Welcome to our exciting new program. “Yes, I Will!” has been created to assist donors, professional advisors and nonprofits with the single most important area in planned giving – simple bequests from wills and trusts. This program is designed to help educate and motivate donors and nonprofits alike, and to facilitate the use of charitable bequests and endowment funds to ensure the long-term viability and the proper safe guarding of larger donations for many years to come.

Bequests

By including the North Valley Community Foundation in your will or trust, you can ensure that your generosity will continue in perpetuity. The North Valley Community Foundation pledges to put your gift to the best possible use by awarding grants to improve the lives of all our communities residents. There are several ways to make contributions through your will. You can give:

A Percentage
"I give, devise, and bequeath to the North Valley Community Foundation, located in Chico, CA _____ % of my estate to be used for its charitable purposes."

A Specific Dollar Amount
"I give, devise, and bequeath to the North Valley Community Foundation, located in Chico, CA $xxx,xxx to be used for its charitable purposes."

A Residue
A residue is what assets remain after other bequests have been granted.
"All the residue of my estate, including real and personal property, I give, devise, and bequeath to the North Valley Community Foundation, Chico, CA to be used for its charitable purposes."
Note: The above wording is suggested. Consult your attorney when preparing any legal document.

Step 1 - Educate and Motivate: According to Giving USA, approximately 80% of all planned giving revenues to nonprofits are currently being received as a result of simple bequests from donors’ wills and living trusts. In financial terms – nonprofits in the US and Canada received approximately $22,000,000,000 (twenty two billion dollars) in bequests last year. Additionally, this figure is expected to grow each year by an additional 2 to 3 billion dollars annually over the next ten years. Whether you’re a donor or a nonprofit organization, you don’t want to miss this boat! Americans (and Canadians) are continuing to make history and set world records in philanthropic and charitable giving with their unmatched generosity and sophistication in planned giving.
“Yes, I Will!” has been created to embrace this planned giving trend in the most simple and cost effective way possible – focusing on bequests from trusts and wills.
“Yes, I Will!” takes it a step further by linking these large planned gifts with professionally managed endowment accounts held in perpetuity by NVCF for the continued growth and benefit of specific organizations or causes. (Please see our Endowment Fund link for more information on endowments and types of funds available through NVCF.) Whether you’re a donor or a nonprofit organization, jump aboard and we’ll help you get connected with this exciting new program.

Step 2 - Facilitate: The facilitation of charitable bequests is the heart and soul of “Yes, I Will!” We are here to connect donors to area nonprofits, information, forms, and qualified professionals. Although bequests are a simple concept, the estate planning and charitable gift planning process to get there can be fairly complicated, depending upon the complexity of the estate involved. Donors and nonprofits alike are able to benefit tremendously from the human and technical resources we make available to connect donor’s wills to their favorite causes. “Yes, I Will!” facilitates bequests to area nonprofits and their endowment funds by offering the following:

• Links to local estate planning professionals with helpful information including qualifications, specialties and fees
• Basic definitions and jargon explained
• Samples of wills, trusts, amendments, and other useful document language
• Links to more detailed online information and resources related to wills, trusts, bequests, endowments, and planned giving in general
• Information and examples regarding the importance of obtaining qualified professional, legal, accounting and/or tax advice in the estate planning and charitable gift planning process
• Information and links to area nonprofits with endowment accounts that are seeking bequests and other types of large planned gifts
• Sample promotional pieces and newsletter articles for nonprofits promoting planned giving, charitable bequests, and endowments funds (downloadable)
• Voluntary “Reminder Service” for those of us who tend to put off creating, updating or modifying our wills and trusts
• NVCF planned giving professionals who can work directly with donors or nonprofit staff and board members to help facilitate bequests to nonprofits in our community