Support Our Work

What to Give

You do not have to be wealthy or a financial planning wizard to make a charitable contribution. We keep things simple – down to earth, if you will. We are grateful you have chosen to invest in a better world for future generations and will make sure you can also decide how to give, what to give, and how your gift will be used. A number of options are available to you, depending on your goals.

Matching Gifts

A number of local and national companies will match the contributions of their employees to charities. While procedures differ from company to company, most are very simple:

Make your donation.
Request a Matching Gift Form from your company.
Complete and submit the form to: Western Reserve Land Conservancy, 3850 Chagrin River Road, Moreland Hills, OH 44022
The Land Conservancy will verify the completed form and return it to your company.
Your company will issue a matching gift contribution to the Land Conservancy.

Current Gifts

There are multiple types of current gifts that may be given to the Land Conservancy, including:

Outright gifts: Make an outright gift by transferring any of the examples on this page directly to Western Reserve Land Conservancy. When you make such a gift, you will receive a letter from the Land Conservancy noting your gift and the amount of your charitable income tax deduction. You should keep this letter for tax purposes.
Donated conservation easement: A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and the Land Conservancy that permanently limits the development of the land to protect its conservation values. It allows landowners to continue to own and use their property; they can also sell it or pass it on to heirs. Those donating conservation easements may be eligible for a federal income tax deduction, and there may be state and local tax savings as well.
Bargain sale: A bargain sale is a simple agreement whereby the owner transfers real estate to Western Reserve Land Conservancy for less than the full value of the property. As the term suggests, a bargain sale has elements of both a sale and a gift. The sale element is the sales price the owner charges. The gift element is the difference between the sales price the Land Conservancy is charged and the property’s fair-market value.
Multi-year pledge: Some donors prefer spreading out a gift over a period of years. These recurring gifts, which can be paid annually or scheduled according to your needs, help us fulfill our mission. For example, a $100,000 pledge might be paid in $20,000 increments over five years or structured to allow payments of different amounts over that same period. We will work with you to craft a schedule that meets your needs.

Deferred or Life-income Gifts

These types of gifts include:

Gift Annuity: A charitable gift annuity (CGA) is an agreement in which the Land Conservancy agrees to pay you – or you and your spouse – a lifetime of income in exchange for a gift. At the time the gift is made, the payment is fixed. It can be paid to you monthly, quarterly, biannually or annually. Gift annuity options include deferred, commuted, and flexible deferred.
Charitable remainder trust: A charitable remainder trust (CRT) is typically used when there is more than one beneficiary. In exchange for a gift, a CRT can provide income to you, you and your spouse, or your entire family for life or for a specified period of years. Payments can be fixed (annuity trust) or variable, based on the year-end market value of the trust (unitrust).
Charitable lead trust: You can establish a lead trust that provides income to Western Reserve Land Conservancy over a set period. At the end of the trust term, the assets are returned to you or distributed among your family. One key advantage of this type of gift is that it can significantly reduce or even eliminate gift or real estate taxes.
Retained life estate: This is a gift plan that allows you to donate your home or farm to Western Reserve Land Conservancy while retaining the right to live in it for the rest of your life. A gift of the remainder interest in a personal residence provides you with a current charitable deduction and may reduce or eliminate the capital gains tax on the property’s appreciation. You retain the right to live on the property and continue to be responsible for routine expenses, including maintenance, property taxes, insurance, and repairs.

Testamentary gifts

This variety of gifts includes:

Bequests: A bequest in your will would enable you to make a gift in support of Western Reserve Land Conservancy or, more specifically, one of the Land Conservancy’s programs. Here is an example of the language you could use for this: “I give and bequeath to Western Reserve Land Conservancy, Moreland Hills, Ohio, the sum of ($ or %) to support its exempt purposes (or insert name of programs, such as farmland preservation, stewardship or Thriving Communities Institute).”
Life insurance: There are several ways to make a gift to Western Reserve Land Conservancy with life insurance. If you donate a paid-up life insurance policy to the Land Conservancy, you can deduct the cash value of the policy at the time of the gift. You could also purchase a new life insurance policy and then transfer ownership to Western Reserve Land Conservancy. If there are still premium payments due, you could make annual gifts to the Land Conservancy to help cover the cost of those premiums, which also would be tax-deductible to you.
Retirement plan assets: Designating Western Reserve Land Conservancy as a beneficiary in a retirement plan can offer you substantial value. Family members usually receive only 25 percent to 30 percent of the value of an IRA or retirement plan once applicable estate and income taxes are paid. Much of this tax can be avoided if the assets are instead used to fund a bequest to the Land Conservancy.

Planned Gifts

Planned gift options include bequests in wills or trusts, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, IRA designations, and gifts of life insurance. Visit our White Oak Legacy Society page to learn more about planned gifts.

Gifts of Securities & Stocks

Donating stock or securities such as mutual funds or bonds offers its own set of benefits for our work at the Land Conservancy. Donating a stock that has appreciated in value means a larger donation than you could have given just with cash. In addition, donating stocks makes it possible to avoid paying capital gains taxes on them.

Recurring Gifts

Recurring donations offer an option for those individuals who prefer to make regular donations over time, rather than one large donation. We at the Land Conservancy appreciate these types of gifts, as it provides a level of financial stability to know we can always count on a specific donation coming in on a specific date.

Tribute Tree

For $200 you can dedicate a tree to family, friends, a beloved pet, co-workers, or clients. Send a unique gift for birthdays, Mother’s or Father’s Day, or any celebration. Planting a tree is a gift that truly pays tribute and gives back for generations to come, as trees provide wonderful environmental, health and aesthetic benefits to everyone.

When a Forest City Tribute Tree is planted in someone’s honor:

Recipients of a Tribute Tree will be notified that their tree is contributing to our progress toward restoring Cleveland’s tree canopy. An acknowledgement certificate is mailed via U.S. Postal Service to the recipient of your choice. (International addresses excluded.)
You will receive a document acknowledging your donation (100% tax-deductible).
The Land Conservancy will plant Tribute Trees in the spring and fall in the City of Cleveland. Locations are based upon community need.
Tribute Tree requests can be submitted at any time, and acknowledgements are sent within days. Submissions made November – April will fund a tree planted by our program in the spring. Submissions made May – October will fund a tree planted by our program in the fall.
All donations are recognized in our Annual Report in the name of the honoree.

Click here to learn more or dedicate a tree.

Additional Ways to Give

Further options include:

Legacy funds: You can also make a lasting gift to conservation through an endowed or non-endowed fund. An endowed fund allows for the distribution of income only for charitable purposes, but not the principal. A non-endowed fund allows for the distribution of both principal and income for charitable purposes.
Named fund: A named fund can be established to honor or memorialize someone special to you and can carry whatever name you choose. Funds can be restricted to a particular Land Conservancy program or unrestricted, in which case the funds can be directed to the area of greatest need.
Chair: A chair is a philanthropic fund that provides discretionary money to support a specific program at Western Reserve Land Conservancy. One option is an endowed chair, in which the donor directs the original charitable contribution to exist in perpetuity, and annual distributions from the fund help support the designated Land Conservancy program. The other is a term chair, in which the original charitable contribution is available for expenditure in its entirety over the term of the chair; a minimum term is five years, after which it may be renewed or converted to an endowed chair.
Family philanthropic fund: Your family can build a legacy that reflects your values, whether they are rooted in farmland preservation, protection of natural areas, or urban revitalization. A family philanthropic fund is flexible. It allows families to designate different areas of support over the life of the fund. The fund will make annual distributions to the area chosen by your family; at the end of each two-year period, your family may change its designated area of support.
IRA Distribution: You can make a gift using your IRA to support the Land Conservancy’s work today. This is a tax-free withdrawal you can elect to make annually.

Ways to Give to the Land Conservancy