Include a statement in your will that specifies an amount or a share of your assets shall be distributed to Greater Worcester Community Foundation for purposes you stipulate. A gift by will reduces your estate tax.

Types of Charitable Bequests

• Specific: leave a specified dollar amount or items of property.
• Percentage: bequeath a set percentage of your estate’s value.
• Residuary: leave the Foundation whatever is left in your estate after specific amounts are bequeathed to other beneficiaries.
• Contingent: bequeath all or a portion of your estate to the Foundation which we may or may not receive depending on the occurrence of specific but uncertain events, e.g. all heirs are no longer living.

Making a Bequest to the Foundation

You may wonder what the benefits are of making a bequest to the community foundation rather than directly to a nonprofit of your choosing. 

You want to make sure your bequest benefits the community in perpetuity. Let’s say you establish a fund for a specific organization and in twenty five or fifty years it ceases to exist. In that situation, the Foundation has a fiduciary responsibility to find another organization that most closely matches the mission of the original organization. This can be done without having to go probate court saving the cost and hassle of legal fees and hurtles.

By supporting organizations through a fund at the Foundation, your legacy is never lost. In fact, it will have increased due to growth in our investments.