SUPPORT US
Planned Giving
Your legacy for jazz. Jazz at Lincoln Center is the world’s leading performing arts organization dedicated to excellence in jazz performance, education, and advocacy. Friends in the Second Line Society play an essential part in the jazz community, supporting today’s artists and those who shape its future.
About Second Line Society
The Second Line Society recognizes and thanks the thoughtful individuals who have told us they have provided for the future of Jazz at Lincoln Center in their long-term financial plans. No dues or minimum gift is required to join, only a shared interest in the future of jazz. Friends who are part of the Second Line Society are invited to events including a signature gathering annually and are recognized (with their approval) in Playbill concert programs.
Ways to Give
A gift in your long-term financial plans, such as a will or trust makes you eligible to be part of the Second Line Society, a group formed to thank those friends who have established a legacy for Jazz at Lincoln Center. Friends in the Second Line Society will be invited to an annual event and recognized in Playbill concert programs.
Bequests
A gift through your will is one of the simplest ways to provide for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s future and can take many forms. Through your will you may arrange for the Jazz at Lincoln Center to receive:
- a specific dollar amount
- specified assets, such as securities, real estate, or tangible personal property
- all or a percentage of the remainder of your estate after all other obligations (a residuary bequest)
How to make a bequest: useful language
The most useful bequest is an unrestricted bequest for the general purposes of the organization. This permits Jazz at Lincoln Center to use your gift wherever it is most needed at the time to fulfill our mission.
Suggested language for making an unrestricted bequest is as follows:
“I give, devise and bequeath [the sum of dollars], [all or percent of the rest, remainder and residue of my estate of every kind and description (including lapsed legacies and devises)] to Jazz at Lincoln Center, Inc., 3 Columbus Circle, Suite 1200, New York, NY, for its general corporate purposes.”
Suggested language for a specific purpose:
“I give, devise and bequeath [the sum of dollars], [all or percent of the rest, remainder and residue of my estate of every kind and description (including lapsed legacies and devises)] to Jazz at Lincoln Center, Inc., 3 Columbus Circle, Suite 1200, New York, New York, [to create an endowment fund which, subject to Jazz at Lincoln Center’s endowment spending rule, is] to be used for the following purpose: [state the purpose].”
Important Notes: Please be aware that the minimum required to establish an endowed fund is $100,000. If you do specify a use for your bequest, the following language will ensure that your gift will always remain productive:
“If at any time in the judgment of the Board of Directors of Jazz at Lincoln Center the designated use of this bequest is no longer practicable or appropriate, then the Directors shall use the bequest to further the general purposes of the Jazz at Lincoln Center, giving consideration, where possible, to my special interest as described above.”
Retirement Plan Beneficiary Designation
You may also preserve a legacy for jazz and your heirs by making Jazz at Lincoln Center a full or partial beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k) or other qualified retirement plan. Taxes on retirement plan assets left to your heirs may be different than you imagined—in fact, using retirement assets to make donations and leaving other assets to your heirs may allow you to give more to your heirs.
How to make a retirement plan designation
- Request a beneficiary form from your bank or plan administrator or download one from your plan’s website. This form, rather than your will, determines how these assets are distributed after your lifetime.
- Write in or add Jazz at Lincoln Center as a beneficiary or partial beneficiary. Our business address is 3 Columbus Circle, Suite 1200, New York, New York 10019.
- If the form requests a social security number or date of birth, please use our tax identification number: 13-38886413. If the form asks for a date of birth, use our date of incorporation: February 26, 1996.
- Return the beneficiary form to your plan administrator.
- Please send us a copy as well, with as much account information as you are comfortable sharing so we can correctly identify and claim your gift. (e.g., account type, account number, approximate value). Your gift will be used to support general purposes unless you specify otherwise.
A Gift of Life Insurance
You can provide for a future gift by naming Jazz at Lincoln Center as beneficiary of a policy insuring your life.
Following the steps outlined above for retirement plan designations, you can name Jazz at Lincoln Center as primary beneficiary of your life insurance policy, or as contingent beneficiary should your other beneficiaries not survive you.
At death the benefits will pass to Jazz at Lincoln Center free of federal estate tax. Gifts will be used to support general purposes unless you specify otherwise.
You can also irrevocably donate your paid-up life insurance policy – please contact us directly about making this type of gift.
Creating a Charitable Trust
Charitable Remainder Trusts are flexible and sophisticated gift vehicles that can benefit Jazz at Lincoln Center and provide you or a loved one income for life or for a fixed number of years. When you establish such a trust you receive an immediate income tax deduction for a portion of your contribution, and also may save on capital gains taxes if you fund the trust with an appreciated asset.
How it works: With the help of your attorney or financial advisor, you create a charitable remainder trust, naming Jazz at Lincoln Center as sole beneficiary or one of multiple beneficiaries. When the trust terminates, either at the death of the last beneficiary or the at the end of the trust term, the remaining balance will transfer to Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Charitable Lead Trusts, another flexible gift instrument, offer a way for you to immediately support Jazz at Lincoln Center and later leave your heirs assets at significantly reduced tax rates. A charitable lead trust provides income to Jazz at Lincoln Center (either a fixed percentage of the principal or a fixed dollar amount) for life or for a term of years, after which the assets return to you or to your heirs.
How it works: With the help of your attorney or financial advisor, you create the charitable lead trust, naming Jazz at Lincoln Center as sole beneficiary or one of multiple income beneficiaries. The taxation and benefits vary depending on the specific type of trust you establish. When the trust period ends, the remaining balance will be paid to you or your heirs.
Inquiries
You can provide for a future gift by naming Jazz at Lincoln Center as beneficiary of a policy insuring your life.
Following the steps outlined above for retirement plan designations, you can name Jazz at Lincoln Center as primary beneficiary of your life insurance policy, or as contingent beneficiary should your other beneficiaries not survive you.
At death the benefits will pass to Jazz at Lincoln Center free of federal estate tax. Gifts will be used to support general purposes unless you specify otherwise.
You can also irrevocably donate your paid-up life insurance policy – please contact us directly about making this type of gift.