Gift & Estate Planning
Benefits of Planned Giving
A planned gift to CELT makes it possible to:
- Preserve the character of Cape Elizabeth, now as well as beyond your lifetime
- Memorialize someone you love
- Make a contribution that provides tax advantages and/or a current income stream for you or your beneficiaries
- Make a larger gift than would otherwise be the case, thereby increasing the impact of your donation
- Sustain your giving into the future
- Establish enduring personal legacies for generations to come
Join The Oak Society
The Oak Society, established in 2014, is comprised of individuals and families who have chosen to support CELT by naming the organization as a beneficiary in their estate plans, by selecting CELT as a beneficiary of various tax-advantaged lifetime planned giving options or by making a gift of $5,000 or more to CELT’s General Endowment Fund.
CELT’s Oak Society provides donors the opportunity to establish enduring personal legacies for generations to come – continuing to protect strategically important lands cherished by our community, fostering diligent stewardship of conserved parcels, and educating this and future generations about the value of Cape Elizabeth’s natural treasures. It is an opportunity to preserve the character of Cape Elizabeth forever.
Support from Oak Society members plays an integral role in providing the necessary financial resources to acquire and preserve strategic lands, and to ensure that the lands protected by CELT today will be cared for in perpetuity.
When you join the Oak Society, you will be presented with a silver Oak Society pin locally made and donated by Lisa Gent Handcrafted Jewelry. Your participation will also be recognized in donor listings and through inclusion in events specifically designed to honor our major donors.
To learn more, please contact Patty Renaud, Membership & Development Manager, at 207.767.6054 or email patty@capelandtrust.org.
Ways To Give
Your gift may be made in many forms. CELT routinely accepts gifts of cash and securities, as well as a number of other common lifetime and estate gifts. Planned gifts such as charitable remainder trusts, retirement and life insurance policy designations and bequests are among the options you may wish to consider. CELT’s gift acceptance policy provides details related to these and other gifts, or you may contact Patty Renaud if you have any questions about the various planned giving vehicles that you and your professional advisors might consider.
Your gift may be given in support of our general operations, or may be dedicated toward one particular aspect of our work. If you are considering a restricted gift, please arrange to meet with us to discuss the available options.
Bequest Through Your Will or Living Trust
The following suggested language for consideration by you and your legal advisor would provide unrestricted support for CELT’s three-fold mission to preserve land, provide responsible stewardship, and deliver educational programs that foster appreciation of natural areas:
“I give (_____ dollars) (or a specific asset) or (_____percent of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate) to the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust, a charitable, tax-exempt organization located in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, for its general purposes.” And there are many other planned giving alternatives.
Is CELT already included in your estate plans? If so, please let us know. Our knowledge of your estate plans helps CELT to plan more effectively for the future. If you prefer to remain anonymous, you may, of course, do so, and you may choose not to receive future invitations to Oak Society events.
General Endowment Fund
CELT’s board has established a General Endowment Fund to assure that CELT will be able to meet its commitments now and in the future. With your support, income generated by this endowment fund will provide CELT with a perpetual source of annual revenue that will play a critical role in achieving CELT’s mission and foster its ability to fulfill its obligations to care for the lands that it has protected in perpetuity.
You may consider a donation to the General Endowment Fund either as a planned gift or as a lifetime giving option. All planned gifts to the fund qualify for membership in the Oak Society. Please contact us for assistance.
Oak Society Members
Evelyn Landry
“I moved back to Maine in 2007 after many years of living in large urban cities. I was looking for a place that offered easy access to the outdoors for activities that are important to me–walking, cycling and kayaking. Cape Elizabeth has provided all of this and much more. The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust’s stewardship of the land is one of the many reasons I love living here. I am committed to finding ways to ensure that land conservation continues and have included CELT in my will.”
Dr. Joseph Schenkel
“On a fine autumnal evening, some twenty odd years ago, I wandered into an annual meeting, being held in the Grange Hall, of the newly emergent Cape Elizabeth Land Trust. A warm welcome coupled with an explanation of their goals and I was hooked. I still am. Now in CELT’s maturity, it gives me great pleasure and satisfaction to continue playing a part in this effort to save so much of Cape’s beautiful and bountiful land for future generations. I hope that my bequest will contribute to CELT’s ability to fulfill its mission for years to come.”
