How Do I Leave Money to a Charity in My Will?

Cardio Renal Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity organization. Your donation advances our mission to provide a solution beyond dialysis.

Most charitable giving happens check by check, year by year. A bequest — a gift written into your will — is the other kind: one decision, made once, that carries your name and your values past your lifetime. For research charities especially, bequests are quietly among the largest gifts they ever receive. This guide explains the basic shapes a bequest can take and the exact wording a will uses, so a conversation with your attorney takes minutes instead of weeks.

The Three Common Shapes

• A specific amount: "I give $25,000 to…" — simple and predictable, though inflation slowly shrinks what a fixed number means.
• A percentage: "I give 10% of my estate to…" — grows or shrinks with the estate, and treats family and charity in stable proportions. Many advisors consider this the fairest default.
• The residue: "I give the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate to…" — everything left after debts, taxes, and specific gifts are settled. This is how the largest charitable bequests are usually made.

A contingent bequest is a useful fourth shape: the charity receives the gift only if a named person does not survive you — a backstop that keeps family first while still recording your intent.

Sample Wording

Your attorney will adapt the language to your state's law and your full plan, but the core of a charitable bequest is short. For a percentage bequest, it reads like this:

"I give ___ percent (___%) of the residue of my estate to Cardio Renal Foundation Inc (EIN 33-4359765), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, for its general charitable purposes."

The details that make a bequest find its target without delay are the charity's exact legal name and its tax ID number — ours are in the wording above. Names change and charities merge; an EIN never points at the wrong organization.

The Even Simpler Route: Beneficiary Designations

Some of the largest gifts never pass through a will at all. Retirement accounts (IRAs, 401(k)s), life insurance policies, and many bank and brokerage accounts let you name a beneficiary directly — and a charity can be one. This is often the single most tax-efficient gift a person can make: money left to family from a traditional IRA arrives carrying an income-tax bill, while the same dollars left to a charity arrive whole, because the charity is tax-exempt. A common plan leaves family the assets that reach them intact, and leaves the IRA — the most heavily taxed asset in most estates — to charity. Changing a beneficiary is usually a short form from the account custodian, no attorney required, and it can be changed again any time.

Two Practical Notes

• Tell your executor (and ideally your family) that the bequest exists. Surprises in wills cause more conflict than amounts do.
• You do not have to tell the charity — but letting us know, at donations@cardiorenalfoundation.org, means we can thank you now, keep our records straight, and make sure the gift will be received the way you intend when the time comes.

Giving from a donor-advised fund? You can recommend a grant to the Cardio Renal Foundation from your donor-advised fund at any time — just name Cardio Renal Foundation Inc, EIN 33-4359765, as the grantee. You will also find us in the PayPal Giving Fund — see our Donor Advised Fund page for how it works.

At the Cardio Renal Foundation, support from readers like you keeps plain-language education free for patients and families, and funds research aimed at a future where dialysis is no longer the default.

This article is informational only and is not legal or tax advice. Wills and beneficiary designations should be prepared or reviewed by a qualified attorney for your state and situation.