Planned Giving and YALSA

YALSA Members & Planned Giving

YALSA is fortunate to have over 5,200 dedicated and enthusiastic members! A few of these members have taken the step to help secure YALSA's future by including the organization in their planned giving. They are:

  • Pam Spencer Holley
  • Regina Minudri
  • David Mowery
  • Kimberly Patton

Visit the ALA web site to learn more about the Legacy Society. To learn more about planned giving, visit www.ala.org/plannedgiving.

Why Plan a Gift for YALSA?

Many YALSA members spend their lives passionately involved in the library community, and may find that including YALSA in their estate plan is the best way to carry on this life-long commitment. Often, making a planned gift can provide tax or life income advantages as well. Naming YALSA as a beneficiary of your retirement plan assets, such as an IRA, or your life insurance policy, may also provide tax savings and help protect your assets. Before making any kind of planned gift, you should consult with your attorney or financial advisor.

Bequests

How to Make a Bequest to YALSA

Naming YALSA as the beneficiary of a charitable bequest is often as simple as adding a few sentences to your will. You can make changes to your will by executing an amendment called a "codicil." Both your will and codicil should be drafted by a qualified attorney who specializes in estate planning. Your will or codicil should refer to: the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, presently headquartered at 50 East Huron St., Chicago, Illinois. All charitable bequests are fully deductible from your gross estate.

The following is suggested language for making an unrestricted bequest to YALSA. This is the simplest and most common kind of bequest, and will be used to benefit YALSA for its general purposes. It is also the most useful to YALSA, as it can be used for YALSA’s most important needs, which may change from time to time.

Specific Bequest

“I give, devise, and bequeath to the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, of Chicago, Illinois ___% of my estate.”

“I give, devise, and bequeath to the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, of Chicago, Illinois $___.”

Residual Bequest

(Remainder of estate after all other bequests have been granted)

“I give, devise, and bequeath to the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association of Chicago, Illinois, all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate after my final expenses and any legal obligations have been settled.”

Contingent Bequest

(takes effect only if the primary beneficiary or beneficiaries of the bequest predecease you)

“If neither my spouse nor any descendant of mine survives me, then I give, bequeath, and devise all the rest, residue, and remainder of the property, both real and personal, wherever situated, which I may own or be entitled to at my death, to the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, Chicago, IL.”

Lead Trusts

A non-grantor Charitable Lead Trust is a gift plan that allows you to transfer assets to your family at a reduced tax cost while benefiting YALSA now. You transfer assets (usually cash or securities) to a trustee of your choice through a formal trust agreement. During the trust term, the trustee invests the trust assets and makes annual payments to YALSA and possibly other charities. When the trust term ends, the trust distributes all of its assets, including any appreciation, to your heirs. Rather than receiving an income tax deduction for this gift, you receive a gift tax deduction, which partially or even fully offsets the gift tax due on the transfer to your family.

Other Planned Gifts

Retirement Plans

Many people do not know that when retirement plans such as pension funds, 401(k)s, and IRAs are left to an individual other than a spouse, they can be subject to income taxes and estate taxes. The two taxes combined could erode up to 80% of the remaining benefits!

If bequeathed to YALSA, these funds would escape all income and estate taxes, thereby reducing the size your total taxable estate. YALSA would receive 100% of the remaining benefit in your retirement plan, and the assets in the plan would be removed from your taxable estate. If you are planning to include YALSA in your estate plans, the most effective way to do so is to leave all or part of your retirement plan to YALSA, setting aside other assets for family and friends. Naming YALSA as beneficiary of your retirement plan is easy: you need only to contact the administrator of your retirement or insurance plan and inform them that you wish to give all or part of the remainder to the Young Adult Library Services Association.

Life Insurance

If you own a life insurance policy that is no longer needed for the protection of your family or for other purposes, you may use it to make a gift to YALSA. The simplest way to give a life insurance policy to YALSA is to name YALSA as the owner and irrevocable beneficiary of the policy. In doing so, you qualify for an income tax deduction for the cash value of the policy. Alternatively, you could name YALSA as the beneficiary of the policy. In this case, your estate would be entitled to an estate tax deduction equal to the value of the policy.

Named Legacies: Creating a YALSA Endowment

The Joseph Lippincott Award. The Randolph Caldecott Medal. The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal. What do all of these prestigious awards have in common? They were all created as named ALA endowments. There are many newcomers in this category as well that are having an impact today. The Schneider Family Book Awards, the Haycock Award, and the William C. Morris YA Debut Award are just a few.

Creating a YALSA endowment is a wonderful way to reach out and make an impact on future generations of librarians, library workers and library users. Years from now, the membership of the Young Adult Library Services Association — and the people they serve — will benefit from your foresight and generosity. They will see your name on your endowment, meet your scholar or read about your award winner, and know that you made an important contribution to the profession. They’ll also know that you cared enough about the future of libraries and librarianship to support YALSA’s ongoing mission.

There are many ways to create a YALSA endowment, and many examples of the powerful impact they can have over time. You can create an endowment in your own name. Or you can memorialize a loved one or someone else who has strongly impacted your life.

An endowment can be established with YALSA now — you can use cash or securities to create a restricted fund right away. Or, you can arrange for an endowment to be established through your estate plans.

Some of our donors do a combination of both. They establish an endowment now so they can watch it grow and enjoy the satisfaction of seeing their fund benefit others. They may add to it periodically and possibly encourage family members and friends to get involved. Then, through their wills, they make provision for a final and often larger contribution.

One reason for establishing an endowment now is to have in place a means whereby friends and loved ones can tangibly express their thoughts during birthdays, holidays, special events, or bereavement. Being able to give to something established that represents your ongoing influence can mean a lot to them.

No matter how you choose to make your gift, you accomplish several things when you establish an endowment: You express confidence in the future of YALSA; you create a lasting legacy; you encourage present and future leadership; and you make a difference.

To find out more about planned giving, please send an email to yalsa@ala.org or call 1 (800) 545-2433 x4391. YALSA’s Executive Director will be happy to discuss your charitable giving objectives with you, and will always be respectful of your confidences. You may also find useful information on ALA's planned giving site.