Endowment

Santa Rosa Symphony Endowment Fund: FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC Preserve a Priceless Community Treasure: The Santa Rosa Symphony

Gifts to the Symphony's Endowment Fund ensure a strong fiscal foundation. They provide ongoing support to sustain artistic and educational programs that help assure uninterrupted service to the community during economic downturns. The Santa Rosa Symphony has a long and distinguished history, spanning 84 years. As we prepare to take the stage as orchestra-in-residence of the Green Music Center's Weill Hall, gifts to the endowment will assist in meeting budgetary challenges inherent in expansion.

Our move to the Green Music Center will require building a sustainable income stream to absorb the increased costs of performing in this exciting new venue. Increasing our endowment will provide us with a strong fiscal foundation to sustain our musical legacy for generations as yet unborn. We invite your long-term commitment to our region's artistic excellence, vitality and educational programming and rich tradition of classical music. Outstanding naming opportunities include orchestral chairs to special funds that can be endowed in perpetuity, or over a specified term. Endowment funds supporting: the Associate Concertmaster's Chair, the Principal Cello Chair, Guest Artist Fund, Youth Orchestras (and more) will assure our respected orchestra's future vitality.

The Symphony relies on more than annual donations to cover the growing costs of each musical season, and a gift to our endowment will make a lasting difference. If classical music is an important part of your life, consider establishing or adding to a named fund where even a person of modest wealth can make an important contribution.

The Santa Rosa Symphony Endowment Fund was established in 1986 to provide long-term, predictable support for the orchestra. Donor gifts are prudently invested and managed by the professional firm of Neuberger-Berman. For fiscal year 2010-2011, ending June 30, 2011, the endowment's return was 20.31%. The endowment's annual return since Neuberger-Berman became our investment management firm in September 2002 averaged 8.2% per year. Our investments are overseen by the Symphony Board's Finance Committee which has kept the draw from endowment for operations below the maximum percentage of 5 percent for nine years in a row. Be assured you can contribute with confidence.

For more information on the Symphony's Endowment, call Development Director Kathleen Morgen at (707) 546-7097 x 214, or email: kmorgen@santarosasymphony.com to help you determine where to affix your name and build your legacy – today and into the future.

Planned Giving

Will or Living Trust
IRA or Retirement Plan
Pooled Income Fund
Gifts of Real Estate
Charitable Lead Trusts
Charitable Remainder Trusts
Life Insurance Policy
Gifts Honoring Loved Ones

By Giving, You Give to Yourself as Well

There are many rewards of philanthropic giving. Planned giving augments your current support with a gift for the Symphony's future.  You may find it especially satisfying to establish a fund in your name, or the name of a loved one for a fixed term, or in perpetuity.

Options for Including the Symphony in Your Estate Plan
There are a variety of options for creating your charitable legacy for classical music, including ways to help you save on taxes and make your contributions go further.

Consider how these choices best fit your individual needs and goals:

Will or Living Trust
Name the Symphony as a beneficiary of your estate. Where there’s a will, there’s a way to honor your love of classical music.

Example:
Bequeath a specific dollar amount, an asset, a percentage, or the residue of your will or trust to the Symphony. Because this portion of your estate is tax deductible, your donation may significantly reduce taxes otherwise payable by your estate. 

IRA or Retirement Plan
Retirement Plans and Individual Retirement Accounts offer great tax benefits while you are living. However, at your death, the tax costs of these assets can be immense. One way to save your family and heirs the burden of these costs is to make a charitable contribution using these assets.

Example:
Name the Symphony as the beneficiary of your IRA or Retirement Plan so that your heirs will not have to pay the income taxes you have avoided during your lifetime. In addition, your heirs will not have to pay estate taxes on the value of your retirement vehicles. By naming the Symphony as the beneficiary of your Retirement Plan or IRA, your family and heirs will avoid this double taxation.

Pooled Income Fund
This popular form of giving offers many tax and income benefits. You endow the Symphony with cash or securities (minimum contribution of $5,000) yet retain rights to all income from investments of these assets throughout your lifetime and/or the lifetime of another.

Example:
You transfer cash or marketable securities to the pooled income fund established by the Symphony. The fund issues you units, similar to a mutual fund and pays you (or up to two income beneficiaries you designate) the annual income attributable to your units for life. The principal attributed to your units passes to the Symphony when the last income beneficiary dies. You receive an immediate income tax deduction for a portion of your gift and you pay no capital gains tax on any appreciated securities that you donate to the fund. 

Gifts of Real Estate
You can transfer ownership of your home, vacation property, ranch, land, commercial building or investment property to the Symphony.  You can choose one of the charitable strategies listed below that best suits your needs and your wishes for the Symphony with this donation.

Outright Gifts
The real estate will be sold after the transfer and the proceeds will be donated to the Symphony.  You receive an income tax deduction for the fair market value of the real estate no matter what you paid for it. Any income tax deduction that isn’t used in the current year may be carried over to subsequent years until depleted (5 years). You pay no capital gains tax on the transfer.

Retained Life Estates
The title of your personal residence is deeded to the Symphony but the individual or married couple is given the right to continue living in the home during their life times. You also benefit from a discounted income tax deduction based on the life expectancy of the donor(s). After the death of the individual or surviving spouse, the home will be sold and the proceeds will be donated to the Symphony.

Charitable Lead Trust
This charitable strategy benefits the Symphony now and all the appreciation of the assets in the trust are transferred to your heirs later.

Example:
You transfer securities and other assets that are likely to appreciate over time to a Charitable Lead Trust.  The Trust makes fixed annual payments to the Symphony for a specified term of years.  At the end of the Trust, the remaining principal is transferred; tax free, to your heirs.  

Charitable Remainder Trusts
This charitable strategy pays the donor and named beneficiaries income now until the  trust matures and the remainder passes to the Symphony.  Cash, securities and appreciated real estate are transferred to the trust and a diversified investment portfolio is established to generate income for the donor.  The donor receives an income tax deduction for a portion of the assets contributed to the trust and pays no capital gains tax on the transfer.

There are two types of Charitable Remainder Trusts

Annuity Trust
You receive stable, predictable income annually based on a fixed percentage of the original assets donated.

Unitrust Trust
You receive income annually that varies based on a fixed percentage of the value of the investments, which are re-valued annually.

Life Insurance Policy
You may choose to designate the Symphony as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy.

Example:
Your existing life insurance policy may be assigned, all or in part, to the Symphony. Or, purchase an additional life insurance policy naming the Symphony as owner or sole beneficiary of this new policy.

Gifts Honoring Loved Ones in Perpetuity or through Fixed Terms
One of the most elegant ways to assure that your loved one’s name will be remembered is through a Named Gift to commemorate, memorialize or celebrate a family member or friend either in perpetuity, or over a fixed period of time.  The Symphony offers opportunities to honor loved ones by affixing their names to specific Symphony chairs or programs making them part of the music for generations to come.  Click here to learn more.

Facilitating Your Wish to Make a Lasting Contribution
Your gift to the endowment provides a unique opportunity to ensure the Symphony's long-term financial stability and artistic excellence by providing a predictable income stream far into the future. Before making such a decision, it is prudent to call Symphony staff and to meet with your estate planner or other professional advisors. The Symphony’s staff welcomes the opportunity to meet with you personally in order to understand and facilitate your wish to make a lasting contribution.

To make a donation or inquire about supporting the Symphony, contact Development Director Kathleen Morgen at:  kmorgen@santarosasymphony.com, or phone (707) 546-7097 ext 214.