Creating a Legacy Gift at Wistar

The Wistar Heritage Society was established to recognize the foresight and generosity of individuals who elect to perpetuate their support of biomedical research at The Wistar Institute by including the Institute in their will or estate plans. Membership is a partnership for life that offers the promise for discovery of new treatments and cures for cancer and other diseases.

Making a Gift Through Your Will

The simplest way to make a planned gift to The Wistar Institute is to remember it within the language of your will. You may do this in several ways: as a primary, a contingent, or residual beneficiary.

As a primary beneficiary, Wistar would be the recipient of some specific percentage of your estate, a specific amount, or a certain personal property or security.

As a contingent beneficiary, Wistar would be the recipient of your estate or a portion only if someone named in your will predeceases you.

As a residual beneficiary, Wistar would receive whatever remains only after all debts, taxes, expenses, and other bequests are paid. Any of these bequests can memorialize a family member or honor a colleague and can provide scholarships or fund other areas of interest.

Sample language for your will could be as simple as the following:

I give to The Wistar Institute the (choose one – either the sum of $_____; the following described property; or  _____% residue of estate] to be used for its general purposes.”

Charitable Gift Annuity

One of the most convenient methods to make a planned gift is to fund a charitable gift annuity. This is a contract (not a "trust"), under which The Wistar Institute, in return for a transfer of cash or marketable securities agrees to pay a fixed amount of money (payment) to one or two individuals for their lifetime. 

The contributed property is given irrevocably and becomes a part of the charity's assets, and the payments are a general obligation of the charity. Payments are provided to the donor quarterly and are based on the donor’s age at the time the annuity is created.(Rates are provided by the American Council on Gift Annuities).  The annuity is backed by the charity's entire assets, not just by the property contributed. 

Currently Wistar is offering this opportunity solely to residents of the states of Pennsylvania or Delaware. Also, these are limited to people age 60 and over. Annuities may be deferred until a later date and also may provide for two beneficiaries. See the current rates at the American Council on Gift Annuities.

Charitable Trusts 

You may choose to support Wistar by creating a Charitable Remainder Trust. In this case you would place assets into an irrevocable trust. In exchange for this you receive an immediate tax deduction and income for life or a specified period of time. You may also designate other beneficiaries, and when all beneficiaries of the trust are deceased, the remaining amount transfers to Wistar for the use designated by the donor. Your estate receives exclusion for the amount of the trust.

Trusts may be planned to provide a fixed payout (Charitable Annuity Trust) or a variable payment made annually or more frequently (Charitable Unitrust) depending on the growth in the value of assets. There are other types of charitable trusts that could meet your specific financial needs. We highly recommend consulting an attorney or other financial professional when considering the creation of any type of charitable trust. 

Life Insurance

Life insurance may provide a convenient method of making a planned gift to Wistar. You may do so by making Wistar the owner of a new policy.  As you continue to make your payments on this policy, these payments become tax deductible. 

You may also make Wistar the beneficiary of an existing policy, and receive a deduction as you make future premium payments. In either case, your estate also receives a deduction when the policy amount is received by Wistar.

For more information about planned giving, call 215-898-3930.