets.
Gifts that pay you income
A life income gift can be established during your lifetime or through your will. You can make a gift to the University during your lifetime, such as participating in the Pooled Income Fund with your charitable gift or establishing a Charitable Gift Annuity that pays income back to you and anyone else you name. A Charitable Gift Annuity provides a guaranteed lifetime income at a rate of return established when you make your gift. The Pooled Income Fund operates as the charitable equivalent of a mutual fund – income varies with market highs and lows – and the income beneficiary is paid his or her pro rata share of the ordinary income earned by the University’s Pooled Income Fund. Or, you can establish similar plans through your will that provide income for your heirs. All these plans represent tax-advantaged means of providing income to you, your family, or friends while helping Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Gifts from retirement plans
You can make the University the beneficiary of your IRA, Keogh, or any other qualified retirement plan or of a life insurance policy. Such designations of Fairleigh Dickinson University as a charitable beneficiary save significant estate and income taxes.
Gifts of residential property with the right to life tenancy
With a Retained Life Estate Gift, you can give Fairleigh Dickinson University your primary home, vacation home, or farm including a home, in exchange for the right to live in and enjoy the property during your lifetime, while earning a present income tax deduction and future estate tax savings.
Gifts that protect your assets
A gift that pays income to Fairleigh Dickinson University and returns principal to you, your children, or grandchildren for some term of years. It can be established to yield significant tax savings for the ultimate beneficiaries of the trust assets – you or your heirs. The assets in the trust, along with appreciation earned during the term the University receives income, may go to your heirs at sharply reduced gift/estate tax rates.
How Do I Join?
Individuals interested in joining the Legacy Guild may become members by completing a deferred gift plan for Fairleigh Dickinson University and confirming the plan, in writing, on the attached enrollment form, or in a separate letter. You are not required to provide a copy of your will or trust agreement; a signed and dated statement confirming the plan is sufficient. Those who qualify by virtue of having completed a life income plan or other trust gift plan directly with the University are automatically invited to join. Those whose gift plans are managed by outside trustees or fiduciaries should simply confirm the plan’s existence by completing the attached enrollment form, or by separate letter.
Members of the Legacy Guild are long-term investors; their gifts not only preserve our past but guarantee that Fairleigh Dickinson University will continue the work its has done for more than 75 years: helping prepare the next generation of leaders focused on solving global problems both here and abroad. If you have not yet done so, please consider completing a gift plan that will qualify you for membership. If you already qualify for membership, please complete and return the enrollment form.
