There are many things you can accomplish with your estate. You might want to provide for a loved one after you are gone. You may want to save on estate taxes. You may want to leave a legacy.

Contact the UW Foundation planned giving office at pg@uwyo.edu or (307) 766-6300 or toll-free (888) 831-7795. You can also mail information to the UW Foundation, 222 South 22nd Street, Laramie, WY 82070.

Yes, you may designate any planned gift to a specific college, department, unit, scholarship, or other purpose at the University of Wyoming. However, consider that gifts that are left open and flexible can be applied to a university program’s most critical needs as they arise. As with any gift, discuss the focus of the gift with UW Foundation staff, if possible, and they will be able to match your priorities with those of your area of interest as well as to guide you in how much is necessary to achieve your intended goals. These services are provided at no cost.

An endowment is a gift that is invested in perpetuity. A portion of the interest earned supports the endowment’s purpose, and any additional income is reinvested in the endowment to grow the fund and protect it from inflation. Thus endowments provide continuous support that allows the university to plan from one year to the next and strengthens the vitality of the University of Wyoming far into the future.

An endowment may be created with an outright gift, a pledge over a number of years, or with a gift from your estate or other charitable gift plan. They can be funded by cash or gifts of stock, real estate, or other assets. Because of the perpetual nature of an endowment, a written gift agreement or provision in your will or trust is the best way to ensure that the purpose of the fund is clear. To create an endowment during your lifetime, the UW Foundation can assist you in preparing a gift agreement that defines the purpose of the fund and meets your needs as well as those of the university. To create an endowment through your estate or to include a gift for an endowment in your estate plan, contact the UW Foundation for their help in matching your priorities with those of the university and also to make sure your endowment will be able to achieve your intended goal.

Depending on the purpose of the endowment, the university has established minimum gift amounts. For example, general support or scholarships can be established with a minimum gift of $25,000. However, it’s more about whether your gift can achieve your intended goal. Contact the UW Foundation to match your priorities with those of your area of interest and to talk about how much is necessary to achieve your intended goals.

There are a number of ways to structure a planned gift, including wills trusts, retirement plans, life insurance, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, and retained life estates. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these. To learn more about using tools to create a planned gift, please contact the UW Foundation planned giving office at pg@uwyo.edu or (307) 766-6300 or toll-free (888) 831-7795. You can also contact us via mail at UW Foundation, 222 South 22nd Street, Laramie, WY 82070.

Tax ID # 83-0201971

We highly recommend that you document your gift through a Notification of Legacy Gift form (for a married couple or for single people). If you choose or have chosen to name the University of Wyoming as a beneficiary of your estate, please let us know your plans. This will enable us to ensure your intentions are carried out as you wish, to show our appreciation of your generosity by including you as a member of our Legacy Society, and—equally as important—to use your example as an inspiration to others to include UW in their future plans, if you so wish. In addition, if you would like to further specify the use of your funds, including the creation of a named endowment, we would like to work with you on a Notification of Legacy Gift that would be kept on file at the UW Foundation along with the applicable pages of your estate plan describing your gift. This procedure will permanently document your values and your intentions for the future.