Heritage Circle - Planned Giving
Your Legacy. Their Future.
Each generation has the opportunity to shape what comes next.
By including the Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge in your plans, you are investing in a future where women and girls in our region have the support, opportunities, and resources they need to thrive.
Your legacy can help ensure that education, safety, health, and opportunity remain accessible for generations to come.
Through the Heritage Circle, your values continue to make a difference long into the future.
Have you already included WFBR in your plans? We would love to welcome you to the Heritage Circle.
Why Legacy Giving Matters
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Sustains Community Grantmaking
Legacy gifts help sustain the Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge’s annual grant cycle, supporting nonprofit programs that serve women and girls across Ashe, Avery, and Watauga counties. These investments strengthen education, health and wellness, safety, and essential services throughout our community.
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Strengthens Long
Term Impact
Legacy commitments provide stability that allows WFBR to continue responding to evolving community needs. Over time, these gifts help ensure that important programs and initiatives for women and girls can grow and thrive.
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Invests in Future Generations
By including WFBR in your estate plans, you help create opportunities for generations to come. Your legacy becomes part of a lasting commitment to empowering women and girls and strengthening the future of the High Country.
Ways to Create Your Legacy
Many of our most meaningful gifts are made through legacy commitments that cost nothing today but create lasting impact tomorrow.
Allows you to designate a portion of your estate to support WFBR’s mission after your lifetime. flexible and can be adjusted if your circumstances change.
Benefits of a bequest may include:
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You retain full control of your assets during your lifetime
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Your gift can be modified if your plans change
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Your estate may receive tax advantages depending on the structure of the gift.
You can designate a specific dollar amount, asset, or percentage of your estate
Life insurance policies can also be used to create meaningful future gifts.
You may designate the Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge as a beneficiary of an existing policy, or transfer ownership of a policy to the organization. Some donors choose to maintain policies specifically intended to support charitable causes.
Even a modest policy can ultimately create a powerful legacy gift.
Retirement accounts are often subject to income taxes when passed to heirs. For this reason, many donors choose to leave retirement assets to charitable organizations while leaving other assets to their family members.
This strategy can allow you to make a meaningful charitable gift while maximizing the value of other assets for your heirs.
Life Insurance Policies
Wills & Trusts
Retirement Plans
If you have established a donor-advised fund through a financial institution or community foundation, you may recommend grants to the Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge as part of your philanthropic strategy.
Donor-advised funds allow individuals and families to set aside charitable dollars and distribute them over time. Many donors choose to support WFBR through annual grant recommendations from these funds.
You may also name the Women’s Fund as a beneficiary of your donor-advised fund to create a future legacy gift.
These qualified charitable distributions allow donors to transfer funds directly from their IRA to a nonprofit organization without recognizing the distribution as taxable income, subject to IRS limits.
For many donors, this can be an efficient way to support charitable causes while managing retirement income.
70½+: Eligible age to make a Qualified Charitable Distribution
$100,000: Maximum annual QCD per individual (IRS limit)
100% Impact: Supports programs benefiting women and girls in Ashe, Avery, and Watauga counties
Allows you to designate a portion of your estate to support WFBR’s mission after your lifetime. flexible and can be adjusted if your circumstances change.
Benefits of a bequest may include:
-
You retain full control of your assets during your lifetime
-
Your gift can be modified if your plans change
-
Your estate may receive tax advantages depending on the structure of the gift.
You can designate a specific dollar amount, asset, or percentage of your estate
Donor Advised Fund (DAF)
IRA Charitable Distributions
Stock and Securities
Planned Giving Tools
Find guidance on next steps and answers to your questions below. Can't find what you are looking for? Reach out and speak with us. We are here to help every step of the way.