Leaving a legacy

Making a will firstly and foremostly ensures that your loved ones are protected. It can also enable you to leave money to support others.

By leaving a legacy to us, you can rest assured that your gift will continue to support the causes you care about after your death. Our grants support smaller, local charities and projects that are critical to the fabric of our community, but are less likely to benefit from legacy gifts than larger or national charities. We ensure that your gift can reach these impactful grassroots projects too.

By leaving a legacy to us, you can:

• Specify the causes or geographical areas you wish to support.
• Choose specific charities that you wish to support. We can facilitate the payment for you. This can include donations to national or international organisations.
• Minimise the amount of inheritance tax due on your estate, as charitable gifts are exempt.

You have the following options if you wish to leave a legacy to the Foundation:

Name Cambridgeshire Community Foundation as the beneficiary of a one-off donation in your will.

We will use your donation for the benefit of the local community, with the option to choose the cause(s), geographical area(s) and/or organisation(s) that you wish for your donation to support.

Create a charitable fund in your name or another name of your choice.

This can be through a flow-through fund, which makes a single sum available for local causes. Alternatively, you can set up an endowment fund, which invests your gift and offers grants from the investment income. An endowment fund helps you leave a gift with longevity, which the community can benefit from year on year.

Your family and friends can be involved in the grant-making process, as part of the fund panel which decides which projects receive funding. This enables them to be involved in fulfilling your charitable giving aims for as long as they would like to, without the burden of legal or fiscal responsibilities.

How does leaving a legacy work?

We can work with you and/or your professional advisers to ensure that your legacy is set up to meet your wishes, as part of your will. We can then work with your surviving family and/or professional advisers to award grants from your fund for as long as they would like to be involved.

We welcome legacies of all kinds, including:

• Pecuniary – a specified sum of money
• Specific – a specified item, such as shares or property
• Residuary – all or part of the Estate after any pecuniary legacies have been paid
• Reversionary – the residue of the Estate after the death of a surviving spouse