Including PETA in your year-end plans can help animals and give you a rewarding “return on investment.” Here’s how:
Your donation to PETA before the clock strikes midnight on December 31 will not only provide animals with critical support but also allow you to take a U.S. charitable deduction next April. And if your employer offers a matching-gift program, you may be able to double or even triple the impact of your gift. Please ask your employer whether it has a matching-gift program. You can visit PETA.org/MatchingGifts as well to see whether your employer participates.
It’s that time of year when many employers, including the federal and state governments, are running workplace giving campaigns. If you are eligible to participate in a workplace campaign, please consider designating a gift to help animals through PETA. If PETA is not an option, please talk with the campaign manager to see how you can designate PETA to receive your gift.
If you have stock or real estate that has appreciated and that you have held for more than one year, a donation to PETA may qualify you for a charitable deduction for the full fair-market value of your gift and save on capital-gains taxes. Even depreciated stock can benefit both animals and you.
Should you have a vehicle (including cars and boats), running or not, that you no longer need, you can donate it to PETA from virtually anywhere in the United States and make a difference for animals. Visit PETA.org/Car or call 1-877-PETA-GIV.
If giving a gift to a loved one is in your immediate future, consider giving a compassionate gift that gives twice! Browse through the “virtual gifts” at PETAPresents.org to find a gift that will help animals, and we will send a fun, personalized e-card to your loved one.
This is also a good time of year to review your long-term and estate planning documents, including wills, trusts, beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, and end-of-life directives, such as living wills. You should do this at least annually to ensure that your plans as stated are in line with your current goals.
In addition to loved ones, you can provide for animals through gifts to PETA in these documents. For example, you can make PETA a beneficiary of your retirement plan and avoid unwanted taxation; leverage modest annual premiums into a significant gift by making PETA a beneficiary of a life insurance policy; make PETA a beneficiary of a financial account, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, stocks, and bonds; or name PETA as the beneficiary of a specific or residual gift in your will or trust.
Your support means the world to PETA, and we thank you for all that you are doing for animals. If you would like more information on year-end gifts, please contact us at 757-962-8213 or [email protected].
This article is was originally printed in PETA’s Augustus Club newsletter. The Augustus Club is a complimentary club honoring those who are leaving a legacy for animals through a planned gift to PETA. There are no fees or charges, and members receive quarterly newsletters containing special features on PETA’s history, PETA’s impact on animal-abusing industries, and profiles of members and animals they’ve saved. Augustus Club members also receive invitations to special events throughout the year. Augustus’ noble image, dignity, and innocence make him a fitting symbol of the plight of all animals who have endured—and are still enduring—callous and horrible treatment at the hands of humans.
If you have made a planned gift to PETA, please let us know so that we can thank you! If you have not yet left a legacy for animals but would like information on how to do so, please contact us.
