Invest your legacy where it will make a difference

At Bicycle Colorado, we’re grateful for every gift we receive—no matter the size—but we understand that not everyone feels they can make a substantial gift today. Some prefer the increased flexibility that planned giving via a beneficiary designation provides by using:

• IRAs and retirement plans
• Life insurance policies
• Commercial annuities

It may sound complicated to set up a beneficiary designation, but it is actually quite simple. In fact, it only takes three simple steps to make this type of gift. If you are interested in designating Bicycle Colorado as a beneficiary of your estate, here are a few simple steps to help you do it:

1. Contact your retirement plan administrator, insurance company, bank or financial institution for a change-of-beneficiary form.
2. Name Bicycle Colorado as a beneficiary on the form and designate the percentage you would like to give to Bicycle Colorado (1-100%).
3. Return the completed form to your plan administrator, insurance company, bank or financial institution.

That’s it! Easy, right?

Fast facts about planned giving

• Planned Giving means making gifts to nonprofits like Bicycle Colorado that require planning. This includes estate gifts like bequests and beneficiary designations, and also includes current gifts that require planning, such as real estate.
• The majority of planned gifts are charitable bequests.
• $35.7 billion was given via charitable bequest in 2017.
• Most planned gift donors will never tell the charity about the gift. (If you have Bicycle Colorado in your estate plans, please let us know!)

Myths about planned giving and bequests

• Only wealthy people make bequests. At the time they made their bequest commitment, most bequest donors had income of less than $75,000. Generally, bequest donors are people of modest means, who cannot afford to make large outright gifts.
• Only older people make bequests. At the time that they made their bequest commitment, most of bequest donors were under the age of 65, with approximately, nearly 20% of whom were under age 45.
• Only well-educated people make bequests. A person’s attained level of formal education is not a determining factor in their willingness to make a bequest.
• Leaving money to a charity in an estate plan requires hiring an attorney. Beneficiary designations can be used to leave money to charity from an IRA, other retirement plan, or insurance policy, without involving an attorney.
• Once you make a charitable bequest, it’s set in stone. Bequests are flexible and easy to change at any time. Just ask Russ.