The 3,144′ Summit Society

What Will Your Legacy Be?

Laura Farrell was drawn to Vermont for her love of horses and a passion for outdoor recreation. That love inspired her to create Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports in 1987 at a small ski hill in south-central Vermont. Mt. Ascutney, elevation 3,144’, became the home of the first adaptive skiing program in Vermont that worked with people of all ages and abilities while promoting the beneficial aspects associated with sports and recreation. Over the next 30-plus years, the organization would grow to a nationally-recognized year-round program with multiple locations throughout Vermont.

Today, Vermont Adaptive staff plus 400+ volunteers share their passion for the outdoors on Vermont’s mountains, trails, bike paths, waterways, and more.

To honor the roots of where Vermont Adaptive’s important programs began, the 3,144’ Summit Society recognizes people who have a passion for sports and recreation and believe that this passion is important for every BODY.

Please contact Erin Fernandez, Vermont Adaptive’s Executive Director, at 802.353.8129 or director@vermontadaptive.org to learn more and start a conversation about your planned giving ideas. It is easy to join this growing, most dedicated group of supporters. There are no minimum financial qualifications. Download the agreement today.

Common ways to establish a legacy gift: 

Naming Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports a Beneficiary of Your Will or Trust

A common and simple way of supporting Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports is by making a provision in your will or trust.

Your will designates your beneficiaries and spells out your final wishes. The beneficiaries would include your heirs, of course, but many people include provisions for charitable organizations as well. It is our hope that you will consider including Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports in your plans.

The following are suggested ways of giving that can be adapted by you and your attorney to meet your specific intentions.

Bequests

Specific Bequest
A specific bequest names a particular dollar amount to be left to Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports. “I give and bequeath to Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports, a Vermont non-profit corporation, Tax ID number 74-2472938, with offices at 77 Alpine Drive, P.O. Box 139, Killington, VT 05751, the sum of $ ___________ to be used for the general purposes of the organization (or to be used for a specific purpose such as support for youth or alpine activities).”

Percentage Bequest
A percentage bequest names a percentage of your estate to be left to Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports. “I give and bequeath to Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, a Vermont non-profit corporation, Tax ID number 74-2472938, with offices at 77 Alpine Drive, P.O. Box 139, Killington, VT 05751, ________% of my estate, to be used for the general purposes of the organization (or to be used for a specific purpose such as support for youth or alpine activities).”

Residuary Bequest 
A residuary bequest first leaves specific amounts to family members, friends, or other charities, and then designates that all or part of what remains should go to Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports. “I give and bequeath to Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, a Vermont non-profit corporation, Tax ID number 74-2472938, with offices at 77 Alpine Drive, P.O. Box 139, Killington, VT 05751, all (or stated percentage of) the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate to be used for the general purposes of the organization (or to be used for a specific purpose such as such as support for youth or alpine activities).”

Contingent Bequest
A contingent bequest names Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports to receive part or all of your estate in the event your designated beneficiary or beneficiaries predecease you.

You might insert in your will language such as the following: “If any beneficiary named in this will is not living at my decease, then I give and bequeath to Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, a Vermont non-profit corporation, Tax ID number 74-2472938, with offices at 77 Alpine Drive, P.O. Box 139, Killington, VT 05751, any bequest which said beneficiary would have received if he or she had survived me.”

Making Vermont Adaptive a Beneficiary of your IRA

Making a charity such as Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports a beneficiary of your IRA account is simple – and it’s also tax-smart.

Why is it simple? Because you can name Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports to receive all or a percentage of your IRA through a Beneficiary Designation Form (or a Change of Beneficiary Designation Form) with your IRA Custodian. (That’s the financial institution that manages your IRA.)

Though we always recommend that you consult with your attorney or other professional advisor when making major financial or estate planning decisions, you would not have to pay an attorney to revise your will in order to designate Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports as a beneficiary. That is all handled through the Beneficiary Designation Form with your IRA Custodian.

Why is it tax-smart? When you leave your IRA assets to your heirs, they are responsible for paying income taxes on what they receive. That’s because back when you established your IRA, you did not pay income taxes on that money. When your heirs receive assets held in an IRA account, it’s time to pay the piper – or, more specifically, to pay income taxes on those funds to the Internal Revenue Service. However, if the funds are left to a tax-exempt charitable organization like Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, no income taxes are due.

So, the moral of the story is: If you leave other assets to your children or heirs, such as bank accounts, stocks and bonds, and real estate, and if you leave your IRA or 401(k) or 403(b) assets to charity, the full amount goes to the people and causes you care about!

Life-Income Gifts

Donors can make a gift to support Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, and receive income for their lifetimes.

The way this works is that you would donate cash or appreciated stock to our partners at the Vermont Community Foundation (VCF). VCF would agree to pay you a certain rate of annual income (usually, the older you are, the higher the rate of return), which you would then receive in quarterly payments. You can also designate a second person – presumably your spouse or partner – to be a co-beneficiary of these payments. At the end of your lives, the funds would pass into a fund at the Vermont Community Foundation that will support Vermont Adaptive on into the future.

This kind of gift is called a “charitable gift annuity,” and this can be established with a gift of $25,000 or larger. A different structure that accomplishes many of the same goals is called “a charitable remainder trust.” Both of these entities provide you with annual income for the rest of your life; a charitable deduction for a portion of your gift; and the ability to donate appreciated stock without paying capital gains taxes.

Each person’s situation is unique, and we and our partners at Vermont Community Foundation would work with you to make sure that the gift plan you choose is right for you.

Supporting Vermont Adaptive Through My IRA Charitable Rollover

When you turn 70½, you are required to withdraw what is called the “Required Minimum Distribution” from your IRAs and other retirement accounts.

For most people, of course, these withdrawals fund their living expenses in retirement. It’s what they live on, along with Social Security and other forms of income.

Some individuals, however, do not actually need the assets from their retirement funds for their living expenses. And for many of those individuals, taking the funds out of their retirement assets is actually a financial burden, because they have to pay income taxes on the money they take out.

One solution through the years has been for individuals to take their required minimum distribution and then contribute that amount to charities such as Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports. However, some individuals’ ability to claim charitable deductions “phases out” if their income is high, so they cannot actually claim 100% of their charitable deductions. Other retirees do not itemize their deductions, so they can’t claim charitable deductions at all. For people in these circumstances, taking their required minimum distributions from their retirement funds and then donating the funds is actually costly, because they only get some or even none of the charitable deduction.

But now Congress has authorized that individuals can designate up to $100,000 of their required minimum distribution to go directly from their IRAs to charities such as Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports. When people do that, those funds do not count as income that they will owe taxes on. The funds go right to the cause you care about – and the donors avoid paying income taxes on that 

Donations of Life Insurance

There are many types of life insurance – far too many to enumerate – but many of them lend themselves well toward giving to Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports or another charity.

Many people find that they have fully paid-for life insurance policies that they and their heirs no longer need. We encourage you to name Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports as a beneficiary, or as a contingent beneficiary, of this kind of life insurance policy.

It is also possible to name Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports as both beneficiary and irrevocable owner of an insurance policy. Before taking any action on transferring the ownership of a life insurance policy, be sure to contact Erin Fernandez, Executive Director, at director@vermontadaptive.org or (802) 786-4991 ext. 21.