Planned Giving

Simply put, Planned Giving is planning to make a gift. Planned gifts are generally funded from accumulated resources or assets, rather than income.

Bequests are a common way to make a gift to charity, allowing the tax benefits accrue to the donor’s estate. The Couchiching Conservancy also offers several ways for you to make a gift in the future but receive the tax benefits now.

You can designate your Planned Gift to The Couchiching Conservancy in several areas. Gifts can be left undesignated for general use or they can be designated to The Heartwood Fund for operations or The Stewardship Fund. There are abundant opportunities to help the Conservancy fulfill its promise for generations to come. To help you decide what your best planned gift is, download our gift matrix.

Planned gifts can provide beneficial results for a donor but, in order to ensure that all relevant issues have been considered and addressed and that all Income Tax Act, Canada provisions and regulations are met, prospective donors should seek qualified legal and accounting advice.

Planned Giving Options

Find out how you can make a positive difference and leave a lasting green legacy for future generations through one of the planned giving options listed below:

• Gifts of Publicly Listed Securities – Gifts of Listed Securities can be made at a relatively low cost. The taxable capital gain arising on a transfer of publicly listed securities to The Couchiching Conservancy is now 0%.
• Wills and Bequests – Your Gift Planners can help you find the language you need in your will to ensure that your bequest goes exactly where you intended it
• Gift of Life Insurance – You can donate an existing life insurance policy to The Couchiching Conservancy. The Conservancy must be the owner and beneficiary for you to receive tax creditable premiums.
• Charitable Remainder Trusts – You can create a Charitable Remainder Trust which will pay you an annual taxable income. A tax receipt is issued for a significant portion of the Trust principal. The Trust principal in full flows to The Couchiching Conservancy for the purpose of your choice upon your death.
• Gifts of Residual Interest – You can make a gift of real property to the Conservancy: real estate, antiquities, art works, etc., and continue to use the property. A tax receipt is issued for a portion of the value of the real property.
• Gift Annuities – A gift annuity returns a competitive rate of income to you, most or all of which is tax-free, and a residue which goes to The Couchiching Conservancy.

Adapted and revised from the following sources: Give Green Canada, United Church of Canada, and Community Foundations of Canada

You can learn more about planned giving and leaving a living legacy, by watching our video here.