Planned Giving

MAKE A PLANNED GIFT TO THE DISCOVERY CENTER

Leave a Legacy Through the North Lakeland Discovery Center

Our Northwoods home is changing. Help us help the Northwoods and its people change for the better. Our vision is that through nature education and service to our forests and waters, we will bring about ever improving appreciation and conservation of this wonderful place we all cherish. A planned gift from you will help ensure that tomorrow’s Northwoods is even better than today’s. Through a planned gift to the Discovery Center, you will touch the future and enable coming generations to experience a Northwoods as wonderful and inspiring as the one you and yours have enjoyed.

What is a planned gift?

A planned gift is a gift the donor arranges to make at a future date, often at the time of the donor’s passing. Planned gifts can take many forms-- most often, cash or securities given by will or trust. However, planned gifts can also take a vast number of other forms, including for example:

• Life insurance
• Personal property
• Real estate
• Retirement plans
• Charitable remainder trust
• Charitable lead trust

Can a planned gift be directed to a specified purpose?

Yes! You can direct that your planned gift be used for any purpose within the mission of the Discovery Center. While a planned gift can always be directed to supporting our general operations, many generous donors prefer to direct their gift to a specified purpose meaningful to them. The donor may direct the gift be used for nature education, citizen science, our lakes monitoring program, bringing inner city youth to the Discovery Center for residential programs, trail building and maintenance, improvements to our campus, canoe and kayak training…. The options are limitless.

How to create a planned gift

We ensure that your gift, whether outright or through a bequest or life-income fund or any other mode of gifting, is dedicated to the specific work that matters most to you. You can name the Discovery Center a beneficiary of your will, IRA, retirement plan or a life insurance policy.

• You can use your planned gift to create a named endowment fund through our Discovery Center Endowment Program -- establishing a lasting legacy of ongoing support for a specific purpose within our mission: children’s nature education; citizen science; lake monitoring; travelling naturalist programs; adult education; trail building and maintenance. The options are endless. The choice is yours.
• You may also choose to give a planned gift in the form of a lump sum contribution to our general operations fund—allowing us to expand our mission and programming in the areas most important to the Discovery Center.
• You can give a planned gift as a one-time gift to any named purpose within the mission of the NLDC—to pay salaries; to renovate a building; to purchase equipment; or any of a hundred purposes important to you.

Consider consulting your attorney or financial advisor

While some planned gifts can be simple to structure, others can be complicated. We recommend you consult your legal or financial advisor. We at the Discovery Center are delighted to work with you to explore options most attractive to you, but we cannot provide legal or financial advice.

If you would be interested in considering a planned gift, please contact our Executive Director John Heusinkveld at (715)543-2085 / john@discoverycenter.net.