Planned Giving


FARMLAND IS THE ULTIMATE LEGACY

CFT’s important work is supported financially by ordinary people through membership dues, annual appeals and gifts for stewardship, for our endowment or for saving a particular farm.   All of them are partners in our work, and each of them can boast of helping save Connecticut’s working land for the future.

Our farms are “forever farms.”  They will stand as agricultural resources for all future generations. When you help to save a farm, you’re not only helping a farmer.  You’re helping every farmer that comes after them, you protect the earth, you preserve its life-giving soil, you help to ensure the future of food.

Planned giving offers opportunities to contribute in a way that supports your financial and estate plans as well as CFT. Planned gifts often provide a means for you to make a larger gift than otherwise possible, either because the gifts are deferred or because the gifts pay back to you during your life.  We urge you to seriously consider a planned gift, and in so doing, become part of CFT’s Legacy Partners.  By becoming a Partner, you demonstrate your commitment to CFT and to the future of farming in Connecticut. There is no better way to show your support than by providing for Connecticut Farmland Trust in your estate plan. (Gifts can be made anonymously, if preferred.)

Below are some of the kinds of gifts you may make.  CFT is  ready to work with you and your financial advisor to develop a plan that fits your situation and your goals, as well as our ability to accept and manage them.

Some Types of Planned Gifts:

Bequests: You can designate that a portion of your estate be left to CFT. This might include some pre-selected asset or assets (such as a certain amount of cash or certain bonds, mutual funds, or other publicly traded securities) or some specified percentage of your total estate.

Life Income Gifts: These kinds of gifts allow you to maintain a source of income and receive tax benefits, while supporting CFT. Here are examples of what’s possible:

  • Charitable Gift Annuity and Deferred Charitable Gift Annuities allow you to make a charitable gift of cash or stock to CFT and in return receive fixed payment for as long as you live.  (Such gifts must have a minimum value of $25,000)
  • Charitable Remainder Trusts provide you with income for life, while designating the remainder as a gift to CFT. They are often funded with appreciated securities or real estate, reducing or eliminating capital gains taxes.
  • Charitable Lead Trusts provide income to CFT for a chosen period of time, and then pass the assets back to you (or your heirs).  They often provide a significant reduction in wealth transfer taxes.

Real Estate: You can make gifts of real property to CFT. This may include farmland which you would like CFT to preserve or other property which could be sold to further CFT’s mission. You could also give a farm or residence where you continue to live (retaining a “life estate”). NOTE: Real Estate gifts, like other complex gifts, require advance review and approval by CFT’s Board, according to its policies.

Life Insurance: You can name CFT as a beneficiary of a portion of your life insurance policy. Alternatively, you can transfer ownership of your policy to CFT during your lifetime. Gifts of life insurance may help your estate to reduce or eliminate taxes.

Retirement Plan Assets: You can make a charitable gift by having CFT receive a portion of your retirement fund through a beneficiary designation. Doing so may significantly reduce (or eliminate entirely) future estate taxes or embedded income tax payable by heirs on such assets. Such a deferred gift is intended to maintain your current financial security.

PLEASE TALK WITH US ABOUT PLANNED GIFTS:

If you would like further information or to speak with CFT about planned gifts or the benefits of becoming a Partner, please contact us.

NOTE:  CFT cannot act as a financial advisor or provide legal or financial advice.  CFT strongly recommends anyone considering a planned gift seek independent, competent advice from an estate and financial planning professional.