• A Donor's Story
• Recommendations from the Field

LEAVE A LEGACY TO AUDUBON CANYON RANCH

For the Future of a Special Place

Estate plans, like nature preserves, look toward the future as they protect the assets of today. With a wisdom that is forward-thinking, many Audubon Canyon Ranch supporters have included ACR in their estate plans as legacy gifts. They have done so knowing that their future gift will support ACR's environmental education and conservation science programs, which exist within the sanctuaries of Audubon Canyon Ranch.

For Your Future

There are many ways you can make your estate gift to Audubon Canyon Ranch. To name a few, you can include ACR as a beneficiary:

• in your will or living trust
• in your retirement plan or bank account
• in your life insurance policy
• in a charitable remainder trust
• a contribution to ACR's Pooled Income Fund.

You can, for example, transfer cash, stock, or real estate to a charitable trust, which distributes annual payments to you for life - often more income than you were receiving before. This trust will give you an immediate charitable income tax deduction, will avoid capital gains tax on the sale of appreciated assets, will offer you an opportunity for increased income, and will provide a future gift to the programs and preserves of Audubon Canyon Ranch.

For Your Family's Future

Effective estate planning usually takes time, effort and a good attorney. In the end, your plan will allow your family to avoid the delay, dissension and needless expense that sometimes occurs when a loved one dies without a will. Once you have taken care of your family's needs, please consider a thoughtful bequest to ACR.

Getting Started

To help you get started on your estate planning, ACR can provide you with a free estate planning kit, which includes:

• An introduction to wills, living trusts and basic estate planning;
• An inventory form to help you get a clear notion of the worth of your estate;
• Information on how to remember ACR in your estate plan.

Audubon Canyon Ranch can provide you with a confidential analysis of the tax and income benefits of the various legacy gift methods. One of these powerful philanthropic tools may allow you to realize important family and financial objectives during life, as well as make a significant gift to Audubon Canyon Ranch. We are in strict accord with the ethical guidelines of the National Planned Giving Committee, and will provide you this information at no cost or obligation to you.

To receive the estate planning kit or discuss planning objectives, contact ACR Development Director Cassie Gruenstein at acr@egret.org.

The Clerin Zumwalt Legacy Circle

Audubon Canyon Ranch honors those who remember ACR in their estate plans by including them in the Clerin Zumwalt Legacy Circle of Friends. Members, who number more than 100 individuals, receive a custom designed lapel pin and are invited to an annual luncheon exclusive to Clerin Zumwalt Circle members. Members of the Clerin Zumwalt Legacy Circle are also listed in the ACR Fall Bulletin and on ACR's Grove of Honor, which is located in the display hall at ACR's Bolinas Lagoon Preserve, unless they choose to remain anonymous.

Once you have made the generous decision to include Audubon Canyon Ranch in your estate plans, we hope you will let us know so that we include you in ACR's Clerin Zumwalt Legacy Circle. Contact ACR Development Director Cassie Gruenstein at acr@egret.org or complete and mail the Clerin Zumwalt Legacy Circle enrollment form (pdf).