Planting seeds for the future: Planned giving at San Diego State University

While San Diego State University both welcomes and encourages your outright gifts, planned giving offers a means for continuing your support in perpetuity, thereby assisting the university for years to come.

A commitment to include San Diego State University in your estate planning is an investment in the future of the university. An increasing number of individuals are partnering with SDSU through estate-planned gifts such as life-income arrangements, charitable trusts and bequests. In addition to providing support for the university, planned gifts often enable donors to receive increased income from their assets, even after they have been given to charity. Such arrangements also have substantial capital gains, income tax, and gift and estate tax benefits. Most planned gifts are designed to create endowments — funds that will not only last the life of the university, but that will prosper indefinitely under the conscientious management of The Campanile Foundation.

The purpose of the Office of Planned Giving is to assist the alumni, faculty and friends of SDSU with creative estate and gift planning. Planned giving is a matter of capitalizing on opportunities that fit your needs. We assist alumni, faculty and friends in answering three basic questions about planned giving:   When should I make the gift?   How should I structure the gift?   What assets should I use?
		Bruce and Patricia ('50) Warnke Fischer placed appreciated properties in a charitable trust that will eventually fund SDSU students in the performing arts.

There are many ways to make a planned gift including:

Appreciated Property into a Charitable Trust — The trustee can sell the property without paying capital gains tax. Income based on the full, fair market value is paid to one or more persons for life, and you receive a current income tax deduction.

Remainder Interest in a Personal Residence or Farm — Under this giving option, you may donate to SDSU a home or a farm that you own while continuing to use the property and receive a charitable income tax deduction. You can also escape any potential capital gains tax on the built-in appreciation of the property.

Closely Held Securities — Securities in a company that is not publicly traded are known as closely held securities. When a donor makes a gift of these securities to The Campanile Foundation, the donor may enjoy tax savings and can even increase his or her income from the donated stock.

Give your home while retaining the right to live in it — This life estate yields immediate income tax benefits, while reserving most of the privileges of home ownership for you and your family.

Life Insurance — This is often an inexpensive gift. Consider giving a paid-up policy no longer needed to protect one’s family, or naming the university as a successor beneficiary should the named beneficiary die before the insured.

Bequests — Leave a legacy in ways that will benefit you, your loved ones and San Diego State University with a bequest through your estate.

After you have identified your financial goals, we can assist you in carefully designing a gift plan that helps you reach them. Your personal circumstances will determine the best structure for you, and we will be glad to answer questions and offer suggestions as needed. Any and all information provided will be kept confidential.

Donors who choose to make a planned gift to SDSU are recognized in our Heritage Society. The university is deeply indebted to those who have shown such a profound degree of commitment to the mission of San Diego State University. It is their dedication and planning that ensures the continued excellence at SDSU.

We invite you to accomplish personal goals while making an investment in the future of San Diego State University. Please call or e-mail Patricia Moulton, Director of Planned Giving, at 619-594-7090 or pmoulton@mail.sdsu.edu.

Please visit the following links to informative pages that will provide you with news, updates and other information about planned giving and tax-reduction options. We encourage you to sign up for the weekly e-newsletter that contains the latest financial and political information affecting your estate planning objectives.

For news and other updates concerning planned giving, please click the Gift Legacy button below. This interactive program will lead you through a user friendly presentation detailing how your donation of a planned gift will benefit your personal tax and estate situation. To access this resource, click on the "Gift Legacy Presents" button below.