Planned Giving — Contributions That Keep Running

The best open-source projects outlive their original contributors. The code keeps executing. The community keeps building on it. Nobody had to be present for that to happen — they just had to make a decision to contribute something durable.

A planned gift works exactly like that. You make a decision today — in your will, your trust, or a beneficiary designation — and it executes on a future date. Teachers who haven't been trained yet. Students who haven't been born yet. They benefit because you committed something to the codebase.

Planned gifts are also where the largest gifts happen. Many donors who give a few hundred dollars a year leave tens of thousands in their estate. If the work matters to you, this is the mechanism that lets your values run indefinitely.

Why Make a Planned Gift to CodeVA?

• No impact on your current cash flow: the gift activates in the future, on your terms.
• Immediate tax advantages: even for gifts that don't transfer until later.
• Flexible structures: that can preserve income or assets for your heirs while still supporting CodeVA's mission.
• The ability to make your largest gift ever: without writing a check today.
• Lasting impact: on the free CS education infrastructure that teachers and students depend on.

Types of Planned Gifts

There is no single right structure. The best option depends on your estate, your goals, and how involved you want to be. Here are the most common:

Bequests

Name CodeVA in your will or revocable trust. You retain full control during your lifetime. You can designate a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, or a residual bequest — what remains after other obligations are met. The most common planned gift, and usually the simplest to set up.

Suggested bequest language: "I give to CodeVirginia (CodeVA), a nonprofit corporation, Tax ID 46-4339704, [dollar amount / percentage / residual] to be used for its general charitable purposes."

Life Insurance

Name CodeVA as a beneficiary of an existing life insurance policy, or donate a policy you no longer need. A clean path to a gift that may be substantially larger than your current giving capacity.

Charitable Gift Annuities

Provide yourself or a loved one with a fixed income stream for life, with the remainder supporting CodeVA after the annuity term ends. Rates are typically favorable for older donors, and a portion of each payment may be tax-free.

Charitable Remainder and Lead Trusts

These structures let you support both your family and CodeVA simultaneously — income to CodeVA now with assets passing to your heirs later (Charitable Lead Trust), or income to you now with the remainder going to CodeVA (Charitable Remainder Trust). Appropriate for larger gifts; an estate planning attorney should be involved.