Reformed Theological Seminary Heritage

Since its founding in 1966, Reformed Theological Seminary has benefited from the foresight and generosity of people who have invested in the future of the Church by naming RTS as a beneficiary in their estate plans. These planned gifts have become valuable assets in providing funds for professorships, scholarships, facilities, library books, and many other specific programs that improve the quality of our theological education. Those who have made commitments to RTS through wills and other estate gifts have left significant legacies and have truly become partners in the work the Lord has called RTS to do.

Members of the Reformed Theological Seminary Heritage Society are long-term investors; their gifts not only preserve the Seminary’s past, they also guarantee that everything it represents will become even more valuable in the future. Heritage Society members truly create permanent legacies with their gifts.

Every friend of RTS should have an estate plan and every estate plan should benefit RTS! If you have not yet done so, we hope you will review the options and prayerfully consider completing a gift plan that will qualify you for membership. Such plans truly touch the future of the Church. If you currently qualify for membership, please complete and return the enclosed enrollment form, no matter the size of your gift plan.

What is The Heritage Society?

The Heritage Society recognizes alumni and friends of Reformed Theological Seminary who have remembered RTS in their wills or who have funded or designated a deferred gift to the Seminary.

The Heritage Society was established to encourage and sustain the continued ministry of RTS and its purpose; training new leadership in the Reformed tradition for the Church of Jesus Christ until His return.

Qualification for Membership

Anyone who has named RTS as a charitable beneficiary in his or her estate plan, or has established a gift annuity or a retained life estate gift, or some other life-income plan, is eligible for membership in the Heritage Society. For example, Reformed Theological Seminary may be named the beneficiary of donors’ estates through specific bequests written into donors’ wills or by being named the beneficiary of an IRA or other qualified estate planned gifts. These donors are eligible for membership.

Gift plans that confer membership eligibility include:

• Simple bequests
  
• Life-income gifts including charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts
  
• Retained life estate gifts
  
• Charitable lead trusts that pay income to the Seminary
  
• Designation of RTS as beneficiary of an IRA, or any other qualified retirement plan or life insurance policy.

Why Does RTS Desire Members?

Often, deferred gifts arrive at RTS without prior knowledge of the gift until it is actually received. This is not all that surprising. Many people are reluctant to notify charities of deferred gifts in case the money isn’t there or they change their minds. A few are afraid that if they tell a charity of a bequest, the charity will bother them for more money.

RTS is sensitive to these concerns, yet the Seminary deeply regrets missing the opportunity to acknowledge appreciation to the generous individual(s) who made the bequest. We believe it is vitally important to have the opportunity of expressing gratitude for God’s provision.

Those who create bequests for RTS are wonderful role models. Although RTS keeps the value and details of each deferred gift plan strictly confidential, every person who becomes a Heritage Society member provides an example for other friends of RTS who have not yet made similar plans.

Further, advance knowledge of deferred gift support allows RTS to work with these friends to ensure their interests and intentions are clearly understood and are followed accurately.

Finally, although RTS recognizes that receipt of any individual deferred gift is unpredictable, advance knowledge of individual plans provides the Seminary valid estimates of future receipts, thereby financial planning and projections for the future can be made with more confidence and accuracy.

What Do Members Receive?

Each Heritage Society member will receive an attractive framed certificate designating membership, as well as a facsimile of the historic White House on the Jackson campus -- the symbol of the Seminary’s heritage.

How Do You Join?

Anyone desiring membership in the Heritage Society may do so by completing a deferred gift plan for RTS and confirming the plan, in writing, on the attached enrollment form, or in a separate letter. Donors are not required to provide a copy of their wills; a simple signed and dated statement confirming the plan or bequest is sufficient.

When registering, new members are asked to indicate if their names should be kept in confidence or if they may be listed as Heritage Society members in various RTS publications.

What Gift Plans Qualify Donors for Membership?

If you already have previously completed any of the gift plans described below, you may join the Heritage Society by indicating your plan on the back cover enrollment form. Or, if you are interested in learning more details about creating one of the listed plans to become a member, please contact one of the officers of the RTS Foundation listed on the back cover.

A bequest is a terrific way to leave a legacy and can be as simple as adding a codicil to your will or an amendment to your living trust. Bequests can take many forms, and all of them qualify a donor for membership in the Heritage Society. A simple bequest may be for a stated percentage or amount of your estate. Residuary bequests are for the “rest, residue and remainder” of your estate after other bequests, debts and taxes have been paid. Contingent bequests are made on the condition that certain events occur before the bequest is paid. Specific bequests of property give a particular item or asset such as savings bonds.

You may make a gift to RTS during your lifetime that will pay income back to you and anyone else you appoint. Or, you may establish similar plans through your will that provide income for your heirs. All these plans represent a tax-advantaged means of providing income to you, your family, or friends while at the same time benefiting RTS. One of the oldest and simplest life income plans is the charitable gift annuity.

A charitable gift annuity is a contract between you and Reformed Theological Seminary. In exchange for your gift of cash or securities, or other assets, the Seminary agrees to pay you, or one or two annuitants who you name, a fixed sum each year for life. The payments are guaranteed by the general resources of Reformed Theological Seminary.

The older you are at the time of the charitable gift, the greater the fixed income Reformed Theological Seminary can agree to pay. Payments can begin immediately or deferred until a time specified by you. Gift annuity payments are an attractive supplement to your retirement funds without the investment concerns or responsibilities. And you make an enduring gift that will strengthen RTS for the future.

You may name RTS a beneficiary of your IRA, 401K, or any other qualified retirement plan or life insurance policy . Such designations of RTS as a charitable beneficiary save significant estate and income taxes. These plans are quickly becoming the largest asset in a person’s estate. If you are planning to make a charitable bequest, it is typically more beneficial to transfer the taxable assets such as IRAs, 401Ks and even savings bonds, to a tax-exempt charity and transfer the non-taxable assets to the heirs to avoid unnecessary taxation.

With a retained life estate gift, you may give RTS your primary home, vacation home, or farm, including a home, in exchange for the right to live in and enjoy the property during your lifetime, while earning a present income tax deduction and future estate tax savings.

A charitable lead trust that pays income to RTS for some term of years may be established to yield significant tax savings for the ultimate beneficiaries of the trust assets: you or your heirs. The assets in the trust, along with appreciation earned during the term RTS receives income, may go to your heirs at sharply reduced gift/estate tax rates.

For more information or to discuss specifics on any of these giving plans, we encourage you to contact an RTS Foundation officer, as well as your personal attorney and financial or tax adviser.