CREATING A LASTING LEGACY
A gift in your will or trust can create a lasting legacy to benefit the work of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies.
One way for you to support the Friends of the Arava Institute’s mission is to leave us a bequest. A bequest is a gift made to charity in your will or trust. One significant benefit of making a gift by bequest is that it allows you to continue to use the property you will leave to charity during your life.
Learn how you can achieve your financial goals while providing the Friends of the Arava Institute with much-needed partnership to continue our environmental and peace-building work in the Middle East and beyond.
A bequest is a gift from your estate – a transfer of cash, securities, or other property made through your estate plan. You can make a bequest to the Friends of the Arava Institute by including language in your will or living trust leaving, a portion of your estate or by designating the Friends of the Arava Institute as a beneficiary of your retirement account or life insurance policy.
Advantages of making a bequest:
- A bequest costs nothing now, yet gives you the satisfaction of knowing you have provided for the Friends of the Arava Institute in the future.
- You retain control and use of your assets during your lifetime
- You may modify your bequest if your circumstances change
- If you let the Friends of the Arava Institute know of your plans, we will be able to thank you now and recognize your gift.
A bequest to the Friends of the Arava Institute can be made for a specific amount or for a percentage of your estate. To make a gift to the Friends of the Arava Institute from your estate, consult your estate planning professional.
There are a number of ways you can make a bequest to Friends of the Arava Institute.
Specific Bequests: Involves making a gift of a specific asset such as real estate, a car, other property or a gift for a specific dollar amount. For example, you may wish to leave your home or $10,000 to the Friends of the Arava Institute.
Residual Bequests: A bequest that is made from the balance of an estate after the will or trust has given away each of the specific bequests. A common residual bequest involves leaving of a percentage of the residue of the estate to charity. For example, you may wish to leave 30% of the residue of your estate to Friends of the Arava Institute.
Alternatively, you can designate the Friends of the Arava Institute as a beneficiary of a retirement plan or life insurance policy. To do so, contact your retirement plan administrator or life insurance company and complete the appropriate beneficiary designation form.
Endowments are also a way provide income every year in perpetuity. If you are interested in making an endowed fund to support the Friends of the Arava Institute, please speak with a member of the Development staff to discuss options.
The New Israel Fund (NIF) has a partnership with the Arava Institute to receive bequests and annuities on behalf of the Arava Institute. If you would like more information on how to make a gift through the New Israel Fund (NIF), please click here to get further information.
We are happy to assist you in preparing your bequest, please contact us for more information or for sample bequest language.
Outright bequests are unrestricted bequests that allow the Friends of the Arava Institute to determine how to use the funds based on its most pressing needs. Unrestricted bequests are extremely valuable because they can be used to flexibly meet future needs.
Restricted Bequests direct assets to a specific purpose, such as one of the Institute’s research and development centers, alumni programming, or scholarship. If you are considering a bequest but would like to ensure that it will only be used for a specific purpose, please let us know. We would be happy to work with you and your attorney to help you identify ways to give that will ensure your charitable objectives can be met.
Some possibilities for restricted bequests include:
- Programs and Academic Positions
- Student and Intern scholarships
- Research and laboratory needs
- Programs and initiatives.
If you have included the Friends of the Arava Institute in your estate plans, please let us know. We would like to thank you for your generosity, make sure the purpose of your gift is understood, and recognize your contribution.
BEQUEST OF A SPECIFIC AMOUNT:
I give $______ to the Friends of the Arava Institute, a non-profit organization, to support the mission and purposes of the Institute.
BEQUEST OF PERSONAL PROPERTY OF REAL ESTATE:
I give (description of property) to the Friends of the Arava Institute, a non-profit organization, to support the mission and purposes of the Institute.
OR
I give all of the right, title, and interest in and to the real estate located at (address or description of property) to the Friends of the Arava Institute, a non-profit organization, to support the mission and purposes of the Institute.
BEQUEST OF A PERCENTAGE OF ESTATE:
I give (percentage of estate) to the Friends of the Arava Institute, a non-profit organization, to support the mission and purposes of the Institute.
ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE FOR RESTRICTED BEQUESTS (OPTIONAL):
Inclusion of the following language is optional, but recommended to give the Friends of the Arava Institute flexibility should it no longer be possible to use your gift as you originally intended:
If, in the judgment of the Board of Trustees of the Friends of the Arava Institute, it shall become impossible for the Friends of the Arava Institute to use this bequest to accomplish the specific purposes of this bequest, the Friends of the Arava Institute may use the income and principal of this gift for such purpose or purposes as the Board determines is most closely related to the restricted purpose of my bequest.
Please contact us if you have any questions about how to make a bequest to the Friends of the Arava Institute or to request any additional information that might be helpful to you and your attorney as you consider making a bequest to us.
Those considering a planned gift should consult their own legal and tax advisors.
ENTITY NAME AND I.D. NUMBER
The Friends of the Arava Institute is a registered 501(c)(3) under the federal tax I.D. #11-3485736, to promote environmental cooperation between Israel and its neighbors through internship programs, environmental education programs, and cross-cultural communication about environmental issues.
