Generosity comes in all sizes

Have you ever wanted to make a significant gift to support your alma mater, but something was holding you back? Perhaps you were nervous about world events, or the long-term economy, or the Wall Street rollercoaster.

Lots of things can get in the way when you want to make a real difference for our students. Well, here's some good news: You CAN make a real difference. Planned gifts make it possible and your generosity can make it happen.

Gifts anyone can make

We offer a variety of gift types that enable you to leave a meaningful legacy to secure our future while building a more secure financial future for yourself.

Sound too good to be true? It's not. The advantages of planned giving are real. You can demonstrate what you believe in, support and preserve your alma mater’s traditions and values, and enable us to continue our work for generations to come.

Discover How Everyone Benefits from Planned Gifts

Your Goal	Your Gift	Your Method	Your Benefit
Make a gift that costs you nothing during your lifetime	Gifts Through your Will or Trust ("Bequest")	Include a gift of cash, property, or a share of your estate through your will or trust	A gift that does not affect your cash flow, and you can adjust your gift as circumstances change
Make a gift and receive a steady income for life	Charitable Gift Annuity, Charitable Remainder Unitrust, Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust	Share your assets with us in a plan that grves you an income for life and passes the remainder to us	Receive tax-advantaged payments for life, along with a charitable tax deduction
Make a gift while leaving more of your estate to your heirs	Gifts of Retirement Assets	Name us as the beneficiary of your retirement plan, and pass less-taxed assets to your heirs	Avoid up to 60% income tax on your retitement asse1s; pass more of your estate to your heirs
Make a gift while avoiding capital gains liability	Gifts of Appreciated Securities	Give us appreciated s1ocks, bonds or mutual funds to sell and use the proceeds	Make a significant gift; receive an immediate income tax deduction; pay no capital gains tax
Make a large gift at little cost	Gift of Life Insurance	Donate a life insurance policy you no longer need or name us in an existing one	Take a tax deduction now; take possible future deductions through gifts to pay policy premiums
Make a gift that preserves your assets for your heirs	Charitable Lead Trust	Use appreciating assets to create a trust that will pay income to us for a period of years, and then pass the assets back to you or your heirs	Shelter your growing assets and benefit PennWest right away; reduce or eliminate gift and estate tax

Robert M. Steele Society

This society, named for California's first president (1928-1952), was established in 1996. It recognizes individuals who have made planned gifts to PennWest California and The Foundation for California University. Support to PennWest California from members of the Robert M. Steele Society has included:

Learn More

To learn more about planned giving or the Robert M. Steele Society, contact Larry Jamison at ljamison@pennwest.edu.