Gift Planning
Gifts from Your Will or Trust
A charitable bequest is one of the easiest and most flexible ways that you can leave a gift to Howard University that will make a lasting impact.
Benefits of a bequest
- Receive an estate tax charitable deduction
- Reduce the burden of taxes on your family
- Leave a lasting legacy to charity
How a bequest works
A bequest is one of the easiest gifts to make. With the help of an attorney, you can include language in your will or trust specifying a gift to be made to family, friends or Howard University as part of your estate plan, or you can make a bequest using a beneficiary designation form.
Here are some of the ways to leave a bequest to Howard University
- Include a bequest to Howard University in your will or revocable trust
- Designate Howard University as a full, partial or contingent beneficiary of your retirement account (IRA, 401(k), 403(b) or pension)
- Name Howard University as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy
A bequest may be made in several ways
- Percentage bequest - make a gift of a percentage of your estate
- Specific bequest - make a gift of a specific dollar amount or a specific asset
- Residual bequest - make a gift from the balance or residue of your estate
Gift Example
Joe and Anna have been faithful supporters of our organization. They believe it is important to help further our mission.
Joe: Anna and I believe Howard University is truly helping others. It is important to us to partner with them to make a difference. That is why we have made several gifts over the years.
Anna: But we wanted to do more than just make gifts. Joe and I have been careful and have been able to save enough for retirement. We plan to be generous with family, but we also have the ability to be generous with charity.
Joe: After talking it over, we decided to leave a bequest in each of our wills. Our attorney took the simple language available from the organization and included a nice bequest in my will as well as Anna's. We are delighted that we will be helping others through these gifts.
Is a charitable bequest right for you?
We have resources that will help you learn more about bequests. Click here to review sample bequest language. You will see how easy it is to include a bequest in your will or trust.
You might find it helpful to print this page and the bequest language. Please feel free to give this information to your attorney. If he or she has any questions, please contact us.
*Please note: The names and image above are representative of a typical donor and may or may not be an actual donor to our organization. Since your benefits may be different, you may want to click here to view a color example of your benefits.
Contact us
If you have any questions about leaving a bequest to us, please contact us. We would be happy to assist you. If you have been so generous as to include a bequest to Howard University as part of your estate plan, please take the time to let us know. We would like to recognize you and your family for your generosity.