Leave a Legacy

This is the place to make a plan today for a greater tomorrow.

By planning now to give a gift from your estate, you can join hundreds of caring individuals who have ensured their charitable impact will live on in our region for generations to come. Our team of gift planning experts will work with you and your financial advisor or tax consultant to design the charitable giving strategy that fulfills your goals and provides the maximum financial and estate planning benefits for you and your family.

Those who make a gift to the Foundation in their will may join the 1923 Society, which celebrates their generosity and their impact on future generations.

What to Give

Bequest

You designate the Greater New Orleans Foundation as the beneficiary of your asset by will, trust or beneficiary designation form.

IRA Rollover

Give up to $100,000 after age 70 ½ directly to the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s unrestricted, designated or field of interest funds.

Real Estate

Donating appreciated real estate, such as a home, vacation property, undeveloped land, farmland, ranch or commercial property can make a great gift to the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

Charitable Gift Annuity

You irrevocably transfer a specific sum of cash, appreciated securities or other property to The Greater New Orleans Foundation in return for its promise to pay you, another person or both, fixed and guaranteed annual payments for life. The remainder of the annuity is used to support your fund.

Charitable Remainder Trust

A charitable remainder trust is a specifically designed trust that provides a payment stream to the donor or another beneficiary for a fixed term up to 20 years or life (“the income interest”), after which the trust terminates and the trust assets are distributed to one or more charitable organizations (“the charitable remainder interest”).

A charitable remainder trust must be in writing and is irrevocable. The donor may be the trustee or the donor may appoint an independent trustee. Creating a charitable remainder trust could provide the donor with an income tax deduction.

Charitable Lead Trust

You fund a trust that makes gifts to us for a number of years. Your family receives the trust remainder at substantial tax savings.

Charitable lead trusts are attractive during times of low interest rates. They hold further appeal if you want to reduce taxes associated with passing assets to heirs or if you’re looking to delay the receipt of an inheritance.

A charitable lead trust is one of the best ways to help our community while reducing your taxable income or planning a deferred transfer of assets to children or grandchildren.

Life Insurance

A gift of your life insurance policy is an excellent way to support your philanthropic passion. If you have a life insurance policy that has outlasted its original purpose, consider making a gift of your insurance policy. For example, you may have purchased a policy to provide for children who are now financially independent adults.

Retirement Fund Assets: IRAs and 401Ks

Donating part or all of your unused retirement assets such as a gift from your IRA, 401(k), 403(b), pension or other tax-deferred plan is an excellent way to make a gift to the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

You can donate these assets to the Greater New Orleans Foundation with the following options:

  • Name the Greater New Orleans Foundation as a 100% beneficiary of an account and start a fund in your family’s name
  • Indicate that the Greater New Orleans Foundation is a beneficiary of a certain percentage of the account and the remainder can go to individual beneficiaries
  • Name the Greater New Orleans Foundation as a contingent beneficiary so that if a primary beneficiary doesn’t survive you, it works toward your charitable goals

Stocks and Bonds

Donating appreciated securities, including stocks or bonds, is an easy and tax-effective way for you to make a gift to the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

Non-cash Assets

The Greater New Orleans Foundation can accept an array of non-cash gifts, from closely held stock to personal property (such as art or jewelry) to, yes, even a herd of cattle.

Bargain Sale

We purchase your property for less than fair market value. You receive cash and a charitable deduction for the difference between the market value and purchase price.

Life Estate

You give your property to the Greater New Orleans Foundation, but retain the right to use the property during your life.

Future Purpose of Your Donor Advised Fund

Many donors put in place succession plans for their Donor Advised Funds. These plans can be crafted to reflect your personal charitable goals. For example, a portion or all of your Donor Advised Fund may be used to establish a fund that is either unrestricted (meeting the most pressing needs of Greater New Orleans), benefits broad areas of interest most meaningful to you or benefits one or more named charities, in perpetuity or in a spend-down fund. Of course, you can also name successor advisors so that your fund continues as a Donor Advised Fund.

How to Give

Impact Fund

Unrestricted gifts to our Impact Fund allow the Foundation to respond to our community’s immediate and future needs. With these funds we are able to quickly address emergencies and facilitate innovative responses to community challenges through a competitive grant process. The Impact Fund addresses a broad range of local needs — including future needs that often cannot be anticipated at the time a donor makes a gift. Donors can create separate named Impact Funds or add to the general Impact Fund in any amount.

Field of Interest Funds

When you establish a Field-of-Interest Fund, you focus your giving on an area of interest such as education, the environment or a specific geographic area. These funds ensure that your gift stays flexible enough to meet changing community needs and takes advantage of new opportunities to make a difference in your interest area, now and in the future.

Donor Advised Funds

Donor Advised Funds allow individuals, families and businesses to be part of the work of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, while also supporting their favorite charities and organizations in and out of the Greater New Orleans region. You can choose whether or not to endow and invest the fund, offering both immediate and long-term benefits for your charitable giving.

Designated Funds

Designated Funds are established for the benefit of a particular nonprofit, educational or religious institution and give the Greater New Orleans Foundation variance power to redirect the perpetual support if an organization changes direction or no longer exists.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

To find out how to give to a Field of Interest fund or create one to support your passion, contact the Development team at development@gnof.org or call 504.598.4663.