Make a Donation to Delaware State Parks
The Delaware State Parks Trust Fund is a charitable endowment fund established with the Delaware Community Foundation. The fund is designed to provide protection for Delaware's precious resources, now and in the future. Donors' gifts are managed responsibly, and have the greatest possible impact because of the creativity and spirit of resourcefulness that the fund fosters. With your help, we can continue to preserve Delaware's natural, cultural and historical treasures.
Make an online donation to our trust fund right now by clicking the "Donate" button above, which will take you to the Delaware Community Foundation's site and our secure online donation form.
To make a donation by check, please download our donation form and mail it to the Delaware Community Foundation, with your check made payable to "State Parks Trust Fund."
The following information illustrates the many other ways that you can make a gift to Delaware State Parks that will help us to continue to save a place for you, your children and the people of Delaware, forever.
Gifts of Securities
When you transfer stock with long-term gain to the Delaware State Parks Trust Fund, you put the full value of your asset to work for you -- and for Delaware -- because capital gains taxes are completely avoided. And you take a charitable deduction for the stock's full value.
Gifts of Retirement Plan Assets
IRAs and retirement plan benefits may be reduced by estate taxes at death, and then by income taxes. It may be possible to avoid these taxes by designating the Delaware State Parks Trust Fund as beneficiary of an IRA or employee benefit plan. Consult your advisor about how to properly designate the fund as the beneficiary of an IRA or retirement plan.
Gifts of Real Estate
A gift of real estate can afford the donor tax savings, the freedom from managing the real estate sale themselves and in the case of a personal residence or farm, a donor may retain the rights to continue to occupy or rent the property.
Gifts of Life Insurance
Make the Delaware State Parks Trust Fund the owner and beneficiary of your life insurance policy, and in many cases, receive a current income tax deduction.
Charitable Bequests
With a bequest to the Delaware State Parks Trust Fund, you can establish a permanent reservoir for future needs. Bequests take many forms and are fully deductible against the estate tax. The Delaware Community Foundation's planned giving specialists can work with your estate planning advisor to insure the effectiveness of your gift and maximize estate tax savings.
The Delaware Community Foundation connects people who care with causes that matter
The Delaware Community Foundation serves as a charitable savings account open to all who wish to make their community a better place to live and work, now and in the future. It is a collection of funds which are pooled and invested together, producing income that provides a lasting resource for the community.
The mission of the Delaware Community Foundation is to encourage greater philanthropic activity and to marshal resources to benefit the people of Delaware. It was founded in 1986 by a group of community leaders who were seeking a new and lasting source of charitable funding. Since then, gifts from hundreds of individuals and organizations have built an endowment of more than $127 million.
The Delaware State Parks Trust Fund works with the Delaware Community Foundation to help you plan your gift. The Community Foundations' staff includes trained professionals with expertise in planned giving.
The Delaware State Parks Memorial Tree Program
The Memorial Tree Program was developed to acknowledge the loss of loved ones or to honor living persons in a meaningful way.
The program allows any (1) funeral home, (2) individual or (3) family to make a donation on behalf on a friend or family member. Trees are planted in designated areas within the parks in spring and autumn. All state parks are potential sites for donations to this program.
The funds received in the Memorial Tree Program are used to purchase trees to serve as a living reminder of the special people in our lives and to reforest areas of state parks. Donors may elect to fully fund the purchase or a tree or choose to donate towards a tree planted on behalf of multiple persons. In order to preserve the natural beauty of our facilities, individual trees are not marked or identified as part of this program. Instead, a plaque is hung in the State Park Office acknowledging the names of all those for whom the memorial trees were planted. The names remain on the plaque for a year following the planting of the trees.
For more information about the Memorial Tree Program, call (302) 739-9220 or e-mail Delaware State Parks Information.
