Legacy Gifts

In your will or revocable trust, you can include a specific bequest or a residuary bequest to AUC.

A specific bequest is a gift of a specific dollar amount or item.  A residuary bequest is a percentage of what remains in your estate after all specific bequests, taxes, and fees have been paid.

If you have a retirement account in the U.S., Canada, Europe, or elsewhere — such as an IRA, 401(k), RRSP, or RRIF — you can name AUC as a beneficiary of that account.  The University will receive your gift only once you and your spouse pass away.  Retirement accounts left to children are highly taxed:  over half can be lost to estate and income taxes.  Since AUC is a nonprofit entity, the whole of your gift will come to the University, free of tax.

You can name AUC as a beneficiary of all or a percentage of a life insurance policy.

You can make a legacy gift of real estate, such as a primary residence, a vacation home, or a commercial building.  You can also make a gift of valuable personal property such as a painting, jewelry, antiques, or rare books and manuscripts.

If your legacy gift is USD 100,000 or more, you can have it create an endowed fund.  An endowed fund is invested in AUC’s endowment and will support the University forever. 

An endowed fund pays out approximately five percent of its value each year:  that payout will support the school, department, or initiative you care about most.  What is more, an endowed fund grows over time, thus increasing the good it does. 

You can name the endowed fund after yourself, a family member, or anyone else you might wish to honor and memorialize.

You could create an endowed fund now and add to it with a further gift from your estate.  For

instance, you could create an endowed scholarship fund with USD 100,000 and then supplement it with an additional gift following your passing.

Or, you could create an expendable scholarship fund now with USD 5,000 each year and create an endowed scholarship fund with a gift of USD 100,000 from your estate.