Your legacy.
ECCO’s future!
What is planned giving?
A planned gift is a donation that can be made through an estate plan, usually through a will or trust. Being remembered along with those people and organizations you hold dear is the ultimate way to leave a legacy. Your gift underscores a deep and compassionate commitment to ECCO’s mission – and we are honored and grateful.
If you’re looking for a way to make a significant impact for years to come, we invite you to consider adding ECCO to your estate plans. Your commitment (through your will, trust, or beneficiary designation) will help sustain and strengthen day-to-day operations, as well as meet the most pressing needs of the community.
Choosing the right planned gift depends on your personal circumstances and financial goals. ECCO is available to help you craft the best option for you and your family. A planned gift also offers many potential advantages: the opportunity to increase spendable income, the elimination or reduction of capital gain taxes, and possibly federal and state estate tax savings.
How Can I Give?
BEQUESTS AND ESTATE PLAN GIFTS
A bequest is a gift from your estate – a transfer of cash, securities, or other property through your will or living trust, leaving all or a portion of your estate to ECCO, or by designating ECCO as a beneficiary of your retirement account or life insurance policy. Considered to be the easiest and most popular estate gift plan, a bequest costs nothing now, yet provides the reassurance you have provided for ECCO in the future.
What are the benefits?
-
- You leave a lasting legacy to be remembered
- You lessen the burden of taxes on your family
- Your gifts from the estate are exempt from federal estate taxes
- You retain control of and use of your assets
- You may modify if your circumstances change
Through your will or trust:
A bequest may be for a specific amount, a percentage of your estate, or for all or a portion of what is left after you have made bequests to your family. You can create a new will or living trust instrument or make an amendment to your present trust instrument.
Sample of standard bequest language for your will:
-
- I hereby give (insert percentage of estate or dollar amount) to East Cooper Community Outreach (ECCO), a South Carolina-based, nonprofit, located at 1145 Six Mile Road, Mount Pleasant, SC 29466, to be used for general purposes or for (insert program of choice as approved by ECCO).
General purpose/unrestricted gifts are encouraged as they give ECCO the most flexibility in using them where the need is greatest. To restrict a gift for a specific purpose or program, please confer with the Development Office to help in your selection.
Through a Retirement Plan or Insurance Policy:
Alternatively, you can designate ECCO as a beneficiary of all or a portion of a retirement plan or life insurance policy. To do so, contact the retirement plan administrator or life insurance company and complete the appropriate beneficiary designation form.
CREATING A LASTING LEGACY
Endowed funds may be established through planned gifts for many purposes and may be used to support existing programs, general operations, or more. Because these establish a legal agreement between the donor and ECCO, we encourage donors to speak with a member of the Development Office before establishing an endowment through your estate plans.
Tools to Get Started:
Begin your legacy with us!
To help you get started on your plans and legacy, our partners at FreeWill have provided an online tool that guides you through the process of creating a legally valid will or trust. It’s easy to use, accessible online, and can be completed in 20 minutes. You can use this resource on its own, or use it to document your wishes before finalizing your plans with an attorney.
Let us know if you’ve already made a bequest!
If you’ve made the decision to support ECCO through a planned gift, please let us know! Documenting your plans allows your gift to count towards our fundraising goals and assist in ECCO’s long-term planning efforts.
Non-probate assets
Do you have an IRA, 401(k), life insurance policy, or any other assets not included in your will? If so, these are called non-probate assets and you must plan your beneficiaries for them separately. Use this online tool to make your plans and designate us as a beneficiary of one or more of these assets.
Let us thank you!
In honor and celebration of donors who make the decision to leave a planned gift to ECCO, you will be added to the newly established Helen and M. Dawes Cooke, Jr. Legacy Society. Membership in this society does not depend on the amount of your commitment, which remains private.
Annually, ECCO brings this committed group of supporters together so we can say thank you and show our gratitude in your lifetime, celebrate your commitment, and help us spread the word about how others can join this special circle of support. This year’s “Gratitude Gathering” will be held at the Cotton Dock at Boone Hall on November 16th.
If you prefer to complete ECCO’s online form (instead of using the FreeWill platform) to notify us of your decision to support ECCO, please click below to complete our Statement of Future Gifts. If you’d like the form mailed, please contact our Development Office.
We are here to help! For more information and assistance, please contact:
ECCO’s Development Office
-
- Address: 1145 Six Mile Road, Mount Pleasant, SC. 29466
- Office Phone: (843) 416-7123
- Cell Phone: (843) 254-8053
- Email: dsquires@eccocharleston.org