Your giving heals. 

Your generosity provides hope and healing for our community’s patients and their families for whatever challenges they are facing with specialized and holistic care – all from the comfort of their home. Whether they are embarking on a journey of recovery from injury or illness, or they and their family need the clinical and emotional support through their last phase of an incurable disease, Cooley Dickinson VNA & Hospice is here for our patients and their families when they need us. And, you can be too. 

Jenny Papageorge, our Director of Planned Giving, is happy to have a confidential conversation to help build a legacy while helping yourself, your loved ones, and impacting the lives of VNA & Hospice families well into the future. If you’ve already included Cooley Dickinson VNA & Hospice in your estate plans or named us a beneficiary of your IRA or life insurance, we’d love to welcome you as a member of our Circle of Inspiration and ensure we can fulfill your wishes.

Giving Opportunities:

There are many ways you can support the work of VNA & Hospice – you can give in memory of a loved one or a caregiver. And, we will be sure to inform them of your generosity.

  • VNA and Hospice Fund
    The VNA & Hospice Fund provides funding in vital home care, hospice, and bereavement services right here in our local community. 

  • The Garden: A Center for Grieving Children and their Families
    The Garden provides support to grieving young people ages 5-18 years, and their families following the death of someone close. 
     

 

Ways to Give:
 

Bequests or Gifts from Wills/Trusts

A charitable gift from your estate is a favored method of giving that enables you to achieve your financial goals and benefit Cooley Dickinson VNA & Hospice. No other planned gift is as simple to make or as easy to change should you ever need the assets during your lifetime.

A bequest may be right for you if:

  • You want to make a gift to VNA & Hospice.
  • You want the flexibility to change your mind.
  • You want continued access to your wealth, should you need it.
  • You are concerned about outliving your resources.
     

The following is intended to help you and your attorney in drafting a bequest that satisfies your interests. As you consult your attorney on the selection of appropriate wording to reflect your own goals and intentions regarding VNA & Hospice, be sure our organization’s correct legal name appears in all final documents as:

“Cooley Dickinson VNA & Hospice, 168 Industrial Drive, Northampton, MA 01060, a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation, or its successor, Federal Tax Identification Number: 04-2104788.” 

Beneficiary Designations

One of the simplest ways to make a gift to VNA & Hospice is to name us in your assets. You can specify the individuals and charities you want to support, and you can also specify the percentage of the assets you want each beneficiary to receive.

It's literally as easy as filling out a form. You can obtain a “change-of-beneficiary form” by calling or visiting the website of your plan administrator, insurer, or financial institution. Completing the form takes just a few moments, but the impact of your gift will be felt for generations to come.

Beneficiary designations are available when giving the following assets: 

  • Retirement Assets
  • Life Insurance 
  • Commercial Annuity Contracts, Bank Accounts, Investment Accounts 
     
Life Income Gifts

Charitable Gift Annuities 
A charitable gift annuity provides fixed payments for life in exchange for a gift of cash or securities to VNA & Hospice. If you are considering a gift of $10,000 or more, please contact us so we can provide you with a personalized diagram of what your annual fixed payments would be as well as an idea of your tax savings.

Charitable Remainder Trust
A charitable remainder unitrust can help you maintain or increase your income while making a significant gift to VNA & Hospice. If your unitrust grows, your payments will grow too, providing a hedge against inflation. A unitrust provides more flexibility than other life income plans. 

Stocks & Bonds

Make a gift of publicly traded securities to VNA & Hospice and potentially save income tax and capital gains tax, too.

A gift of publicly traded securities could be right for you if:

  • You own publicly traded securities that you have owned for at least one year.
  • Some of these securities have increased in value since you bought them.
  • Some of these securities may provide you with little or no income.
     
The IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution

The IRA QCD gift is one of the most tax-efficient gifts of all. If you are 70½ or older you can make gifts up to $100,000 from a traditional IRA account. If you are 72 or older and must take your RMD, this QCD would satisfy your RMD without increasing your income taxes.

How Do I Qualify?

  • You must be 70 ½ years or older at the time of the gift.
  • Gifts must go directly from your IRA to VNA & Hospice.
  • Gifts must come from a traditional IRA or Roth IRA account.
  • Gifts cannot exceed $100,000 per donor per year.
Donor-Advised Funds

The donor-advised fund (DAF) is becoming an increasingly popular way to make a charitable gift. DAFs can provide you with immediate tax benefits while making your charitable giving easier. Here are two simple ways you can make a gift through your DAF:      

  1. Make an outright gift by suggesting a grant to VNA & Hospice.
  2. Designate VNA & Hospice e to receive all or a portion of the fund value upon the termination of the fund.  

You can select the option that best suits your philanthropic and financial goals to support VNA & Hospice. Just contact your fund administrator to request a distribution or beneficiary form or download the appropriate form(s) from your administrator’s website.

Specialized Giving Arrangements

Contact us to discuss these other gift options:

  • Life Insurance
  • Real Estate
  • Personal Property
  • Retained life estates
  • Bargain Sale
     

Love Cooley Dickinson VNA & Hospice?

Learn more about leaving a planned gift to our partner organization, Cooley Dickinson Hospital.