By making a planned gift to the Rainforest Alliance you create a meaningful legacy for future generations. Together, we can protect rainforests and plant the seeds for a better tomorrow. With a legacy donation you can:
- Cultivate a healthier environment for generations to come;
- Increase your financial flexibility while decreasing your tax burden;
- Sustain our work to improve farming and forestry practices and protect livelihoods across the globe.
Donors who include Rainforest Alliance in their estate plans or wills are among our most dedicated supporters and are welcomed into the Judith Sulzberger Legacy Society. Members receive lifetime benefits including, public recognition, updates on our work, and access to exciting experiences and special events.
We partnered with FreeWill to make your estate planning as easy as possible. FreeWill, makes it simple and cost-free to write your will and include the necessary language to support the Rainforest Alliance with a charitable bequest. Get started on your free plan here.
If you already included the Rainforest Alliance in a bequest or other planned gift, thank you! Please inform us so we can welcome you and express our gratitude.
Contact Gabriela Sanchez today to learn more.
Explore your giving options
The following giving options are some of the most popular ways to leave your legacy and qualify you for membership into the Judith Sulzberger Legacy Society. Many gifts do not cost anything during your lifetime, and you are not obligated to a decision you make today.
General bequest
This is a donation of all, or part of your estate transferred to the Rainforest Alliance after death, by will or trust. A charitable bequest may be included in your will when it is written or revised or through a separate document consisting of an amendment to your existing will.
Suggested Language:
“I hereby give, devise and bequeath ____ percent (___%) of my total estate, determined as of the date of my death, to the Rainforest Alliance, Inc., a not-for-profit organization incorporated by the laws of the State of New York, having as its principal address 298 Fifth Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10001, for its general charitable purposes.”
Contingent bequest
The Rainforest Alliance receives all or part of your estate only under certain circumstances, if, for example another beneficiary predeceases the donor.
Charitable gift annuity
Income for today, a legacy for tomorrow. A charitable gift annuity with Rainforest Alliance is a gift that gives back. It can provide you and/or another beneficiary with stable income for life. You may also receive an immediate income tax deduction and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing your gift will help Rainforest Alliance protect our shared planet.
Contact Gabriela Sanchez to learn more about your annuity options.
Charitable lead trust
A charitable lead trust transfers the income from trust assets to Rainforest Alliance for life or a term of years, after which the assets become available to you or your heirs. This allows you to immediately help support farmers and foresters and later leave your heirs assets at greatly reduced tax rates.
Charitable remainder trust
You transfer assets to a trustee of your choice through a formal trust agreement. During the trust term, which could be your lifetime or a set term of years, the trustee invests the trust assets and makes annual payments to you and/or a loved one, based on the trust payout rate chosen by you. At your death or at the end of the trust term, the principal is distributed to the Rainforest Alliance. There are two kinds of charitable remainder trust, one that pays a fixed income (annuity trust) and one that pays a variable income (unitrust).
Gift of a retirement plan
You leave all or part of your retirement plan to the Rainforest Alliance, setting aside other assets for friends and family. All you need to do is contact the administrator of your retirement plan and inform them that you wish to give all or part of the remainder benefit in your retirement plan to the Rainforest Alliance and the assets in the plan would be removed from your taxable estate.
Gift of life insurance
If you own a life insurance policy that is no longer needed for the protection of your family or for other purposes, you may use it to make a gift to the Rainforest Alliance. The simplest way to give a life insurance policy to the Rainforest Alliance is to name the Rainforest Alliance as the owner and irrevocable beneficiary of the policy.
Qualified charitable distributions
A Qualified Charitable Contribution (QCD) is a direct transfer of funds from your IRA custodian, payable to Rainforest Alliance. QCDs can be counted toward satisfying your required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year, as long as certain rules are met.
In addition to the benefits of giving to charity, a QCD excludes the amount donated from taxable income, which is unlike regular withdrawals from an IRA. Keeping your taxable income lower may reduce the impact to certain tax credits and deductions, including Social Security and Medicare. You must be 70 ½ or older to be eligible to make a QCD.
Stock giving
To donate securities held by your broker, please instruct the custodian to do the following:
Specify, in writing, the securities they wish to donate to the Rainforest Alliance. Contact Christine Lanni at JP Morgan Securities, who will instruct them to transfer the securities to the Rainforest Alliance account:
Account Details
Rainforest Alliance, Inc. – Donations
DTC Participant Number 902
Credit Account Number – P72500
FFC Account Number – E01595009
Tax ID: 13377893
Christine Lanni Details
JPMorgan Private Bank
christine.m.lanni@jpmorgan.com
Direct line: 212-464-1506
390 Madison Ave, Floor 24
New York, NY 10017
Contact the Rainforest Alliance with the name of the donor, the donor’s contact information, the value of the stock at the time of the transfer, the number of shares transferred, name of the stock, and expected date of transfer. We also request the custodian to send a confirmation letter or email of the transfer along with any relevant documentation to:
Megan Friedfeld
Rainforest Alliance
development@ra.org
212-677-1900, option 2
298 Fifth Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10001
Disclaimer
Rainforest Alliance is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization and your donation is tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.
Information contained herein was accurate at the time of posting. The information on this website is not intended as legal or tax advice. For such advice, please consult an attorney or tax advisor. Figures cited in any examples are for illustrative purposes only. References to tax rates include U.S. federal taxes only and are subject to change. State law and laws outside the U.S. may further impact your individual results.