Planned Gifts

"Colorado Rocky Mountain School is, by far, the most important educational experience I have ever had. I had owned this house for ten years and I know that I was never going to move back to Cazenovia, New York, so I donated the house to CRMS. My heart has gone out to the teachers. I can never repay them for their time. I hope others feel the same way, and can find their own creative way to support this campaign."               --Virginia Touhey '74

                                                                                       
Increasingly, donors are finding planned gifts to be an attractive way to make gifts to Colorado Rocky Mountain School. This can not only bring the satisfaction of making a meaningful gift, it can often offer the donor tax savings and additional income. The Holden Circle includes all those who have included CRMS in their estate plans.

Gifts of Assets
These gifts, which include cash; appreciated property such as stocks, bonds, or real estate; or personal property, provide immediate support to Colorado Rocky Mountain School. The donor is eligible for a charitable tax deduction and may avoid capital gains taxes and estate taxes.

When real or personal property gifts are made to Colorado Rocky Mountain School, the school will determine whether the property can be of programmatic value to the school. If so, the school will endeavor to use it. If not, the property may be sold and the proceeds used to advance the school’s most significant needs.

Bequests
Bequests are the simplest type of planned gift. Bequests can significantly reduce estate taxes. Donors providing for Colorado Rocky Mountain School in their will may choose to make their legacy gift unrestricted or restricted. Unrestricted gifts offer the advantage of permitting the Colorado Rocky Mountain School Board of Trustees to allocate resources in a manner consistent with changing priorities and strategies over time. Donors making restricted gifts may choose to fund an existing or new endowment such as for financial aid or faculty salaries, a capital project, or programs such as the academic or active curricula.

Types of bequests that can be made include Specific Bequests, in which the donor names
Colorado Rocky Mountain School as the direct beneficiary of a stated item or percentage of the estate; Residuary Bequests, in which the donor designates Colorado Rocky Mountain School to receive all or a portion of the remainder of the estate once all specific bequests to family and friends have been satisfied; and Contingent Bequests, which name Colorado Rocky Mountain School as the contingent beneficiary to receive assets in case the individual beneficiaries named in the will do not survive the donor.

Another option for donors is to include a provision in their will leaving all or part of the assets of an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), Keogh, or other qualified pension or profit-sharing plan, again decreasing income and estate tax requirements.

Life Income Gifts
With these types of gifts, a donor may contribute an asset to Colorado Rocky Mountain School and receive income for his or her lifetime. Income payments are based on the full market value of the asset at the time it was donated. Donors can often convert appreciated securities with a low yield to a larger income stream, while avoiding capital gains tax. It is also possible to incur estate tax benefits, and a donor may choose to name his or her spouse or children as lifetime income beneficiaries if he or she chooses. These types of gifts also create an immediate income tax deduction.

There are several types of life income gifts that can be made to Colorado Rocky Mountain School. There are two types of Charitable Remainder Trusts, a Unitrust and an Annuity Trust, which provide donors with professional asset management and lifetime income. In a Unitrust, the donor can choose an income rate of 5% or more. Quarterly payments depend on the fair market value of the trust, and can lead to increased income over a period of years as the trust increases in value. In an Annuity Trust, a set amount of income is paid quarterly for the lives of the beneficiaries of the trust. For example, in this type of trust, a donor could use a second home having low-cost basis as the asset to fund a remainder trust, which can pay an attractive rate of income to themselves or their children. In a Retained Life Estate, a donor can give a personal residence, vacation home, or other property and continue to use it for their lifetime. This type of gift creates an immediate income tax deduction for the donor, which is based upon the value of the gift that Colorado Rocky Mountain School will eventually receive. A Charitable Lead Trust pays income annually to Colorado Rocky Mountain School for a set term. At the close of this term, the assets held by the trust return to the donor or designated beneficiaries. This type of trust does not allow an income tax deduction; however, donors may achieve significant estate and gift tax savings.

Legal Designation: For gifts that will take effect after your lifetime, Colorado Rocky Mountain School should be named in your will as:

Colorado Rocky Mountain School, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, organized and existing under the laws of the State of Colorado, and with principal business address of 1493 County Road 106, Carbondale, Colorado 81623.

People sometimes name Colorado Rocky Mountain School in their wills without notifying us so that we can acknowledge their invaluable support. If you complete your will and include a gift to Colorado Rocky Mountain School, we hope you will share this with us. We feel strongly about expressing our gratitude to those supporters who have remembered Colorado Rocky Mountain School in such a generous way. With your permission, we will list you as a member of The Holden Circle, which was established by the Colorado Rocky Mountain School Board of Trustees in 1993 to honor all donors who make a planned gift to further the school’s vision.

Colorado Rocky Mountain School deeply appreciates the generosity of the alumni, parents, and friends who have made bequests, showing their commitment to the school and to its future. If you are interested in making a bequest to Colorado Rocky Mountain School, please call Carolyn Hardin, Director of Development at 970-963-2562.

Because of the complexity of estate planning, it is important that your attorney structure your estate and write your will so as to best carry out your wishes. Colorado Rocky Mountain School cannot act as executor of a donor's estate.