Estate Planning
Common Cause is honored to be considered for remembrance in your estate plans.
Bequests, Retirement Accounts and IRAs
Common Cause is honored to be considered for remembrance in your estate plans. There are several ways to provide a gift to Common Cause that will endure beyond your lifetime, including:
- Making a bequest to Common Cause in your will or living trust.
- Naming Common Cause as a beneficiary of a retirement account or IRA
- Naming Common Cause as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy
We would be happy to help you structure your estate to best meet both your personal and philanthropic goals. Many of the plans listed above can provide significant tax and financial advantages.
Common Cause Tax ID #: 52-6078441
Common Cause Education Fund Tax ID #: 31-1705370
Each of the gifts above will help secure democracy for the next generation and beyond. For more information on planned giving, please contact the membership team at Giving@commoncause.org.
We’ve partnered with FreeWill to make planned giving easier than ever. Click here to write a legal will for free and create your legacy with Common Cause.
Common Cause proudly holds a four-star rating (the highest possible) from Charity Navigator.
Make a Bequest to Common Cause Education Fund
A simple and powerful way to support Common Cause Education Fund is to make a bequest. By including Common Cause Education Fund in your will, you will ensure that we have the resources needed to work to make each vote count, each legislator accountable, and each law ethical and responsible. After your lifetime, the asset(s) you specify are eligible for a charitable deduction for the amount of your bequest.
Ready to get started? We’ve partnered with FreeWill to help you write your will and create your legacy with the Common Cause Education Fund. Their online tool makes it quick, easy, and free to write a legal will or trust. It also makes it simple to create a bequest that supports the Common Cause Education Fund for future generations. Click here to write your free will.
If you already have a will, you can simply add language specifying a gift of one of the following ways:
- Fixed Amount: Specify a dollar amount or asset in your will to go to Common Cause.
- Percentage: Specify a percentage of your estate to go to Common Cause. This allows the size of your gift to fluctuate based on changes in your estate.
- Residual: Your gift to Common Cause is made after distributions to family and friends and all relevant debts and taxes are settled.
- Contingent: Common Cause is remembered as a contingent beneficiary, in case your primary beneficiaries pre-decease you.
Below is sample language to provide to your attorney to remember Common Cause in your will:
“I hereby bequeath ______ to Common Cause, a non-profit organization incorporated by the laws of the District of Columbia and having its principal office at 805 15th Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005.”
By notifying us of your intent to leave an estate gift, you automatically become members of the John Gardner Legacy Circle, our way of expressing our heartfelt appreciation to those who make a significant commitment to a government by and for all for our future generations.
In the meantime, if you have any questions about making an estate gift or need further details, please don’t hesitate to contact our membership team at Giving@commoncause.org.
Life Insurance
Giving an estate gift through your insurance policy is a great way to give significant support to an organization you love without interfering with your will’s plans for your friends, family, and other loved ones. You can leave the entirety of the policy to Common Cause Education Fund, or designate a percentage. To include Common Cause Education Fund as a beneficiary of your insurance policy, simply complete a “Change of Beneficiary” form with your policy provider. You will likely need the following information to complete the form:
Gemeinsame Ursache
Attn: Reggie Brewington
805 15th Street NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20005
Tax ID number 52-6078441