MEMORIAL OPPORTUNITIES

Engraved Boardwalk Planks [ $200 ]

Wesselman Woods (WW) and Howell Wetlands have over two miles of boarded walkways throughout the preserve. In purchasing an engraved boardwalk plank, friends or family members can be honored in a meaningful way. Boardwalks can be placed along most of our boarded trails. The buyer can choose which trail they would like their boardwalk; however, we cannot guarantee exact location on that trail.

Boardwalks can be purchased at the Nature Center and normally take around 3 months to be placed on one of the trails. WW does not do the engraving in house, instead, we use a local engraver. The typical life expectancy of a boardwalk is 5-7 years, depending on the weather and natural changes.

Tree Planting Memorial [ $500 ]

WW has limited space to plant trees. Memorial trees cannot be planted within the nature preserve boundaries. Memorial trees can be planted in the Nature Playscape or around the Welborn Baptist Foundation Nature Playscape entrance.

Please note:

  • Due to DNR regulations, WW can only plant native trees such as oaks, maples, hickories, elms, etc. WW will have final approval of the tree species and acquire trees from local nurseries.

  • The trees will be planted during the spring or fall. Tree planting memorials purchased in the winter and/or summer will be planted the following spring and/or fall.

  • Depending on tree availability, WW will communicate with the donor on when and where the tree will be planted.

Commemorative Benches [ $5,000 ]

A commemorative bench at Wesselman Woods is a meaningful way to honor a special person or significant event. Commemorative benches allow visitors to sit and enjoy their surroundings. The funds raised from commemorative bench requests help support WW’s mission of nature education, conservation of natural resources and environmental stewardship.

Commemorative benches may be installed at the request of donors making a tribute gift of $5,000 or greater to WW. Request for bench installation must be made at the time the tribute gift is received by WW. Bench location must be mutually agreed upon by the donor and WW. Benches will be personalized with a message of the donor’s choosing. The tribute gift is 100% tax deductible and the transaction does not constitute the “purchase” of a bench by the donor.

Planned Giving Options

Planned giving is another way to give outside of making a cash donation. Planned giving includes gifts through wills, charitable gift annuities and charitable trusts. When you are a planned gift donor, WW will honor you with a Champion Membership, the Maple Sugarbush Membership. If you are interested in planned giving, please contact the Executive Director, Zach Garcia.

Bequests

Specific Bequest: You designate a specific dollar amount, specific percentage, or specific property to WW.

Residual Bequest: Your estate will pay all debts, taxes, expenses, and specific bequests. The remaining amount, the residue, will be transferred to WW.

Contingent Bequest: You can ask that WW receive all or a portion of your estate only under certain circumstances. For example, you can name WW as a beneficiary of your estate only if there are no surviving close family members. Childless couples sometimes provide for the entire estate to go to the surviving spouse, or if the spouse does not survive, to WW.

Life Income Gift

Family obligations and the need to provide for retirement, coupled with the high cost of living, make it difficult for many people to consider substantial charitable gifts now. But there is a way to have the satisfaction of making a meaningful lifetime gift without sacrifice. In fact, you can get current income tax and financial benefits.

It is called a Life Income Gift. You irrevocably transfer some assets to WW now, and in return, you (and a survivor, if you wish) receive income for life. As a result, income from the assets are used to carry out WW’s mission.

By making a Life Income Gift to WW, you will receive the following benefits, in addition to the pleasure of knowing the good work your gift will do. The benefits include:

  • A charitable deduction in the year you make the gift for the present value of our right to eventually receive the assets.

  • You free up appreciated investment to maximize yield, diversify, or both--often without paying tax on the capital gain.

  • Your effective yield is increased by substantial income tax savings.

  • Income can be taxed more favorably in some plans.

  • You unburden yourself of investment concerns.

  • Your probate and estate administration costs may be reduced.

Gift of Life Insurance

Some of our supporters no longer need their life insurance that was purchased years ago to provide for children or other family members. If that is your situation, please consider donating the policy to WW. You may claim a charitable deduction for approximately the policy’s cash surrender value, and the proceeds are completely removed from your estate.

Charitable Lead Trust

Individuals with very large estates can use a charitable lead trust to benefit WW and pass principal to family members with little or no tax penalty. It works like this: You transfer assets to a trust that provides payments to WW for a term of years. Then the trust principal goes to your children, grandchildren, or others free of, or at greatly reduced, federal gift and estate tax. (Please note that a generation skipping tax (GST) is imposed on large transfers to grandchildren and others who are more than one generation younger than you).

Gift of Retirement Plan

Many individuals today have large qualified retirement plans such as an IRA, 401(k), or Keogh plan. These assets have been growing tax-free for years. Once the owner begins to receive payments from the qualified plans, the distributions are taxed. The plans are also included in the owner’s taxable estate.

A retirement plan may be an excellent source of funds for making a gift to WW. One way to make a gift of your retirement plan is to create a charitable remainder trust through your will.

It works like this: your IRA assets will be transferred to a charitable remainder trust. There is no tax due because the charitable remainder trust is a tax-exempt entity. The trust will provide life income to the beneficiary (for example, your child) with an eventual gift to WW. The beneficiary will pay income tax on the distributions from the trust. Your estate will receive an estate tax charitable deduction for the value of WW’s right to eventually receive the trust assets.