- Arroyo Seco Ranch | Greenfield
- Basin Ranch | Carmel Valley
- Carr Lake | Salinas
- Carmel River FREE
- Glen Deven Ranch | Big Sur
- Hiss Parcel Project
- Marks Ranch | Salinas
- Martin Dunes | Marina
- Mitteldorf Preserve | Carmel Valley
- Patriarch Ridge | Carmel Valley
- Lobos-Corona Parklands Partnership
- Indigenous Communities Resources
Planned Giving Options
It’s never too early or too late to begin thinking about and planning your legacy – and there are several options for making your gift.
One of the most common and lasting forms of planned giving is a will or bequest. When received, your bequest will be recorded as a gift that helps sustain our mission.
There are three types of bequests for you to consider: residual, specific or contingent. Residual bequests are often made after remembering relatives and friends. A specific bequest of an asset such as a retirement plan results in no income taxes paid on the plan by your estate. When you place a residual or specific bequest in your will or living trust and notify Big Sur Land Trust, we will invite you to become a member of our Land & Legacy Society.
Residual:
“I give, devise and bequeath to Big Sur Land Trust, a state of California nonprofit corporation, tax ID #94-2473415, located at 509 Hartnell St., Monterey CA 93940, all the residue of my estate, including real personal property.” or “ … ___% of my estate.”
Specific:
“I give, devise and bequeath to Big Sur Land Trust, a state of California nonprofit corporation, tax ID #94-2473415, located at 509 Hartnell St., Monterey CA 93940, (Choose one)
1) the sum of $___________.”
2) __________ shares of stock in ________________Company.”, or
3) my real property commonly known as _________________.”
Contingent:
“In the event of the death of any of the beneficiaries, I give, devise and bequeath to Big Sur Land Trust, a state of California nonprofit corporation, tax ID #94-2473415, located at 509 Hartnell St., Monterey CA 93940, (residual or specific language as above).”
If you wish to designate your bequest to a specific purpose (e.g. the McMahan Family Stewardship Endowment or Land Protection Opportunity Fund), please contact us for suggested language to ensure we can honor your wishes.
You can designate a specific dollar amount, an asset, a percentage of your estate, or the remainder after specific gifts are made to your loved ones.
If you have a more complicated estate, we strongly advise you to consult with your financial and legal advisors to discuss your unique situation, including any impact from your state’s tax laws, before you proceed. For general questions, please contact Kate Mitchell Mehle, Director of Development at Big Sur Land Trust, at 831-886-7813 (direct line) or email kmitchell@bigsurlandtrust.org.
It is simple to name Big Sur Land Trust as a beneficiary of your individual retirement account (IRA), 401(k), 403(b), donor advised fund, life insurance policy or other accounts.
Start by requesting the beneficiary designation form from your plan administrator or by downloading the form from your policy administrator’s website. Name Big Sur Land Trust as a beneficiary of all or part of the account. Return the completed form to your plan’s provider to establish the gift. These gifts can be easily arranged or modified.
Information you may need for the beneficiary designation form:
Big Sur Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
Address: 509 Hartnell Street, Monterey, CA 93940
Phone: 831-625-5523
Federal Tax ID number: 94-2473415
If you are at least age 70 1⁄2, enjoy making gifts to charity, and don’t need your required minimum distribution for living expenses, the IRS has a tax saving gift for you. A Qualified Charitable Distribution or QCD, has become the gift of choice for age appropriate charitably inclined individuals, and especially for taxpayers who no longer itemize deductions now that the standard deduction has been expanded.
Here are the requirements for a QCD gift:
- You must be 70 1⁄2 or older at the time of the gift.
- Gifts must go directly from your IRA to Big Sur Land Trust.
- Gifts cannot exceed $100,000 per year per donor. Spouses with their own IRA accounts can make gifts of up to $100,000 per year from each of their respective accounts.
- You cannot take an income tax charitable deduction for your gift.
If you are taking the standard deduction and no longer itemizing your income tax charitable deductions, the QCD could be right for you. A QCD gift to charity is not included in your taxable income. The tax impact is as if you made a fully deductible gift to charity without increasing your income.
If you are age 72 or older and taking your Required Minimum Distributions (RMD), there is even better news. A QCD gift counts toward your RMD and is not included in your taxable income. Lower income may reduce taxes you owe for Social Security as well as your Medicare premiums. In addition to saving taxes, you will be making an immediate impact on our mission at Big Sur Land Trust.
Your IRA administrator can help you make a Qualified Charitable Distribution from your IRA. Many administrators require you to use their QCD distribution form and comply with other requirements. Follow your financial institution’s forms and procedures to ensure you receive the tax benefits of a QCD.
Charitable Gift Annuity
A charitable gift annuity (CGA) will pay a fixed amount each year to one or two beneficiaries (the annuitants) for life in exchange for a gift to Big Sur Land Trust.
The amount of the annuity payment will depend on the ages of the annuitants and the value of the assets donated. Upon establishing a charitable gift annuity, you are entitled to a current income tax deduction for a portion of the value of the assets given to fund the charitable gift annuity.
Benefits of a charitable gift annuity
- Receive fixed annual payments for life
- Possibly receive tax-free income
- Diversify some of your portfolio to produce a fixed income for you
- Federal, and possible state, income tax charitable deduction
- Reduce or eliminate estate taxes
A charitable gift annuity could be right for you if you want to make a gift to Big Sur Land Trust and you:
- Want the security of receiving a fixed income annually for life
- Have assets that you are able to give away. Assets that work especially well include:
- Cash or funds earning low interest rates
- Appreciated securities
- Have a large part of your portfolio in one company and want to diversify your investments
- Want to save current income taxes or capital gains taxes with an income tax charitable deduction
- Are at least 65 years of age
- Are considering a gift of $25,000 or more
Deferred Charitable Gift Annuity Option
You may also create a deferred charitable gift annuity, taking a tax deduction in the year of the gift but delaying the first annuity payment for one or more years. This approach can offer dependable retirement income beginning at a future date. The annuity rates for a deferred charitable gift annuity will depend on several factors, including the length of the deferral period.
Contact Us
Big Sur Land Trust partners with the Community Foundation for Monterey County to establish a Charitable Gift Annuity. For current charitable gift annuity rates and more information, please contact Kate Mitchell Mehle, Director of Development at Big Sur Land Trust, at 831-886-7813 (direct line) or email kmitchell@bigsurlandtrust.org.
Charitable Remainder Trust
A charitable remainder unitrust is set up by irrevocably transferring assets to a trustee, who then invests the trust's assets and pays you and/or other beneficiaries an annual variable income. At the end of the trust term, the assets remaining in the trust are distributed to Big Sur Land Trust for the purpose of supporting our mission. Big Sur Land Trust currently serves as trustee of several charitable remainder unitrusts.
A unitrust is an excellent vehicle for gifts of appreciated stock or property, because the trust is tax exempt and does not pay capital gains tax when it sells the assets. The full sales proceeds remain in the trust to provide a payout to the income beneficiaries. The amount of the payout for the income beneficiaries will depend on a variety of factors. The payout distributed is generally taxable to the income beneficiaries. Upon establishing a charitable remainder unitrust, you are entitled to a current income tax deduction for a portion of the value of the gift transferred to the trust, which is often between 30 and 60 percent of the value of the assets transferred.
Benefits of a charitable remainder unitrust
- Variable income, based on a percentage of the fair market value of the trust assets, revalued each year
- Federal, and possible state, income tax charitable deduction
- Pay no immediate capital gains tax on the transfer of appreciated assets
- Reduce or eliminate estate taxes
- Diversify your investments
- Provides you an opportunity to make a legacy gift
A charitable remainder unitrust could be right for you if you want to make a gift to Big Sur Land Trust and you:
- Want to receive an income for life, based on a percentage of the fair market value of the trust investments, revalued each year
- Have assets that you are able to give away. Assets that work especially well include:
- Cash or funds earning low interest rates
- Appreciated securities or real estate (vacation home, investment property or personal residence)
- Have a large part of your portfolio in one company and want to diversify your investments
- Want to reduce your current income taxes with an income tax charitable deduction
- Are considering a gift of $100,000 or more
The difference between and annuity trust and a charitable remainder unitrust
The annuity trust pays you, each year, the same dollar amount you choose at the start. Your payments stay the same, regardless of fluctuations in trust investments.
The unitrust pays you, each year, a variable amount based on a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the trust assets. The amount of your payments is redetermined annually. If the value of the trust increases, so do your payments. If the value decreases, however, so will your payments.
There are several options for donating real estate that Big Sur Land Trust will sell to fund our work. Real estate donations should be discussed with Big Sur Land Trust staff to ensure we can fulfill your gift intention. Your outright or planned gifts of real estate can offer favorable tax benefits.
You may also be able to donate a remainder interest that allows you to continue using your property for the rest of your life or transfer your property into a charitable remainder trust that provides you with income for the rest of your life.
If you own open space property or working lands in Monterey County, we can discuss the possibility of protecting it in perpetuity. Please contact Nikki Nedeff, Associate Director of Conservation at nnedeff@bigsurlandtrust.org or 831-625-5523 x 107.
Many donors prefer to make gifts of appreciated stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or exchange traded funds.
Why Donate Appreciated Assets? There are two key factors that many donors consider when making a gift of appreciated assets: impact on our mission and potential tax benefits.
Impact on our Mission
Many of our most committed donors find they’re able to give more generously when they donate appreciated assets than if they’d simply given cash. That generosity means we’re able to achieve more and advance our mission faster.
Potential Tax Benefits
If you are itemizing deductions on your tax return, you may be eligible for a charitable deduction of the full value of your gift. Whether or not you are itemizing deductions, though, donating an appreciated asset can help you avoid paying tax on capital gains.
Always discuss donations with a tax consultant to maximize your benefits. If you would like to receive stock transfer instructions, please contact Kate Mitchell Mehle, Director of Development at Big Sur Land Trust, at 831-886-7813 (direct line) or email kmitchell@bigsurlandtrust.org.
As we complete more projects and conserve more lands, the demands on our stewardship resources will grow. The McMahan Family Stewardship Endowment was created by the McMahan family in 2006 to provide critical ongoing support for managing the conservation and community values of our cherished properties.
Good land stewardship is about managing for long-term health and resiliency. Big Sur Land Trust’s properties include an extensive, extraordinary portfolio of diverse habitats that span rare sensitive dunes, majestic redwood forests, expansive oak woodlands, grasslands, and river corridors. We own and manage 24 properties covering 4,600 acres throughout Monterey County. Our flagship properties include Glen Deven Ranch (860 acres), Mitteldorf Preserve (1,060 acres), Marks Ranch (73 acres), Martin Dunes (125 acres), Arroyo Seco Ranch (1,700 acres) and Carr Lake (73 acres). In addition, we are responsible for annually monitoring a vast array of conservation easements totaling almost 7,000 acres on 35 properties. Our stewardship team needs your help to make sure these lands continue to be places where people and nature can thrive for generations to come.
We are certain that our responsible proactive land management practices lessened the catastrophic impacts of the 2016 Soberanes Fire at Mitteldorf Preserve and Glen Deven Ranch. Efforts like our extensive eucalyptus removal project at Glen Deven greatly reduced fire impacts for our neighbors as well. Equally as important, diligent maintenance of all our properties meant that many could be used to support fire-fighting efforts.
- Thousands of fire crew members and their equipment were housed at Marks Ranch throughout the months-long battle.
- Glen Deven Ranch was called into service for the firefighters in Big Sur’s Palo Colorado Canyon.
- Arroyo Seco Ranch served as the main heliport and mobile retardant station for the entire length of the firefighting efforts.
- Before the fire swept through and caused major damage, Mitteldorf Preserve provided access for crews fighting in the back country of the Santa Lucia and Joshua Creek Preserves and adjacent wildlands.
In a typical year, our extensive holdings demand continual attention and care. After being faced with fire followed by winter’s flooding, the challenges of restoration and repair increased exponentially at Mitteldorf Preserve and Glen Deven Ranch. With your support, our stewardship team can increase its ability to restore our properties when necessary; proactively care for all the landscapes we depend on; and improve the quality of life within our diverse local communities.
Donations to the McMahan Family Stewardship Endowment will increase the amount we can draw from the fund to help cover typical stewardship expenses each year. Land stewardship activities range from invasive plant management, restoring redwoods and riparian areas, monitoring sensitive plants, building and maintaining trails, facilities and road management, and conservation easement annual monitoring and reporting.
As conservation landowners, Big Sur Land Trust has made a promise of caring for the rich conservation values of our lands in the public trust.
It’s impossible to predict when opportunities will arise, but we track properties – sometimes over decades – that we’ve identified as key landscapes that have known conservation values. We also receive inquiries all the time. If we can’t act swiftly to secure a property, the opportunity can soon disappear!
With our donors’ generosity, Big Sur Land Trust has conserved 40,000 acres throughout Monterey County since 1978. Because of our supporters’ responsiveness as acquisition opportunities have been presented, residents of Monterey County and visitors to the region are able to enjoy expansive parks and open space, spectacular scenic vistas, and robust recreation. We’ve protected a vibrant network of healthy functioning woodlands, wetlands, rivers, grasslands and other places where people and nature thrive. Incorporating working lands, parks, trails, gardens, cultural and historic sites and recreation areas as part of green infrastructure networks greatly enhances the quality of life for all of us. BSLT needs your help so we are ready when an opportunity arises to conserve a vital property!
Big Sur Land Trust is the only local land trust that works throughout all of Monterey County, and we work solely with willing sellers.
We’ve been working in the Carmel Valley watershed; in the coastal dunes; in the Sierra de Salinas mountain range that rims the southern Salinas Valley; the Gabilan mountain range to the east; and, most recently, in an urban area in Salinas, the county’s largest city.
Our approach is multifaceted. We acquire properties to conserve them for a variety of reasons, particularly if they are under some sort of threat. We may continue to manage them, conserving the land in perpetuity; or we may transfer a property to a park agency to manage for both conservation and public use. Understanding that people are part of the landscape, we work to conserve both wild places and areas where people make their living. We acquire easements that ensure long-term conservation, while maintaining private ownership and specific activities such as ranching. As seen with our first urban acquisition of 73 acres at Carr Lake, our approach continues to evolve, expanding to new communities and new ways of connecting conserved lands to people.
In April 2020, Big Sur Land Trust acquired and conserved 83.5 acres of old growth mixed evergreen woodland, chaparral and grassland habitat at Patriarch Ridge, adjacent to the Land Trust’s Mitteldorf Preserve in Carmel Valley. The roadway along Patriarch Ridge serves as an important connection and emergency access route between Mitteldorf Preserve, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Joshua Creek Ecological Reserve and adjoining back country. Patriarch Ridge is also a very important part of the Esselen Tribe’s sacred lands and includes the upper watershed divide between Williams Canyon and the Garzas Creek drainage.
“I am grateful to BSLT for preserving land throughout our county in an ‘unpaved’ state. That’s what land trusts are for. It starts with the land – but it goes beyond just acquiring property. Long-term stewardship is critical to the health of our region’s spectacular landscapes. Big Sur Land Trust has played a critical role in preserving many of the open spaces that make living in, or visiting this area, so desirable.”