Planned Giving

Your legacy. Our commitment.

Sophia Alawi in Evita (2024).

What is Planned Giving?
Planned giving is a way to make a lasting impact on San Francisco Playhouse through gifts that are arranged now but take effect in the future. These gifts often come through a will, trust, retirement account, life insurance, or other assets, and they allow you to support the theatre you love while also providing potential tax and financial benefits for you and your family. By including San Francisco Playhouse in your estate plans, you help ensure that our stage remains a vibrant home for art, creativity, and community for generations to come.

COMMUNITY BENEFITS

Your gift will help sustain tens of thousands of artists and audiences for generations to come, maintaining current audiences while encouraging and sustaining those of the future.
Your gift will provide the timely and in-the-moment resources necessary for us to respond quickly to the needs of our evolving arts economy and landscape.
Should you wish, your gift will be acknowledged in every one of our play programs, ad infinitum.
By making a planned gift, you send a message to our community that the arts belong to all of us, and that we are responsible for maintaining them into the future.

TAX BENEFITS

You can contribute appreciated property, like securities or real estate, receive a charitable deduction for the full market value of the asset, and pay no capital gains tax on the transfer.
Those who establish a life-income gift receive a tax deduction for the full, fair market value of the assets contributed, minus the present value of the income interest retained; if they fund their gift with appreciated property, they pay no upfront capital gains tax on the transfer.
Gifts payable to the theatre upon your passing, like a bequest or a beneficiary designation in a life insurance policy or retirement account, do not generate a lifetime income tax deduction, but are exempt from estate tax.

Common Types of Planned Giving

Choosing the right planned gift depends on your personal circumstances and goals. To learn more about how we can help, contact our Development Office at 415-866-8907, [email protected], or [email protected].

Bequests and Wills

One of the simplest and most common ways of making a planned gift is through a will or a living trust. A bequest in a will can take the form of a fixed dollar amount, a specific asset, a percentage of an estate, a trust, or the naming of a charitable organization such as San Francisco Playhouse as a contingent beneficiary.

Charitable Remainder Trust

Sets up a tax-exempt irrevocable trust arrangement in which the donor transfers cash or assets (such as appreciated securities or stock) to the trust and can receive income for life or a term up to 20 years. At the death of the final beneficiary (or end of the term), the remainder will go to San Francisco Playhouse. There are two types of charitable remainder trusts: the charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT), where the income varies with the value of the trust, and the charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT), in which the income is fixed based on the initial funding value of the trust. Learn more.

Charitable Life Estate Contract

Enables the donor to deed real property to San Francisco Playhouse while retaining the right to reside in the property while living. You receive a tax deduction and the property may avoid estate taxes and capital gains tax. The contract must specify who pays for maintenance, taxes, insurance and other fees on the property. Vacation property and domiciles may be used, but businesses may not.

Life Insurance

Permits a donor to purchase a life insurance policy and name San Francisco Playhouse as the owner and beneficiary. You can contribute to San Francisco Playhouse to pay for the premiums and receive a deduction for the contribution. If you make San Francisco Playhouse the owner and beneficiary of an existing policy, you get an additional deduction for the current value of the policy.