Planned Giving

Memorial and Honorary Gifts

A memorial or honorary gift is a lasting demonstration of admiration, friendship, and love. A gift made in tribute can be a unique way to recognize and celebrate a personal achievement, milestone, or memorable event in the life of a friend or loved one. Your gift helps build a brighter future for a troubled youth or family. When you make a gift, we will notify the person being honored, or the family of the loved one being remembered, of your thoughtfulness.

Life Insurance

The Bridge or our endowment fund can be named as the beneficiary of all or a portion of your life insurance policy. However, if you wish to make a gift of the life insurance policy itself, please contact Doreen Tarascio at 860.521.8035, ext. 1108 to discuss the gift.

Retirement Plans

The Bridge can be named as the beneficiary of all or a portion of your retirement plans. Distributions from some retirement accounts to individuals may be subject to both income and estate tax. The distribution to the Bridge will not incur income tax as the Bridge is a 501(c)(3) charity, making it more advantageous to direct your retirement plan assets to the Bridge.

Charitable Remainder Trust

You can establish a trust that pays income to you and/or other beneficiaries for life or a term of years, then pays the remaining balance to the Bridge. Transfers to a Charitable Remainder Trust will generate an income tax deduction for you in the year of the contribution.

Charitable Lead Trust

You can establish a trust to support the Bridge now and your family or other beneficiaries at a later date. The trust pays income to the Bridge for a period of years and then passes the remaining balance to your beneficiaries with minimum or no gift or estate taxes.

Endowment Giving

The Bridge is fortunate to have committed donors who care deeply about the future of children and families. The Bridge maintains an endowment fund, the Bridge Family Center Fund, at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, which has supported the Bridge over the years and is knowledgeable about its mission and programs. The annual earnings of the endowment fund provide support for the Bridge's operations each year. You can give directly to the Bridge Family Center Fund through the Hartford Foundation website.

In addition to its expertise in managing the Fund, the Hartford Foundation is a resource for advice on planned giving to the Bridge and can work directly with donors and their advisors on structuring a gift to the Fund. Many types of gifts, both outright and planned, are suitable for the Fund.
 

Bequests

A simple bequest to the Bridge Family Center, Inc. or to its endowment fund may be included in your Will, enabling you to make a larger gift than you might have thought possible and providing savings in state and federal death taxes. You can donate a specific dollar amount or a percentage of your assets.
Here is some suggested wording for making a bequest to the Bridge or to its endowment fund to share with your attorney:

To give directly to the Bridge:
“I bequeath the sum of ______________ Dollars ($_______________) [or, I bequeath __________% of my estate] [or, I devise and bequeath all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate] to the Bridge Family Center in West Hartford, CT.”

To give to the Bridge’s Endowment:
 “I bequeath the sum of ______________ Dollars ($_______________) [or, I bequeath __________% of my estate] [or, I devise and bequeath all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate] to HFPG, Inc., a charitable corporation affiliated with the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, to be added to the Bridge Family Center Fund.”

Your bequest qualifies you for membership in Builders for the Future, our Planned Giving Society. Your gift will make a lasting difference for children and families for years to come. Please let us know of your bequest so we can include you in the Society.

To learn more about the Bridge Family Center Fund or Builders for the Future, please contact Doreen Tarascio, Director of Development and Communications, at 860.521.8035, ext. 1108.
 

Publicly-Held Securities

It is advantageous to make a gift of appreciated publicly-held securities, such as stocks and bonds, because you can avoid the capital gains tax that would otherwise be imposed if you sold the securities. Generally, you can deduct the fair market value of your securities up to 30 percent of your adjusted gross income, with a five year carry-over. However, you should contact your personal tax advisor to discuss the implications before you make gifts of publicly held securities.

Gifts of stock or securities may be made through your broker. Appreciated securities are perhaps the most cost-effective assets to use in making a gift. When you transfer ownership of long-term holdings to the Bridge Family Center, you receive a charitable deduction for their full market value and you incur no capital gains tax on the stock's appreciation (subject to IRS deduction limits).

Because electronic transfers are made without identifying the donor, please alert us in advance about the stock and number of shares you plan to give. You can do so by contacting Doreen Tarascio, Director of Development and Communications, at 860.521.8035 ext. 1108.

According to IRS regulations, the date of your gift corresponds to the date it arrives in our possession (for transfers from brokerage account to brokerage account). Following is the information necessary to transfer stock to our account:

• Our Account Name: The Bridge Family Center
• Our Tax ID Number: 23-7013563
• Our Account Number: PG3007737
• Broker DTC Number: 0443
• Investment Advisor: Pershing, LLC, 1 Pershing Plaza, Jersey City, NJ 07399
   

Real Estate

You may be able to make a gift of real property. Please contact us to discuss the gift.