Start your land conservation Legacy today!  Complete SMF’s Estate Planning Form here.
Legacy Giving2024-12-31T09:16:47-05:00

Create Your Legacy to Support Land Conservation

on Martha’s Vineyard

Legacy (Planned) Giving

Create your legacy to support Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation

Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation has created a program to encourage Legacy Giving to the organization. This is critically important, as legacy gifts are essential to growing Sheriff’s Meadow’s endowment, and the endowment is essential to the Foundation’s perpetual duty to care for the lands entrusted to it.

Your gifts, as individual donors, compose the primary means of support for all of Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation’s endeavors. Through the Annual Fund, the Summer Benefit, and through other general purpose giving, these unrestricted individual gifts support about 70% of our annual operating budget. Only 20% of our operating budget comes from transfers from the endowment, subject to a conservative spending policy, or from restricted gifts. It is a strategic goal of Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation to grow the endowment so that it can ultimately provide half of our operating support.

Start your land conservation Legacy today! Complete SMF’s Estate Planning Form. Please contact us if you have any questions or need further assistance.

Legacy Giving2024-12-13T13:53:41-05:00

By including the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation in your estate planning, you can support SMF while making a tax-wise gift for the future. A bequest is a simple statement in your will that directs a gift to SMF. The most common bequest is an unrestricted gift of a specified dollar amount or percentage of your residual estate. We welcome the opportunity to speak with you or your legal and financial advisors to help with the appropriate language.

Bequests

  • Include a gift to Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation in your will or trust.
  • Your bequest will support the overall mission of SMF.
  • State a specific amount or note a percentage of the balance remaining in your estate or trust.
  • You can modify your gift to address changing circumstances.
  • You can direct your gift to a particular purpose.
  • If comfortable, tell us about your gift so we may celebrate your generosity now.

Retirement Plans, 401(k), and IRAs

  • Designate SMF as a beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k), or other qualified retirement plan
  • Continue to make regular withdrawals within lifetime.
  • Pass balance or portion of retirement assets to SMF by contacting your plan administrator.
  • Tell SMF about your planned gift. Your plan administrator is not obligated to notify SMF.
  • Avoids potential double taxation on assets left in your retirement account

Life Insurance

  • Transfer ownership of paid in full life insurance policy
  • SMF may cash in the policy or hold on to it.
  • Receive an income tax deduction equal to the cash value of the policy.
Donor Advised Funds2024-11-27T10:12:08-05:00

A donor-advised fund (DAF) succession plan is an important part of your overall estate plan and charitable legacy. It involves directing your DAF sponsor on how to manage or distribute assets remaining in your charitable giving fund after your lifetime. Without a succession plan, funds remaining in your DAF could be rolled into the sponsor’s own charitable fund, to be distributed as the sponsor chooses and not according to your wishes. Our gift planning team is always available to discuss your succession plan or other legacy giving opportunities.

Land as a Bequest2024-12-13T14:32:39-05:00

  • Make a provision in your will or living trust for future impact to SMF.
  • Removing land and real property from an estate can significantly reduce inheritance taxes.

For more information about how to bequeath a gift of land, please contact Adam Moore, SMF President, at moore@sheriffsmeadow.org.

 

Options for Giving Outright

Gifts of Land and Real Estate Outright

  • Donate property outright and see the impact of your gift immediately.
  • Donor may be able to take an income tax deduction and reduce or eliminate capital gains tax.
  • Gifts of conservation restrictions or remainder interest may qualify for additional tax deductions.

Any donor interested in donating gifts of land or real estate, please contact Adam Moore, SMF President, at moore@sheriffsmeadow.org or call 508-693-5207.

Below are four special properties that were gifted to Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation over the years. Click on each photograph to learn more about that property.

CAROLINE TUTHILL PRESERVE –
donated by Nora & John Tuthill

QUANSOO FARM –
donated by Flipper Harris

PHILLIPS PRESERVE –
donated by Marjorie Acker Phillips

LITTLE BEACH –
donated by Robert & Josephine Brown

Cash Donations and Money from
Donor Advised Funds

Cash Donations can be made on our secure website by clicking here.

Also, cash donations may be made in the form of a check mailed to our new address:

Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation
P.O. Box 3000 PMB 3162
West Tisbury, MA 02575

A Donor-Advised Fund, (DAF), is a philanthropic investment account established for the sole purpose of supporting the charitable organizations you care about and it provides an immediate tax benefit to you. You can donate to SMF through your DAF today.

How to Recommend a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) Gift:

Step 1: Request a grant distribution through your DAF sponsor

Step 2: Provide your DAF sponsor with SMF’s EIN #04-6111529

Step 3: Indicate whether your gift is unrestricted or designated to a specific property.

If you’ve already made a DAF gift, send us a note at hall@sheriffsmeadow.org so we can make sure to thank you and ensure your gift gets where it’s intended.

Does your employer match gifts from Donor Advised Funds?
Many donors don’t realize that their employers might match their gifts from their DAFs. This is an amazing way to increase the impact of your gift. Simply ask your employer if they match DAF grants.

Gifts of Stock

Donating stock or other appreciated assets can provide you with significant tax benefits. For information on how to transfer securities, please contact our office for stock transfer instructions. We recommend you speak with your financial planner or tax advisor for more specific information on how a gift of appreciated assets can best benefit you.

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact Thomas Hallahan at hallahan@sheriffsmeadow.org or (508) 693-5207

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