Make us a beneficiary of your IRA or other “non-probate” assets
Why beneficiary designations are so powerful
Assets not included in your will are called “non-probate assets.” Examples are 401(k)s, IRAs, life insurance policies, and other accounts. Your will does not determine where these assets go when you die. Instead, when you first set-up these assets or accounts, they require you to complete a “beneficiary designation.” This “beneficiary designation” is where you indicate who will receive any money left in the asset or account when you die. You can change the beneficiary designation whenever you’d like.
Designating a Forever Fund that benefits your community forever as a beneficiary can have a big impact and may avoid unwanted taxes for your heirs. You can designate multiple beneficiaries of these accounts. For instance, you could designate a portion of your account to go to a Forever Fund and a portion to go to your children.
Charitable benefits
Photo credit: Greg Lehman
Common gifted assets for beneficiaries
- IRA
- 401(k)
- Life insurance
- Joint real estate
- Joint bank accounts
- Joint property ownership
Designate your community as a beneficiary to one or more of your accounts.
We have partnered with FreeWill to offer this free online platform that will walk you through the process of setting up your beneficiaries. These gifts have a big impact and can often prevent unwanted taxation. Alternatively, you can just contact the company that manages your non-probate asset (retirement account, IRA, 401(k), life insurance, etc.) and tell them you want to change your beneficiary designation. They will then tell you how to do it.
Your Bequest Will Help Your Community Forever
The Raise the Blues and Raise Up Umatilla Campaigns are building community endowment funds that will help your community thrive forever. Bequests – gifts made from your estate when you die – will be placed in funds that make grants or scholarships to support your local community’s highest needs, forever. Please pay forward the gifts your community gave you by donating 5% or more of your estate.
Photo credit: Greg Lehman
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a document that includes frequently asked questions about Raise the Blues and Raise Up Umatilla County: Raise-the-Blues-FAQs-2024-0505.pdf
A non-probate asset is an account or other asset that won’t be governed by the decisions you make in a will. Instead, these accounts commonly have an assigned beneficiary that you choose. Types of non-probate assets include many retirement accounts, life insurance, some bank accounts and some assets (like a house or vehicle) that you jointly own with another person.
The most commonly gifted non-probate asset is an IRA or 401(k). This is because these accounts are always taxed (even for people below the estate tax threshold). Giving these accounts to charity keeps your heirs from having to pay unexpected taxes.
Yes! Even if you have a will in place you still need to designate beneficiaries for your non-probate assets.
Yes! Gifts of any size are deeply appreciated. Many people choose to leave a percentage of their estate, which scales up or down with your estate size. If you pledge to leave $100,000 or 5% of your estate to support your community through a Forever Fund, anonymous donors will add $20,000 to that Fund this year. This is true even if everything you own is valued at only $50,000 so that 5% of your estate is $2,500. That amount will still create a $20,000 gift for your community today!
No. You can usually make these easily and at no cost to you.
Yes. You are always free to revise or update your estate plans.
We’re here to help you meet your goals!
Our team would be happy to speak with you in confidence about your giving goals, with no obligation.
Already included us in your estate plan? Let us know
More ways to make an impact
Gifts in a will or trust
Donations in your will or trust are (by far) the most popular type of planned gift. Learn more, or get help starting your will (for free!).
Popular tax-smart gifts
Many people are increasingly choosing to give non-cash assets, so they can have a bigger impact at less cost to them.
Gifts that pay you back
Give assets while providing yourself or others with income for a period of time or distributions at a later date.