Gift Planning for Tomorrow

Gift Planning

In addition to providing regular, annual sustaining gifts, many alumni and friends choose to plan for a special gift, often many times larger than their regular gifts. These gifts may come from liquid assets like cash and marketable securities, though they may also come at the time of a liquidity event such as the sale of a business or real estate, or a change in lifestyle such as retirement or planning for the future. I-House welcomes these special gifts, and as always encourages alumni and friends considering a major gift to seek the advice of their financial advisors. 

Working closely with the University of California experts in the Office of Gift Planning, there are a wide range of options available, including straightforward Beneficiary Designations for such instruments as Individual Retirement Accounts, Insurance Policies, and Donor Advised Funds.  In addition, I-House and Cal experts can assist you in working with your advisors in creating Life Income Gifts (annuities and trusts).  Often, donors may wish to create a named scholarship opportunity or dedicated endowment during their lifetimes, funded via special recurring gifts so that they may enjoy the fruits of their investment and see the impacts while living. These arrangements may be funded by pledged multi-year gifts and then be fully endowed with a legacy or estate gift to be transferred at the time of their passing.

Legacy and Estate Gifts

Your bequest will help ensure the future strength of I-House!

You may support room and board scholarships, preservation and improvements to our historic building, or diverse intercultural programs—all of which benefit our nearly 600 residents from more than 70 countries. Whichever you choose, you will help enhance I-House's excellence—and support its vision of a world of greater cross-cultural understanding and peace. For more information on including International House in your will or living trust, contact our office at (510) 642-4128 or alumni@ihouseberkeley.org.

Including International House in Your Estate Plan

You can support the development of a new generation of global leaders to help create a world of greater understanding and peace, through your will, living trust, or retirement plan. I-House staff, consultants, and volunteers gratefully encourage gifts to I-House, but cannot give tax or legal advice and we encourage you to consult your own tax and legal advisors with respect to any gift made to I-House.

Sample Bequest Language

"I give ______ ($ or % of my estate) to International House, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, public-benefit corporation, registered in California with tax ID 94-1167403."

 "My gift(s) shall be (specify):

  • Unrestricted—to be used where the need is greatest, (or/and)
  • Restricted—to be used to support (please indicate scholarships, building preservation/improvements, intercultural programs, and/ or leadership training)."

If the gift amount is equal to or exceeds $50,000, please specify whether you would like the gift to establish an endowed fund, the annual payout of which shall annually support the area of need you have identified.

Gifts that are irrevocably pledged may provide important recognition opportunities during a donor’s lifetime at I-House. Please visit the Naming Opportunities portion of our website or contact us at (510) 642-4128 or alumni@ihouseberkeley.org.

All gifts, including estate gifts, can also be routed to International House via the University of California Berkeley.  For more information visit planyourlegacy.berkeley.edu or call (800) 200-0575.

Giving Resources

For questions, email us at philanthropy@ihouseberkeley.org

International House is a laboratory for a new kind of experiment – the day-to-day practice of international fellowship among men and women.
John D. Rockefeller Jr., I-House Benefactor