Ways to Give
Planned Gifts for the Future
Through careful estate planning, you can provide for gifts that will benefit Mental Wellness Center in the future. These planned gifts offer creative and flexible strategies for you to pursue your charitable and family financial goals. Among the benefits, you may receive substantial tax savings and possible lifetime income for yourself and/or spouse. However, the greatest benefit of a planned gift will be in knowing that you are securing a legacy of mental wellness in our community.
Bequest
- Created in will or living trust
- Unlimited charitable estate tax deduction
- Continued use of assets during your lifetime
- Flexibility to change the amount of bequest at any time
- Minimum amount: None
Recommended Bequest Language [Download PDF]
Legal Name: Mental Wellness Center
Federal Tax ID #95-1962659
Pay/Transfer on Death Gifts (POD/TOD)
- Easiest way to leave a gift with no money out of pocket now
- Name Mental Wellness Center as the beneficiary of your checking, savings or investment account
- Avoids probate on assets and passes directly to Mental Wellness Center
Retirement Plans and Insurance
- Mental Wellness Center is named as full or partial beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k), 403(b), or life insurance policy
- Avoids significant income tax burden to heirs
- Possible federal and state estate tax savings
- Flexibility to change benefit amount at any time
- Minimum amount: None
Charitable Gift Annuity
- Contribute cash or securities now and receive fixed annual income for life for you and your spouse
- Simple contract with no attorney fees or complex legal documents
- Annuity payout rates determined by age of the beneficiary(ies)
- Rates generally much higher than prevailing CD rates
- Offers immediate and long-term tax benefits
- Administered through the Ventura County Community Foundation with 10% fee at end
Charitable Remainder Trust
- Receive payments for life or term of years
- Take charitable Income tax deduction now and 5 years forward
- Avoid immediate capital gains tax on appreciation of stock or real estate
- Diversify your investment portfolio
- Possible federal and state estate tax savings
- Minimum gift: (non-real estate $100,000)
- Minimum gift: (real estate $250,000)
Important note: Legacy gifts like all those mentioned above are called “planned giving,” because they require careful financial planning for yourself and your family on how you wish to distribute your assets after you are gone. Be sure to consult with your attorney, tax accountant or financial advisor before deciding on the best gift strategy for your individual and family circumstances.
Gifts to Endowment Now
There are many gift options that can benefit Mental Wellness Center immediately and provide you with the opportunity to contribute to the building of reserves and endowment to support programs and services for future generations.
Gifts of Cash, Stocks or Mutual Funds
- Gifts benefit Mental Wellness Center now and are recognized immediately
- Can support the building of reserves and endowment today
- Simple to make
- Charitable income tax deduction
- Avoidance of capital gains on stock appreciation
IRA Rollover Gift
- Direct transfer from your IRA to TBCF, if 70 ½ years old
- Can gift up to $105,000 per year from IRA
- Can be used to satisfy your required minimum distribution
- May be excluded from gross income for tax purposes
Gifts of Real Estate
- Outright gift of all or a portion of property
- Avoidance of capital gains on sale
- Eliminate inconvenience of marketing and selling property yourself
- Charitable income tax deduction for full appraised value
Donor Stories
Darcy Keep — IRA Beneficiary Designation
As a board member and a mental health professional in the community, I have seen firsthand the important and valuable work done by Mental Wellness Center. Using a tax-wise IRA beneficiary designation, I have made provision for Mental Wellness Center in my estate plans, knowing that my future legacy gift will support their mission of offering education, advocacy and housing for those living with mental wellness. I am proud to be a member of the Circle of HOPE and invite others to join me!
Darcy Keep
Past member of MWC Board of Directors
Circle of HOPE Charter Member
George Kaufmann — Bequest in Will/Trust
I have been associated with Mental Wellness Center for twenty years and am also a long-term NAMI member who appreciates the beneficial relationship between these two important organizations that foster positive changes in the lives of countless individuals and their families living with mental illness. To help ensure the continued success of these two great community assets, my wife and I have become members of the Circle of HOPE by including a bequest for Mental Wellness Center in our estate plans. We encourage all our Mental Wellness Center and NAMI friends to consider a legacy gift as well!
George Kaufmann
Past President of NAMI, Santa Barbara County
Circle of HOPE Charter Member
Polly Mack — Special Needs Trust
Polly Mack was a loving, concerned mother who attended parent support groups at the Mental Wellness Center while her son Phillip participated in its Fellowship Club. Phillip was in his late 50s when Polly passed away. As a result of careful planning, Polly left a Special Needs Trust to assist in supporting her son during his remaining life and named Mental Wellness Center as the ultimate beneficiary.
When Phillip himself died in 2014, 100 percent of the remaining trust assets came to the Mental Wellness Center as Polly’s legacy gift to the organization that had served both her and her son during their lifetimes. Polly’s generous estate gift was transformative for MWC in many ways, including enabling the Center to purchase a new house for 10 MWC clients in 2017. Called Polly’s House, this needed home now carries on the special legacy of Polly Mack and her beloved son Phillip in a very tangible way.
Our Legacy Society
Leave a Legacy of Community Wellness…
Leaving a legacy gift directly supports our mission of offering free programs and services to advance mental wellness, as we have been doing for the past 78 years. You can help us ensure our mission and services endure to serve future generations by including a gift for the Mental Wellness Center in your estate plans. Your visionary support will be recognized in various ways, including membership in our Circle of Hope, an honorary legacy society.
Circle of Hope
Visionary supporters of Mental Wellness Center who include a future gift in their estate plans are honored by membership in the Circle of Hope. Benefits include an annual gratitude event recognition on the Mental Wellness Center website, and your name on an individual tile on the beautiful Legacy Recognition Wall in our administrative lobby at 617 Garden Street.
If you have already named Mental Wellness Center in your will or trust, please let us know. We would like to thank you today and recognize you as a member of our Circle of Hope to be remembered in perpetuity. By adding a future estate gift to your annual support, you will have a lasting impact on our work to ensure mental wellness for all in our community.
Honorary Members
Shirley Bazdarich
Dena Blatt
Andrew Bodner
James and Janness Broderick
Louis and Shirley Butterworth “Sarah’s Gift”
Helen Caldwell
Michael and Annmarie Cameron
John and Anna Campbell
Jane Carlisle
Pierrette Chapman
Stillman and Nancy Chase
Stephen and Betty Ferry
John and Marie Foley
Tom and Leslie Franklin
Gil and Marti Garcia
Bruce and Patricia Gradle
Nancy Gunzberg
George and Milly Kaufmann
Dan and Darcy Keep
Kessler-Solomon Family
Ann Lippincott and Ned Emerson
Polly Mack
Christine Morgan in memory of Andrew Bodner
F. Charles and Marilyn J. Radaz
Schultz Family
Anthony Shih Trust
Cynthia Somers
Micki Stern
Greg Stathakis
Treitler-Balin Estate
Professional Advisory Council
A Planned Giving Advisory Council, composed of experienced estate planning professionals in the community, offers guidance and expertise to the Planned Giving Program at Mental Wellness Center. They include estate planning attorneys, a financial advisor, a retired bank official and our own Planned Giving Advisor, Pat Snyder. They welcome your calls if you are seeking assistance from this type of professional.
Marilyn Anticouni, Estate Planning Attorney
1234 Santa Barbara Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
(805) 882-9255
Deborah Boswell, Estate Planning Attorney
Mulllen & Henzell
112 E. Victoria Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Phone: (805) 966-1501
Ian Filippini, Financial Planner
Filippini Wealth Management, Inc.
351 Paseo Nuevo, Suite 7
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Contact Us
Planning your estate and charitable legacy for future generations takes careful evaluation and planning. We can help! Discussing your charitable intentions with us early in the process can lead to a much better result than acting alone—and will ensure that your gift is used in accord with your intentions. We have a planned giving consultant who can answer your general estate planning questions and provide additional information on any of the legacy giving options described on our web pages.
Act now to make thoughtful plans that will meet your individual and family needs, while also ensuring a legacy of mental wellness for future generations in our community. We welcome your call today to begin the conversation about how you’d like to leave your legacy and be recognized as a member of our esteemed Circle of Hope.
Annmarie Cameron, CEO
Mental Wellness Center
617 Garden Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Phone: (805) 845-6319
Annmarie has been the Chief Executive Officer of Mental Wellness Center for over 30 years and is more determined today than ever to meet the needs of those living with mental illness and those of their care-giving families and friends. Education, affordable housing and integrated healthcare with early intervention are her top priorities. She loves to connect with folks who are interested in mental health and wellness, and welcomes any and all calls.
Pat Snyder, Planned Giving Advisor
Mental Wellness Center
617 Garden Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Phone: (805) 455-0390
Pat Snyder invites your calls and questions about all things related to your estate planning and legacy giving opportunities to Mental Wellness Center and NAMI. Pat was the major gift fundraiser and planned giving director for the SBCC Foundation and Visiting Nurse Association for a total of nearly two decades. For the past 15 years, she has been building and guiding planned giving programs for a wide variety of local nonprofits as a consultant. She has a passion for this work and for over five years has been helping supporters of Mental Wellness Center plan their legacy gifts and become members of the Circle of Hope.
Liat Wasserman, MA, MSW, Director of Development & Communications
Mental Wellness Center
617 Garden Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Phone: (805) 884-8440
Email: lwasserman@mentalwellnesscenter.org
Liat is the person to call about all annual giving questions, and about the benefits of Circle of Hope membership and events. She can assist with gifts of appreciated stock and IRA rollover gifts. She can also help you explore how to direct your legacy gift to a specific Mental Wellness Center program. She will be happy to arrange for you to talk with our planned giving advisor if you have any questions about how to best make your legacy gift to Mental Wellness Center.
Your gift will make a difference, and our team is here to help. We’d love to hear from you!
Thank you for reaching out to Mental Wellness Center. If you need more information about leaving a legacy or ways to give, please fill out the following form and we will make every effort to respond in a timely manner.
“The best use of life is to invest in something which will outlast life.”
William James