What Will be Your Legacy for Maine?

Wintergreen Society members make a lasting and permanent difference for the Natural Resources Council of Maine with a gift through their estates. By making a planned gift, you will inspire others and you will ensure NRCM will be protecting Maine’s environment – passionately and effectively – for long into the future.

When you become a member of the Wintergreen Society—named after Maine’s state herb, a symbol of persistence and longevity—you increase your impact and make a difference for the Maine you love, now and for future generations.

Please consider joining the Wintergreen Society and help sustain our work to protect and restore Maine’s environment. Members of the Wintergreen Society are invited to an annual reception and other events of interest, and with your permission, you will be recognized in the NRCM annual report and calendar. You’ll also receive a complimentary one-year membership to NRCM for the family, school, or library of your choice.

Estate gifts may provide you with significant financial benefits through future estate tax savings, current income tax savings, the creation of an income stream for life, and a reduction of capital gains taxes. You’ll find descriptions of the various ways you can make a financial commitment from your will, living trust, or other estate plans below.

NRCM welcomes the opportunity to consult with you and your estate planning advisors about your charitable objectives. If you choose to name NRCM in your estate plans, the commitment you make will help protect Maine’s forests, air, waters, and wildlife for generations to come. Please contact us today for more information. All conversations are confidential and gifts of all sizes are welcomed.

If you have already made a gift through your estate, please do let us know so that we may thank you and welcome you to the Wintergreen Society. We would like to acknowledge your extraordinary support in ways meaningful to you. If you choose to remain anonymous, we will respect your wishes.

Planned Giving Options

Bequests

Leave a financial and environmental legacy for future generations. By including a bequest to the Natural Resources Council of Maine in your will, you help to ensure the health and beauty of our state for many years to come.

There are several forms that this bequest can take:

A specific bequest:

“I devise and bequeath to the Natural Resources Council of Maine, a nonprofit corporation currently located at 3 Wade Street, Augusta, ME 04330, the sum of $________(or, _______% of my estate) to be used to support the charitable activities of the Natural Resources Council of Maine for the protection of Maine’s environment.”

A residuary bequest:

“I devise and bequeath to the Natural Resources Council of Maine, a nonprofit corporation currently located at 3 Wade Street, Augusta, ME 04330, all (or specify _______%) of the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate to be used to support the charitable activities of the Natural Resources Council of Maine for the protection of Maine’s environment.”

Retirement Plan Assets

Use your tax-deferred retirement plan assets to benefit the environment.

Do you have a deductible IRA or retirement account funded with pre-tax income, such as a 401k and 403b? Do you own a whole life insurance policy? Because of the estate and income taxes imposed on unused portions of your retirement plans after your lifetime, you may want to make a charitable contribution of those assets. Simply name the Natural Resources Council of Maine as the beneficiary on the plan’s beneficiary designation form. If you wish to split the assets between your heirs and the Natural Resources Council of Maine, consider giving a percentage of the assets. Your insurance agent or plan administrator will need the following information:

Natural Resources Council of Maine
3 Wade Street, Augusta, ME 04330
Federal Tax ID#01-0270690

Life Income Gifts

When you make a life income gift, you enjoy the security of ongoing income for you or your beneficiary at the same time you invest in Maine’s environmental future.

Generally, a life income gift pays income to you or your chosen beneficiary for a term of years or for life. After the conclusion of the term, or upon the death of the last income beneficiary, the remainder left in the life income gift is distributed to the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Life income gifts can be funded with cash or securities and may be made during the donor’s lifetime or at death for the benefit of one’s heirs.

Life income gifts offer many potential benefits:

• Income for life (or a term of years) to you and/or other designated beneficiaries
• An immediate tax deduction
• Reduction of capital gains taxes
• Reduced probate expenses

Charitable Gift Annuities

In exchange for an irrevocable gift of cash or securities, the Natural Resources Council of Maine will agree to pay one or two annuitants you name a fixed sum each year for life. The older the annuitants are at the time of the gift, the greater the fixed income that we can agree to pay. Minimum gift is $10,000.

Charitable Remainder Trusts

A charitable remainder trust is one of the most flexible and beneficial charitable tools available today. Donors create a separate tax-exempt trust that will pay income to one or more persons for life, or for a term of years (not to exceed 20). Income or capital gains taxes are paid only on distributions to the lifetime income beneficiaries, making the charitable remainder trust an excellent vehicle to provide tax-free investment growth and avoidance of capital gains taxes on highly appreciated assets. After the death of the last beneficiary (or the expiration of the term of years), the Natural Resources Council of Maine receives the remaining trust assets.

As always, we encourage you to work with your attorney or financial advisor to determine the best path for you. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or to share news that you have included NRCM in your estate plans.

Marlisa Simonson
Senior Director of Philanthropy
Natural Resources Council of Maine
3 Wade Street
Augusta, ME 04330
msimonson@nrcm.org
(800) 287-2345, ext. 208