Photo credit: Jeremy Lezin

Plan Your Gift

Plan today to give forever. Your generosity can continue to improve Santa Cruz County for generations to come.

Giving through your will or living trust can create lasting impact. Contributions can be made with a wide variety of assets, including cash, securities, real estate, retirement accounts, and more. Including Community Foundation Santa Cruz County in your estate plan is an easy way for you to address community needs by creating a legacy that will support the causes you care about—forever.

We offer flexible and strategic giving methods tailored to your own charitable interests and financial goals. From a simple beneficiary form to a charitable trust, we have years of experience to help you give back to your favorite charity or community need, free of charge. You’ll benefit from our expertise in successfully designing and implementing effective giving plans.

Include the Community Foundation in Your Will or Living Trust

Community Foundation Santa Cruz County can accept a variety of assets through your will or living trust to support the charitable causes you care about. We will ensure that your charitable intentions, whether immediate or over time, are faithfully fulfilled according to your wishes.

Photo credit: Jeremy Lezin

Create a Legacy Fund

Now is the right time to plan for the future. We can help you create a personal legacy that will continue to support your charitable interests forever. You can use a variety of assets to create a fund or funds that benefit the causes you care about—in perpetuity.

Set Up a Memorandum of Charitable Intent (MOCI) With Us

A MOCI is an easy way to document and manage your charitable bequests over time. A MOCI on file at Community Foundation Santa Cruz County can include all your gifts to the charitable organizations and causes you care about into a single document. And it can be updated at any time, without cost.

Give to a Cause You Care About

You may give now - in any amount to one of our existing funds - or leave a gift for the future. Your gifts can go to your favorite charitable organizations directly, or to establish new endowed funds to support those organizations or a cause you care about, or add to existing endowed funds, or using a combination of all of these methods, in order to best fulfill your specific charitable intent.

A Heart in the Arts

Linda Charman believes that art enriches a community and she uses her charitable giving to sustain the arts in Santa Cruz County.

Giving Back to the Place You Love

Gayle Ortiz fell in love with Capitola a long time ago and she's still giving back today.

Explore Tax-wise Giving Strategies

Choosing who you wish to benefit from your estate plan is a big decision. Equally important is determining how each should benefit, in what form, and from what assets. We can work with you, at no cost, to evaluate your ideas and plans, and may be able to suggest, if appropriate, alternatives that can provide the best possible outcomes for both your individual and your charitable beneficiaries.

Photo credit: Jeremy Lezin

Voices in our Community

“We began volunteering at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music as ushers in the 1990s. We are passionate about the Festival and we want it to thrive for decades to come—and the Community Foundation understands our wishes."

Larry Friedman & Tom Ellison

SANTA CRUZ RESIDENTS

Planned Giving Knowledge Base


Finance & Governance

We want to earn your trust. Explore how we operate and get information about our financial policies and performance.

Let’s Talk

Your estate plan is a very personal choice.

Our Donor Services Director, Hilary Bryant, can walk you through the process of creating your ongoing legacy at Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. Her services are available free of charge.