LEAVE A LASTING LEGACY BY INVESTING IN OUR COMMUNITY'S FUTURE
Think of a future where every one of our friends and neighbors have a roof overhead and food on the table. Where all children have access to high quality education and academic support. Where all people can access the resources and support to help them towards financial stability.
Here at United Way of Whatcom County, that’s the future we want to see.
Together, we can make that happen.
Legacy Giving, also known as Planned Giving, lets you make a lasting investment in our community’s future by supporting the causes and organizations you care about the most.
Legacy Gifts allow you to:
- Help keep our community’s most vulnerable households from falling through the cracks
- Leave a legacy to support the causes you care most about and that align with your philanthropic goals
- Make a long-term investment by supporting a local organization that has been addressing our community’s most pressing issues for over 70 years
- Enjoy estate and income tax deductions
FREEWILL
Planning for the future is a profound act of care that brings lasting peace of mind to the people you love. That's why United Way has partnered with FreeWill to make it easy for you to protect your wishes today. This free resource can help you create or update your legally-binding will online in just 20 minutes. With FreeWill, peace of mind doesn't have to feel so out of reach.
FreeWill makes it easier than ever to leave a legacy of love by offering the option to invest in your community's future through a bequest gift to United Way of Whatcom County when you create or update your will.
BEQUESTS: LEAVE A GIFT IN YOUR WILL
Bequests are gifts given from your estate after you’ve passed. Bequest gifts allow you to support the causes you love and ensure that those causes continue to be able to do their important work even after you’re gone.
A bequest gift to United Way of Whatcom County can provide long-term support for United Way’s mission to find solutions to the most difficult problems facing our community. These legacy contributions are commitments that go above and beyond and will touch the lives of generations to come. Bequest gifts vary in size and type, but all represent a commitment to helping keep Whatcom County strong.
To make this process easier than ever, we’ve partnered with FreeWill to give all of our supporters the opportunity to write their legally valid wills online for free.
Instructions:
- Visit FreeWill.com/UnitedWay to start writing your will (or make a new one to update your existing will).
- Leave a lasting legacy by choosing to leave a gift to United Way of Whatcom County by using the drop-down menu.
- Sign your will with two witnesses and you're done!
If you have a more complicated estate, FreeWill can be used to create a set of documented wishes to bring to a lawyer's office to save time and money.
Secure your legacy with United Way of Whatcom County and write your will today.
ORGANIZATION INFO
When making a planned gift you may need the following information:
EIN:
91-0570788
Mailing Address:
United Way of Whatcom County
1500 Cornwall Ave. Suite 203
Bellingham, WA 98225
Contact Info:
Phone: 360-733-8670
Email: hello@unitedwaywhatcom.org
Adults 70.5 and older are eligible to make tax-free gifts from their IRA. This allows you to not only support the causes you love, but also enjoy significant tax deductions.
After age 73, Traditional IRA holders must withdraw a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) annually. Qualified Charitable Distribution gift (QCD) can help you meet this required amount and are tax-free, regardless of whether or not you itemize deductions on your tax return.
They also lower Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), which can help you to stay in a lower tax bracket, reduce or eliminate the taxation of Social Security or other income, and remain eligible for deductions and credits that might otherwise be lost if the RMD amount had been declared as income.
If you’re interested in making a QCD gift from your IRA, please contact your tax provider.