Leave a Legacy

Donations of land, conservation easements and conservation restrictions, as well as bequests and planned giving, offer flexible and simple options to support New England Forestry Foundation’s conservation efforts.

Legacy gifts to New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF) may take several forms:

• You may want to donate your forestland, forestland easement or restriction, or other real estate.
• You may want to leave a bequest of land or other assets in your will.
• You may be interested in planned giving options that would provide retirement or estate-planning benefits to you or your family.

Each method of giving differs in the ways it supports conservation and in its tax and other benefits to you and your family. Keep reading to learn about these gift options, or to discuss your gift confidentially with a NEFF staff member, please email plannedgiving@newenglandforestry.org.

Download our legacy giving brochure below for more information.

A simple bequest means that New England Forestry Foundation is named as a beneficiary in your will. Your bequest can be in the form of:

• Cash, Stock or Securities.
• Tangible Personal Property (antiques, automobiles, etc., for resale to support NEFF’s conservation work).
• Forestland: You can donate forestlands to become part of NEFF’s Community Forests.
• Bequests of Other Real Estate (“Trade Lands”)—You may wish to donate a home, building, or other lands to NEFF for resale to support forest conservation.

To discuss special conditions prior to making your bequest and particularly for donations of real estate, please email plannedgiving@newenglandforestry.org.

We suggest this general language for bequests:

“I give, devise, and bequeath to New England Forestry Foundation, a non-profit corporation having a principal place of business in Littleton, MA, the sum of $________ (or a description of the specific asset), for the benefit of New England Forestry Foundation and its general purposes.”

For more details on making an immediate gift of land to NEFF, please read the next section about conservation donations. For more information about planned giving, please scroll to the Planned Giving Options portion of this page.

Donating your forestland to NEFF, donating a conservation easement, or selling your land to NEFF at a bargain price are direct and powerful ways to conserve your forestland forever, protecting a place that has personal meaning to you while furthering forest conservation in the region.

NEFF welcomes and has the resources to manage donations and easements of widely varied sizes. The more than 150 Community Forests NEFF owns throughout New England range from 10 to more than 3,000 acres in size. NEFF stewards an additional 150 conservation easements, from five acres to more than 760,000 acres.

NEFF also accepts gifts of buildings or other non-forested real-estate for resale to support our conservation work. All forms of real-estate donations may allow donors to qualify for charitable income tax deductions.

Gifts of Forestland

The straightforward gift of a land parcel is the simplest way to transfer ownership. Most community forests donated to NEFF are named to honor the donor or their family. Making a gift is as easy as drafting a deed.

Gifts of Forestland via the Pooled Timber Income Fund

Fund participants donate their land to NEFF, and the timber on that land is contributed to a pooled income fund. In turn, donors receive tax benefits and an even stream of lifetime income. Learn more on our Pooled Timber Income Fund page.

Donation of a Conservation Easement or Restriction

A conservation easement or restriction is a legal agreement between a landowner and a conservation organization such as NEFF (or, alternatively, a public agency). The agreement limits or extinguishes rights to develop the property through construction, subdivision, or mining. The easement donor retains ownership of the property. The easement holder (NEFF) accepts the obligation to ensure that the restrictions are respected forever.

Bargain Sale

Selling your productive forestland to NEFF at a price below market value can provide a lasting conservation legacy and provide you with immediate tax benefits.

Donations of Other Real Estate (“Trade Lands”)

You may donate a home, building or non-forestlands to NEFF for resale. NEFF uses the proceeds to further support its mission.

Learn More
More helpful information can be found in our Land Conservation section:
How to Conserve Your Land | Easement Stewardship | Conservation Resources

Planned giving refers to a suite of tools that allow you to make a gift to support forest conservation today that will also provide you or your designated beneficiaries with income into the future. Planned giving approaches offer lifetime income, reduced estate taxes, and charitable income tax benefits, all while allowing you to do more to support New England Forestry Foundation’s conservation efforts. Options for this type of gift include:

Trusts and Annuities

• Charitable Remainder Trusts | Transferring assets to a Charitable Remainder Trust instructs the trustees to make distributions to you or another primary beneficiary. When you or the primary beneficiary can no longer receive distributions, the assets go to NEFF to support conservation.
• Charitable Lead Trusts | Transferring assets to a Charitable Lead Trust gives income to NEFF for a specified number of years, at the end of which the principal in the trust passes to a beneficiary designated by the donor.
• Charitable Gift Annuities | Similar to Charitable Remainder Trusts, Gift Annuities take the form of a contract between NEFF and the beneficiary rather than a trust. By transferring an asset to NEFF, NEFF agrees to pay you or a designated beneficiary a percentage value of the asset on a quarterly or annual basis. The percentage is based on the age of the beneficiaries.

For more details on making a simple bequest to NEFF or on making a gift of land to NEFF, please see relevant sections above.