Leaving your climate legacy
Whether you’ve been with Citizens’ Climate Lobby for twelve years or you’ve just gone to your first meeting, your passion and commitment to effective climate solutions creates an impactful legacy, and we thank you for that.
If you decide to make a legacy gift commitment, you’re joining the Citizens’ Climate Legacy Club, a core group of supporters who are extending their commitment to a livable planet for generations to come. There are several gift arrangements to choose from, all of which allow you to provide for your family while supporting the work of Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) and Citizens’ Climate Education Corp. (CCE).
Remember us in your will
We hope you’ll structure your will to provide for your family first, then consider including a gift to CCL or CCE.
If you don’t already have a will, we want to offer this free will-writing tool to help create this important legal document. In 20 minutes or less, you can protect your loved ones, make a plan for the future, and, if it’s right for you, complete a lasting gift to CCL or CCE. The online resource is completely free, and can be used to create a list of documented wishes if you have a more complex estate or would prefer to use an attorney.
Download sample bequest language
Give retirement plan assets
Consider making CCL or CCE a beneficiary of your retirement plan assets. This option would allow you to support our climate work while also providing for your loved ones. Furthermore, there can be significant tax advantages to donating retirement assets as part of an estate plan. When done properly, charitable donations of retirement assets can minimize the amount of income taxes on both your individual heirs and your estate. To designate CCL or CCE as a beneficiary of your retirement plan assets, contact your employer or plan administrator.
Use life insurance to make a gift
There are several easy ways you can use life insurance to leave a climate legacy to CCL or CCE:
- Designate CCL or CCE as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy by contacting your policy provider.
- Purchase a charitable rider on your life insurance policy, which will not decrease the face value of the life insurance policy payout, and will donate an additional 1-2% of the policy to the organization of your choice.
- Purchase a policy donation to leave the entire policy to CCL or CCE. If you give to CCE, every premium payment on the policy will then be considered a tax-deductible gift.
Should I give to Citizens’ Climate Lobby or Citizens’ Climate Education Corp.?
This decision is best made in consultation with your attorney or financial planner to ensure that you are maximizing the tax benefits associated with charitable bequests. For most individuals, there will be no need to claim a tax deduction because the federal estate tax does not take effect on estates below $11.4 million. In the cases where this decision has little or no impact on your heirs’ tax benefits, we respectfully request a preference for Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
Let us know of your gift
It is helpful to us if you are willing to share a copy of the applicable sections of your will, retirement, or insurance policy. This way we will be able to alert you if any of the details in our name, address or tax ID numbers are incorrect, which could prohibit successful implementation of your legacy gift.
We will treat this notification with the utmost confidentiality. Unless you explicitly state that you’re open to it, we will not make any public announcement of your gift out of respect for your privacy.
Please send a copy of the applicable sections of your will, retirement, or insurance policy to our Development Team via email or mail it to our home office at 1330 Orange Ave., #309, Coronado, CA 92118.
Contact us
For more information, please email our Development Team at or call our home office at 619-437-7142.
*All estate planning decisions should be made with the assistance of an attorney and/or financial planner. Though we are here to help you learn more about your options, Citizens’ Climate Lobby and Citizens’ Climate Education Corp. cannot provide legal advice about the best way for you to give.
Board-approved legacy giving policies:
