Design a Legacy
Why is your Will Plan Important?
Peace of Mind
Guarantees that your estate will transfer to your loved ones and organizations you support with the least amount of cost, tax and delay.
Flexibility
Allows access to your financial resources to make changes should your circumstances evolve.
Relationships
Reduces the potential for interpersonal conflicts with a well-designed and thoughtful plan.
Legacy
Reflects a lifetime of commitment to learning by providing for the people and causes closest to you.
Beneficiary Designation
Noting CMU as a beneficiary on your financial plans and policy assets is easy to arrange, simple to amend, reflects possible tax savings and, in many cases, is as quick as filling out a simple form.
You can designate CMU as a beneficiary on:
- Retirement accounts
- Life insurance policies
- Certain bank accounts, such as certificates of deposits and saving accounts
- Investment accounts at brokerage companies
- Commercial annuity contracts
Ask your specific bank or financial services firm to provide you the appropriate instructions to make your gift or contact the Office of Gift Planning for help in finding the right information.
As you prepare or revise your will to accurately reflect your wishes, please share the following language with your attorney:
“To Carnegie Mellon University, a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I give [___________________Dollars ($___________)][ or ______% of my estate].”
Legal Name: Carnegie Mellon University
Address: 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213
Federal Tax ID Number: 25-0969449
Customizing Your Gift
You can design the purpose of your gift to an area of CMU that's meaningful to you:
- Scholarships: A gift that awards financial support to undergraduate students.
- Fellowships: A gift that awards financial support to graduate students.
- Faculty Support: A gift to support teaching and cutting-edge research in the area of your choice.
- Schools and Departments: A gift to benefit your selected CMU colleges, departments, units or other university priorities.
- Unrestricted: A gift for CMU’s general purposes that allows the university to put your gift to the best possible use when it is received.
Your gift can be established as endowed or spendable:
- Endowed: A gift that instructs CMU to invest your donation into the university’s endowment. You also create your own endowed fund by choosing a specific purpose for your gift, knowing that your funds will permanently benefit Tartans for years to come.
- Spendable: A gift the university can use in its entirety once received, based upon the designated purpose. (Unless specified as endowed, all gifts are legally considered spendable.)
The Office of Gift Planning can help you to ensure that your future gift will accomplish your specific purpose with a simple document between you and CMU that clearly describes the purpose of your gift.
- Identifies precisely your preferences and priorities
- Provides comfort in knowing that your gift will be used exactly as you wish
- Offers flexibility, can be amended as needed and is 100% revocable
The Warner Circle
If you’ve made a life income gift to Carnegie Mellon or have named CMU in your estate plans, the university is proud to welcome you as a member of The Warner Circle donor recognition society.