Providing for The Thirteen in your estate planning is a powerful way to ensure that the music you love continues to inspire future generations. Your planned gift supports the artistry, innovation, and excellence that define our ensemble, which, in turn, sustains the livelihoods of our talented artists and nurtures the next generation of musicians and music lovers.
Now in our second decade of bold, imaginative music-making, we turn our attention to achieving a sustainable, long-term future for this ensemble we have come to love. By making a bequest in your will, naming The Thirteen as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy or retirement plan, or by making another planned gift, you help us secure that future and ensure your own enduring impact.
It is easy to designate The Thirteen as a beneficiary of your estate. Often these gifts allow you to make a larger charitable gift than you thought possible. Even during your lifetime, life income gifts, like charitable gift annuities available through many financial institutions, may provide you with added financial benefits. We encourage you to work closely with your financial advisors to determine the most advantageous estate plan for you, but here are some possible ways to make a difference in the music The Thirteen makes after you are gone:
Estate Gift: One way to make a planned gift is a charitable bequest, a gift made through your estate. By naming The Thirteen as a beneficiary in your will, you can leave a specific dollar amount or a percentage of your estate. If you are considering making a charitable bequest through your Will or Living Trust, some sample wording is provided below.
Gift from Retirement Plan: Adding The Thirteen as a contingent or final beneficiary of your retirement plan funds can be as simple as filling out a change-of-beneficiary form. It could mean a large gift for The Thirteen, without affecting your family's financial security. Assets in some retirement accounts, including IRA’s, may be vulnerable to heavy taxation if you leave them to an individual other than your spouse.
Gift from Life Insurance: Life insurance is a way to make a larger gift to The Thirteen than you might otherwise be able to afford. This is often a simpler matter than adding The Thirteen to your will and can be achieved by simply changing your beneficiary form, available from your insurance agent. Sometimes giving doesn’t require great sacrifice: if you have a life insurance policy but no longer need it for its original purpose, consider giving it to The Thirteen.
Other: You may also leave a sum to your donor-advised fund with your own instructions on funding The Thirteen.
For more information about including The Thirteen in your estate plans, or if you have already provided for The Thirteen in them, please contact Matthew Robertson at matthew@thethirteenchoir.org.
The Thirteen gratefully accepts unrestricted gifts. We accept designated gifts for specific purposes. Please contact Matthew for more information. When possible, The Thirteen greatly appreciates legacy gifts at a level that will yield income sufficient to ensure that your generous annual gifts continue in perpetuity.
SAMPLE BEQUEST LANGUAGE
Unrestricted Specific Bequest
I give to The Thirteen, a Washington, D.C. non-profit organization, tax identification #46-3738034, located at P.O. Box 32065, Washington, D.C. 20007, the sum of (dollar amount) for its general purposes.
Unrestricted Percentage Bequest
I give to The Thirteen, a Washington, D.C. non-profit organization, tax identification #46-3738034, located at P.O. Box 32065, Washington, D.C. 20007, ___ % of the rest and residue of my estate for its general purposes.
Unrestricted Residual Bequest
I give, bequeath and devise the rest and residue of my estate to The Thirteen, a Washington, D.C. non-profit organization, tax identification #46-3738034, located at P.O. Box 32065, Washington, D.C. 20007, for its general purposes.
Please contact Matthew for sample bequest language for designated gifts.